Louis Wu posted a link to a CNN story over at HBO entitled Which new game console should you buy? Nine editors from GamePro.com give advice and make predictions about the Xbox and the GameCube, as well as the reigning king, the PlayStation 2.

Air Hendrix had this to say about Bungie's platform of choice:

The dark horse is certainly the Xbox, and if not for Microsoft's deep pockets, it'd be easy to call it the Dreamcast 2. But outstanding games like Halo make the Xbox a serious contender. If I had pick to the most-likely-to-fail, it'd be the Xbox, but I think it has a real chance, and its fortunes rest on how much gotta-play-it software Microsoft delivers in the next year or so.

Star Dingo went further, saying that Halo now sits at the very top of my MUST PLAY list, dethroning Star Wars and DOA3. We'll omit his admission that he'd commit unspeakable acts to do so. Oops.

As expected, IGN has made the entire text of Part One of their Halo Multiplayer Guide available to readers other than their IGNInsider subscribers. In addition to the text that appeared, and was later edited out, of the post at the HBO forum, the article includes a screenshot of each level.

Matt Soell over at bungie.net has answered a few questions they have been receiving about the upcoming Halo launch party. You had better head over and read the details if you plan on attending because Bungie needs to know who is going as soon as possible so that they can prepare for the event.

Halo: The Fall Of Reach by Eric Nylund is now available in book stores.

Of course, you can order it online from Amazon.com or your favorite online store.

Ferrex warned us all at RHL about the Gamers.com preview of Halo thusly:

DON'T READ THE GAMERS.COM PREVIEW!! BAD SPOILER!!

There you have it. You have been warned. Out of respect for that warning, we haven't linked to the preview, but I suspect if you really can't help yourself you can find it. Incidentally, the small bit of the preview I did see seemed positive; it described the game as the reason you'll buy an Xbox .

Ok, first of all, I'm guessing Ruzhyo, or his friend Fermbiz, is probably causing some trouble somewhere for somebody by posting the entire Halo Multiplayer Guide from the IGNInsider service into the forum at HBO.

We won't be reproducing it here-- I'm not an IGNInsider, but I'm betting there's probably something in their little agreement thingy that makes you promise you won't post their stuff elsewhere, otherwise nobody would ever pay for it.

However, there are a couple of notable facts in the post that I'll gloss over in the interest of fair comment. First of all, Halo has 13 multiplayer maps, some of which have up to 26 different game variations. The entire text of Part One includes level names and descriptions. Unfortunately, most of them lack the same style and panache that Marathon levels had. A long walk down a short hall... comes closest, which the IGN article describes as skinnier than a casting call for Ally McBeal.

ConsoleDomain has posted an item about the Xbox Unleashed event on November 2-3 in New York and Los Angeles, and Halo is on the list of titles included; however, only for invited competitors who will battle it out for various prizes.

The event will also include a free play section, but apparently only Madden 2002, Mad Dash and Munch's Oddysee will be available there.

xbox.ign.com has posted Part One of Multiplayer Guide to Halo that details all the multiplayer levels, including screenshots. I don't suppose this can be called a spoiler as such, since it's the multiplayer levels and not the single player story... but at any rate, it's only available to subscribers of their IGNinsider premium subscription service.

Rydmend posted over in the HBO forum that this month's dead tree edition of GamePro Magazine has a review of Halo in it, with a little pro - con discussion on why you might want to buy or not buy it. The review isn't in the online version yet.

Louis Wu over at HBO has posted a notice about a German language Halo site called Halomedia. Nartin Spitzenberg gave him the heads-up. They're still using E3 2000 vintage Fishin' Bob in their nameplate, but the design is nice anyway.

They recently had some problems with their news script and also moved to a new provider, preventing them from posting news for awhile; but they assure everyone that they remain online.

After 4-6 hours a day for four days, Apache has finished Halo. The verdict? In his words, best visuals, best gameplay, best presentation.

Before Halo, my pick for the game that presented itself the best would be Half-Life. With all the nice scripted events, the small talk with the security guards and scientists, and just how Valve laid the game out (that is, until the end, where things got goofy) made Half-life an exceptional game. Bungie really one-upped Valve with Halo though, and once you play Halo, chances are you'll think the same.

The fly in the ointment, if there is one? The controller. Apache freely admits he sucks at gamepads and would much, much, much rather play it with a kb/mouse but says that didn't stop him from enjoying the game at all.

Thanks to Louis Wu who posted the story first at HBO.