Forget about what machines Halo's coming out on, when it will come out, and who owns who. Some people are still-- more than a year after it was first unveiled-- licking their chops in anticipation of the gamer's gourmet meal that is to be Bungie's Halo. Meaning, that there's a new preview up at xbox.ign.com.

To wit, witness the unbridled enthusiasm of self-confessed Halo fanboy Vincent Lopez:

I could go on for days about all the tiny details in the game (the tank flipping over a jeep like a toy, the reflections in the control room, the water effects, the skeletal animation system), but then I'd have to quit my job and start a travelling cult, and I don't have the time. Besides, I'll wait until the final version for that. For now, I'll say that until you've seen that hazy Halo sun shining through the clouds on a barren hillside, gun in hand and jeep by your side, that you haven't lived as a gamer. Even though the game is still a newborn in terms of how far it is from being finished (about a year until final product), the seamless nature of this demonstration has only solidified that my eyes (as well as most of the gaming world's eyes) will be watching every move that Halo makes with a keen, eager eye.

Stick that in your rocket launcher and smoke it. Thanks to IGN for reminding us all why we're here reading all this stuff in the first place: because Halo will kick ass.