Without power to the Bungie building, I can't post a Mister Chief. I am writing this from a coffee shop, the only building in a ten block radius with power. As a result, it looks like a refugee camp. The manager is a Halo fan though, so he probably won't kick me out, as long as I keep promising to de-nerf the pistol.

This week got a little mental, when some of our friends in Belgium "revealed" that a documentary feature would be on Xbox Live Marketplace next week, and "reveal" that the Brutes were playable characters in Halo 3. Well, they're not playable characters.

The fact is, Brutes in Halo 3 will be significantly more exciting, clever, graphically impressive,  terrifying, numerous and angrier than in Halo 2, but they won't be playable, especially since you, in the role of Master Chief, will be spending a significant amount of effort and ammunition reducing their population.

The documentary mentioned on the interwebs, does indeed exist, as I have mentioned before in previous updates. We're keeping the exact contents as a kind of holiday surprise for the faithful, and you'll be able to see the entire thing in 720p and surround sound some time next week. It's a very interesting piece. especially if you're interested in Campaign mode.

And if you don't have an Xbox 360, don't panic. We love you, and we're going to ensure that everyone gets to see it next week. Just know that the 360 version will have the best resolution for pausing, staring at something and saying, "Is that what I think it is!?"

Anyway, sorry I can't tell you more about that today, but then, that IS the point of a surprise, right? Even if those chocolate-munching, Tin-Tin reading, waffle-snarfing Belgians are just too excited to keep a lid on it.

One other note - we made it to the Penny Arcade Child's Play auction on Wednesday, a charity auction to raise money for Children's Hospitals, and one attended largely by video game folks, who gave generously of prizes and cash to raise money for an excellent cause.

Congratulations to the Penny Arcade guys for raising literally hundreds of thousands of dollars, and congratulations to the successful bidders on the Bungie items, one of which was a chance to have a voice-over appearance in Halo 3. The winner of that bid was a surprise to us, and probably a pleasant surprise to you guys. More news about who the deep-pocketed community-favorite is, at a later date.


Peace out!