Matt has returned to the HBO forum to disabuse the usual suspects of their delusion about release dates from Electronics Boutique.

Okay, okay... despite flat statements to the contrary from the developer (something along the lines of it is not Marathon 4 , if I recall) and the serious mismatches in timelines and terminology, Game Girl Advance has advanced the theory that Halo really is the sequel to Marathon Infinity, citing the use of the Marathon logo and the basic similarities between the two games. You be the judge.

Thanks to Louis Wu, who also differs with GGA on this point.

Pardon us if we hadn't noticed this before, but in a recent Xbox365 article, a forumgoer noted this site, Gamertag Database, which at the time of this writing lists 8,701 Xbox Live gamertags worldwide. The site isn't connected to Microsoft in any way; users can volunteer to register their own gamertags in the database, along with their location and email address, and users are encouraged to rate other gamers who use the service (think of it as a Heavenly Hosts list for XBL). There's a FAQ on the site if you have any questions. Looks interesting.

In ways reminiscent of old-school Bungie fashion, the hunt is on.

Go.

Update: And it's done, by the crew on Subnova Hotline. Just type in .fortune as a Halo profile name, and you'll trigger the egg - a throwback to Bungie.net Myth play. Read through the whole messy process in the chat log here.

Noctavis has posted his early impressions of the Xbox Live service, having spent some time playing three games that utilize it: MechAssault, Unreal Championship, and Ghost Recon. Check it out.

Matt Soell at Bungie has put up a short summary of how the Halo Winter Season Tournament is progressing. So far 1,100 gamers have showed up at over 75 iGames centers. The next round begins on December 14. Thanks again to Louis Wu.

David Evil Otto Candland (formerly CandyMan) has put up a primer on various methods for making online nicknames over at the Seventh Column site. Thanks to Louis Wu at HBO for the warning.

Today marks the one year anniversary of the Xbox and Halo, as well as the launch date of Xbox Live. Watch later this weekend for a retrospective on the last year of Halo and a look at what we know so far about Halo 2.

I recently participated in the intitial qualifying match for the Halo Winter Season tournament. My team did fairly good, had fun, and dropped out, though we'll be trying again at the next qualifier. I've blogged my report of it, playing Team Slayer, 4 vs. 4 on Hang 'Em High.

It was a tricky scenario. They held the high ground, and had superior marksmenship anyway, so we always came out on the bottom when we tried to knock them off from a distance. When we tried to get close, theyТd have plenty of time to saw us down while we approached. And if we did nothing, they killed us as soon as we spawned.

A classic siege situation, and we were stuck, watching them pull away in score. It wasnТt a matter of superior skill as much as superior strategy, and we lacked the key to take it away from them.

But we figured it out.

Read the full report to get all the goodies.

Despite losing in the second match to Thugs n Rebels, Team Overkill still posted a description of their participation in the Halo Winter Season qualifier at Kings Games in Brooklyn, New York. Louis Wu had the story at HBO.

Team Overkill, via Louis Wu at HBO, has pointed out that the Halo Winter Season rules are now posted at iGames.

The Halo Winter Games, whose first qualifying match is this Saturday, has had its gametypes posted at the iGames site. Good to know if you're planning on competing.

Only a few weeks after the announcement, already the clamor is beginning for more information on Halo 2.

Matt dropped into the HBO forum to explain the need for secrecy and hint at a bit more...

And if that wasn't enough, it looks like the Halo Updates may make a return soon...

Frogblast is meaner than a junkyard dog. We swear. I mean, look-- Matt said so!

Seriously, though, this story by Matt in the HBO forum is definitely worth the read, I almost died laughing.

As if anyone thought otherwise, Xbox Canada's marketing manager Ryan Mugford has revealed an an interview with Game Nation that Halo will not be coming to the GameBoy Advance:

Mugford (still laughing) - Yeah, well unless you're getting different information than me, Halo is not coming out for the Game Boy Advance.

Abel - No, I know, I was teasing you.

However, the real info here is just how popular Halo and the Xbox are in Canada compared to other countries. I tell you, there's a hidden team of Halo playing moose up there somewhere...

Even bigger than that is this tidbit about Halo 2 (all usual warnings about news from non-Bungie personnel apply:

Mugford - I'm not going to give you any specific release dates for Halo 2.....but I will tell you that Halo 2 is solidly in development....and I can tell you that it is an online title, it will be Xbox Live enabled...and it's coming probably a lot sooner than you think.

Well, since we all think Christmas 2003 or so, I wonder what he means by that.

Thanks to Harry Al-Shakarchi as well as Louis Wu at HBO for the heads-up.