Beyond3D has an in-depth technical article on the Xbox 360's GPU. The heads-up came from ars technica.

For various reasons it's been hard for me to keep up with news posting lately; many thanks to trav himself (formerly Sistimatic) for picking up the slack. Here are some recent items of note:

• Film Force carries supposed confirmation of the Fox-Universal Halo movie deal. Meanwhile, IGN posts some comments from their staff and Halo fans on what should be in the Halo movie. (The list makes Baby Jesus cry--Ed.)
• BDGamer says the Xbox 360 launches this December in Japan; earlier reports have cited 20 games at launch in that market, which will be key for Microsoft this time around, as it was quite weak for the Xbox compared to Europe and North America.
• Xbox365 says Microsoft's Robbie Bach is being brought on board the Windows Media Player 11 team to take on Apple' iPod/iTunes dominance in the online music arena. (No, this is not a joke. Or maybe it is--Ed.)
• Wil Wheaton's blog talks about what game voice talent sought from their recent lobbying, but didn't quite get.
• Major Nelson points out a How Does Bungie.net Work case study at MSDN.
• Kotaku suggests that Blizzard's World of Warcraft MMORPG might be ported to Xbox 360. (A welcome addition to fill the gap left when True Fantasy was cancelled--Ed.)

TotalGaming is reporting that a recall on Xbox power cables now has been issued for all units made prior to January 14, 2005. The article and link included cite UK phone numbers and the UK replacement cord program. There's also a page at Xbox.com for the US replacement cord program.

Mindquirk software has released a revamped version of its Xbox Live Friends application that includes a Dashboard widget, as well as a new application, Emblem Designer, for previewing Xbox Live emblems on your Mac. Emblem Designer, as well as Mindquirk's other Halo app, xstats, all part of Mindquirk's Live Suite, require OS X 10.4. Xbox Live Friends runs on 10.3 or above. (Note: If you try to run one of the apps with older versions of OS X, the app just quits silently--Ed.)

Tuncer Deniz has posted at IMG Magazine that they are hosting a 25 Mb QuickTime version of the Stubbs the Zombie trailer; earlier it was available in WMV format at MTV.com. The modified Halo-engine third-person action game comes out this year for Mac OS X, Windows, and the Xbox.

Even though there is no officially announced Bungie title in the works at the moment, it's a safe assumption that there will one day be a Bungie title for the Xbox360, or at the very least Bungie titles that run on it. That's the line of logic we've been running with in covering so much about the Xbox 360, and in the absence of more specific information about any Bungie title, info about Microsoft's second gaming console keeps pouring in. Here's some more:

• SPOnG says you might be able to download full games to your Xbox 360 from Xbox Live.
• GamesAreFun says that Microsoft ended up paying royalties to Nvidia in order to let the 360 emulate the older Xbox's GPU. Most users probably won't care, but somehow BDGamer has taken this advice to mean that backwards compatibility is not going to work, although they said it less politely than that. YMMV.
• The Toronto Globe and Mail says Microsoft will lose $75 on every Xbox 360 it sells, assuming they sell it for around $300. Thanks Voodoo Extreme. This is nothing new as console hardware is usually a loss leader to sell software.

Newsweek seems to think that Sony's strong-but-silent approach won over E3 attendees, opposed to Microsoft's MTV extravaganza. Thanks Major Nelson.

Worth pointing out is one major gaffe in the article, in the following quote:

Because Sony is the leader—it has more online users in North America than Microsoft has globally—the burden is on Microsoft to prove that it can knock off Sony's crown, or at least tarnish it.

At the very least, this quote should not have the word "online" in it. If it means to say that Sony's installed base of consoles in North America is larger than Microsoft's, that is true-- but not online. Halo 2 has put Xbox Live way above the numbers registered by Sony's online console offerings.

UPDATE: Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi has also been quoted as referring to Microsoft as "not a threat". GameSpot has a record of the mudslinging between Xbox officer Robert J. Bach, Kutaragi, and Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, translated from a Japanese language interview in Asahi Shinbun.

Gamestop says Halo 3 is due out June 1, 2006. This is pure speculation on their part, as the game hasn't even been announced beyond Bill Gates remark at E3, which seems more inaccurate for each day Bungie is silent on their new project. Thanks Kotaku.

The second in Ars Technica's series of pieces on the Xbox 360's hardware specs focuses on the "Xenon" CPU. There's also a separate short article quoting Allard's "around $300" remark to TheStreet.com, as well as characterizing the original Xbox as being made from "off-the-shelf parts" due to time constraints on the machine's design-- mirroring IBM's similar procedure in designing the original PC.

• The Xbox 360 is currently beating the PlayStation 3 in Voodoo Extreme's poll.
• Joe "Dyslexia" Renaud wrote a review of the Xbox 360's MTV unveiling two weeks ago, but we missed it.
• MLG has announced the 4x4 Online League as well as the St. Louis Halo 2 tournament brackets.
• Kiziko also asks what's up with Halo 3 and Xbox 360.
• Peter Cohen at MacWorld wonders how to get people to play games on Macs with the increasing popularity of consoles.

• Frankie's What's What Update for May 27 still doesn't answer the questions on everyone's minds, namely if and when Bungie is making Halo 3. It does say that Marathon for the Xbox is "next door to impossible" and that Bungie is busy on its next project.
• mrsmiley at Halo Babies has chronicled the Master Chief's E3 Adventure. Lots of pictures of the Master Chief's hijinks on the expo floor and elsewhere.
• J Allard was interviewed by The Armchair Empire about the Xbox 360.
• FiringSquad interviewed Bob Feldstein of ATI about the Xbox 360's graphics hardware. Thanks Major Nelson for the link.
• Version 1.5.2 of Mac Halo is out, bringing the game back into sync with version 1.07 of PC Halo. The latest changes fix a potential security vulnerability.

Dolbex has noted at MLG.com that due to certain issues, MLG online 4x4 league play is being delayed until May 30.

More than a year ago, before Halo 2 or Doom 3 were released, there was trash talking in the chat rooms about Id's attempt to add a real storyline to their game. Now that the Xbox version has been out for awhile, I had a chance to compare Doom 3 and Halo 2, as I promised I would last year.

Regional winners for most of the 24 countries competing in the Halo 2 Worldwide Xbox Live Tournament have been announced; the only countries without finalists so far are the United States and Japan. Read the full press release for the list of regional winners.