Tombstone and Desolation are now available on Xbox Live. Remember, use the in-game downloader to get these, they’re not available through Marketplace (more on this here). We hope you have as much fun playing these maps as we had making them!

We’ve posted a whole slew of new screenshots from our Halo 2 maps and a bunch of exclusive concept art. Go check it out! These maps will be available for download on Xbox Live in exactly one week, next Tuesday the 17th.

Bungie.net has posted an interview with our art lead, Chris Wood, talking about the inspiration and process behind the creation of the visuals for these maps. It’s a great read, don’t miss it!

And finally, HaloGrid.com is hosting an Affinity Machinima Challenge on our new Halo 2 maps! They’re asking people to submit their best machinima featuring Tombstone and Desolation, competing in 4 categories–action, comedy, montage, and music video. And yes, there are cash prizes. Are we eligible?

We took on Bungie in a 4v4 challenge on our new Halo 2 maps. Read all about it in Frankie’s most humble writeup!

Bungie has posted an interview with Max Hoberman about the new maps and about CA’s future.

In other news, Shishka has been demoted from company photographer.