We’ve been hinted at these for some time now but finally Bungie has taken the veil off of the 3 all new multiplayer maps that will be included with Halo 3: ODST.

Halo 2 players will recognize the above map as it is a remake of the extremely popular Midship and is now entitled Heretic. The two other maps to be included are Citadel and Longshore and are sure to renew your Halo 3 vibes.

Halo 3: ODST will be on store shelves on September 22nd of this year.

To peep picks of both Citadel and Longshore, head here.

They’ve announced that there’s only one game left for the Xbox Originals service. After that gets posted Microsoft will leave the games available for purchase of course but will be focusing their efforts in other directions. They haven’t announced exactly what the game is, but smart money of course points at Halo 2. With Microsoft having abandoned backwards compatibility updates some time ago this means that to play any neglected favorites you’ll have to go out and find a used Xbox. Hey, at least those don’t have any RRoD issues.

Today is Monday, but this past Saturday Halo 3’s 1 billionth game was played by a lucky group of people.

Bungie details said billionth game was a 3 minute 19 second Infection game on Foundry between 4 people. They then go on to announce that 2,023,153,340,764 seconds of Halo 3 matchmaking has been played. Thats over 64,000 years of playtime.

And to put this amazing achievement into perspective, the hugely popular Halo 2 hasn’t even had 1 billion games played, and that was released in 2004, Halo 3 was released in 2007. Amazing.

Read (Bungie)

Ever since Halo 2 on Xbox Live for the original Xbox, there have been those users unhappy with their ranking who feel the need to manipulate the network to their advantage.

Well, the problem hasn’t stop and it has infact escalated. Apparently, creators of such methods are selling programs, and even offering services, that kick your opponent off of Xbox Live. How is it done?

Well, the cheater routes their Xbox connection through their computer, obtains your IP address, floods it with packets, and kicks you off. Sounds like fun? It’s not, I’ve encountered one too many of these guys on Halo 3.

Microsoft has issued the following statement on the subject:

We are investigating reports involving the use of malicious software tools that an attacker could use to try and disrupt an Xbox LIVE player’s internet connection.

This problem is not related to the Xbox Live service, but to the player’s internet connection. The attacker could also attempt [to] disrupt other internet activities, such as streaming video or web browsing, using the same tools.”

Read (Kotaku)

With the advent of disc-based games came the ability to cram a lot more information into a small unit, so games’ soundtracks grew accordingly. Full orchestras were brought in and many games feature music that would be appreciated by gamers and non-gamers alike. Whether you love or hate Bungie’s oft-debated series there’s little doubt that Halo brought the feeling of epic struggles to life by their blending of classical instruments, chanting and modern instruments.

Sumthing Else Music has announced that they’re releasing the Halo Trilogy Soundtrack. It’s a five disc set that encapsulates the entire audio experience of the FPS games and gives you a sneak peak at the sounds of Halo Wars. The first disc is the soundtrack of Halo: Combat Evolved and the second is the second volume of the Halo 2 soundtrack. The third disc is a DVD which features four tracks from Halo Wars, a ‘making of’ featurette on the game’s music and also contains the opening cinematic for the campaign mode, “Five Long Years”. Discs four and five are the Halo 3 soundtrack. The set is available beginning tomorrow, December 2nd.