Bungie's last Halo Playlist Update

Today marks the day that Bungie passes the torch over to 343 industries and Bungie's last ever Halo matchmaking update.

Its a relatively small update on the surface, but there is stuff behind the scenes to get ready for the transition.

PLAYLISTS

General
* Removed Rebirth from all playlists
* Added community maps Chateau, Eden Minor and Renova to Team Slayer

Premium Battle
* All objective gametypes in Premium Battle now use the Big Team variants
* Removed Hot Potato from Premium Battle

Team Objective
* All gametyes in Team Objective now feature DMR/AR starts (excluding Classic and Pro variants)
* Integrated 3 Flag, 2 Flag Slayer and Speedflag into Team Objective

Grifball
* Updated with latest maps and gametypes from Grifballhub.com

MLG
* Removed MLG King on MLG Zealot



MAPS

Sword Base
* Soft kill added to small ledge

Zealot (not Arena Zealot)
* Soft kills added to specific locations in space

Boardwalk
* Both Sniper Rifles now spawn at 180s with 2 spare clips

Anchor 9 / Unanchored
* Rocket Launcher now spawns at 180s with 1 spare clip

Mt. Lam Lam
* Removed Camo powerup



GAMETYPES

General
* Slayer DMRs game variants now use the default vehicle set
* Big Team Assault gametypes now use 3 second arm time

[Source]


343 is indeed planning to continue to update the playlist, how often or when their first update is planned is unknown at this time. I expect the details of the Transition to be revealed soon.

Top Rank in Halo Reach..Reached

Someone has reached the rank of Inheritor, the top Rank in Halo Reach. In just over 8 months since Reach launched.

The person is:
xXSAVIORS0ULXx 

7933 Games played, the majority (3807) being Firefight. Which he most AFC's (Away from Controller) in.


Is it multiple people or one sad,lonely guy playing on the account? Who knows. 

Halo DLC,Avatar Content on Sale

It appears that select Halo DLC and Avatar Items are on sale today on the Xbox Dashboard.

Halo  DLC on Sale:

- Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack (Orbital, Assembly, Sandbox) on Sale for 200 Microsoft Points

         - Halo 3 Mythic II DLC (Longshore,Citadel and Heretic) is on Sale for 400 Microsoft Points
          
           - Halo Reach Noble Map Pack (Tempest,Breakpoint and Anchor 9) for 400 Microsoft Points

Halo Avatar Items:

          -Halo 3 ODST Marine armor is on sale for 200 points

          -Emile's armor is on sale for 200 points

Halo Reach Defiant Map Pack Annouced

Certain Affinity (The folks who made the Blastacular map Pack for Halo 2) have partnered with Microsoft to create the second Download Content for Halo Reach, called the Defiant Map Pack.

Condemned: Condemned takes place aboard Orbital Station Gamma, a massive space station high in orbit above the planet Reach. Prior to the Covenant’s overwhelming invasion, Orbital Station Gamma provided long range communications for UNSC fleets and a vital lifeline between Reach and Earth. During the Battle of Reach, the station suffered terrible punishment at the hands of the Covenant but a few fortified sections remain intact, fully pressurized, and ready for combat. Condemned supports 6 – 12 players in a variety of action-packed game types, including Team Slayer, Team Objective and Free for All.

Highlands: Highlands takes place on the top-secret Military Wilderness Training Preserve on Reach. The Preserve is a large, wooded area where Spartan super-soldiers trained long before the war with the Covenant began. During the Battle of Reach, the Preserve was the site of key battles between the alien invaders and a group of Spartans who used their familiarity with these UNSC training grounds to significant tactical advantage…but not everyone who enters these woods makes it out alive. Highlands expands the fight with massive-scale engagements for 8 – 16 players in Big Team Battle, Team Slayer and Team Objective.

Unearthed :Unearthed takes the battle for Reach to a large Titanium mine and refinery located in the Viery civilian sector of the planet. This particular mine was built to take advantage of the exposed titanium inside a massive meteor crater. The titanium produced here is used in much of the UNSC hardware, from the chassis of the Warthog to the meters-thick armor plating of capital ships like the UNSC Pillar of Autumn. While this facility was quickly abandoned when the Covenant arrived on Reach, it still has significant tactical (and economic) value and it won’t be long before both humans and Covenant return to battle for control. Unearthed allows up to 4 players to launch a counterassault against the Covenant in Firefight and Firefight modes such as Generator Defense.

The Defiant Map Pack will be released in March (2011) for 800 Microsoft Points.

More Screenshots here.


Halo Waypoint also released the official trailer.

Bungie's Comment on the Leaked Map Pack

In their latest Weekly Update, Bungie noted about the leaked map pack.

It’s been fascinating to see the rumor mill grinding away from the opposite side of the fence these last few years. As a fan, there’s this devilish sense of defiant giddiness that washes over you when you realize you might have been granted access to something much earlier than anyone ever expected. It’s like sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve to fondle your presents, surgically removing the tape, and getting your first good look at what will be in store for you in the morning.

Some children get so worked up that they just want to run off, scrawl their name on a scrap of paper, and deliver their triumphant message for the whole entire Internet to see, like a made-for-TV antagonist providing undeniable proof of their dastardly crimes. Others just can’t wait to tear open the wrapping paper and play with some new toys.

Per policy, you probably already know that I’m not going into any details about whatever it is that I'm on about today. I’m already straddling a somewhat ill-defined line with my opening remarks. That said, there is a proper time and a place for this sort of thing, and it won’t be too much longer until everything is out in the open all official like, and things start to make a little more sense.

Stay tuned.

This is sorta mixed message. More Specifically the last part where he says "and things start to make a little more sense".  Which leads me to believe that maybe, 343 industries decided to try their hand at Reach and made a map pack. Maybe this is the Map pack Bungie has been working on after releasing the Noble DLC.

Who knows, only time will tell.


See the blog post below for a link to the HD Pics of the maps.