This news-post isn't specifically Halo-related but since Halo is one of the more popular competetive and professionally played video games out there I still thought it could be worthy of a news post. Noctaurus, one of our forum moderators, made this topic about the Cyberathlete Professional League is preparing for having drug tests for gamers in their competitions. Read more about it and discuss it this topic.

Narcogen of Rampancy.net has done a really good job making a transcript of the conversations and events taking place in the advertisement that aired yesterday. He's also written together a commentary of the transcript which has a lot of interesting speculation and today he also put up a frame-by-frameanalysis of the HD version that originated from TeamXbox. Thanks to Louis Wu of Halo.Bungie.org for pointing this one out to me!

Have you yet to read the latest novel in the Halo series, Ghosts of Onyx? Not sure if it's worth the money or not? Then you should head over to our (IGN's) review of the book. It does contain some spoilers so if you are really careful about what you find and don't find out before reading a book you should not follow the link provided.

In the wake of the Halo 3 trailer which aired a few nights ago, as expected, the gaming community has been flooded with opinions, explanations, rumours, speculation, and a whole lotta whinging.

IGN.com has posted a lengthy breakdown of the trailer, covering the pistol we can see holstered by his side, and the fancy new grenade which forms a shield around the player.

And of course, our delightful assortment of forum-algae has stayed up all night to make sure everyone knows that as much as they despise Halo, and how they'd never pay Bungie a cent, they better get a spot in that Multiplayer Beta or all hell's gonna rain down!

Not all of us do. If you are one us and are interested in getting into the Halo 3 BETA together with the Yankees and Canucks that already have gotten the opportunity to sign up for a chance to get picked you should check out these links that was provided by our mother-site IGN. Some of them are open right now and some more will become available soon.

Apparently I was wrong yesterday. I assumed that the Halo3.com site had already been up and had it's slots filled immediatly. Apparently it just hadn't been completely released yet but it has now and you can go there to enlist for a chance to get into the Halo 3 BETA next spring.

30 minutes after the advertisement went live on Monday Night Football last night our network-buddy TeamXbox had managed to rip a HD-version of it. If you don't have Xbox Live and aren' able to grab the trailer in High-Definition or even play it in HD on your TV then you can now grab it in HD for your computer from their site. They have also picked out a few images from the trailer if you wish to take a closer look at some of the more intense moments of the trailer in still frames.

The new CG Halo 3 trailer is now available for download for your Xbox 360 in a 720p resolution or you can grab it for your computer here from Xbox.com.

The Halo3.com site is up but it seems the registration slots for the beta it provided has already been filled. It's been said that other means of signing up will be provided down the road so keep an eye open for those. Also, don't forget to keep an eye open for the Halo 3 ad that airs tonight.

Don't forget to tune in Monday Night Football tomorrow (or Xbox.com if you live in Europe) between 5:50 and 6:20 P.M. Pacific Time (02.15am GMT / 03.15am CET for those watching at Xbox.com). The ad will also be released on the Xbox Live Marketplace on the day after tomorrow (Tuesday) so if you don't mind waiting you can grab it there instead.

TeamXbox has a top-feature up called Most Anticipated FPS's of 2007. Not all so surprisingly you'll find Halo 3 on the list. Not really anything new but it's a nice list to check out if you are interested in a closer look on the games that Halo 3 will be fighting against during the next year.

Quote from Bnet:

The image you'll find in here is taken from the CG in the brand new Halo 3 TV ad, airing on ESPN's Monday Night Football next week. Be sure to check it out and set up that Tivo. This is one you won't want to miss. Also, there is some football game playing that night. Apparently. Beta news too.

Read it all here.

It's time for some jabber about the latest Halo 3 details! This time they chat with Indian Princess from Cayote Cavegirls and Dweezle from Tied the Leader about yours and their thoughts about the latest Halo 3 details. It's long but there's been lots of info and we didn't want to leave anything out! Check it out over at Podtacular.com.

Most of hte screenshots that you've previously only have been able to see in various magazines can now be found in a high-resolution on Bungie's screenshot page. You can also find a dissection of the same screenshots while you are visiting Bnet. If you want to be sure to have that extra little information about each maps layout once the game is released this is definately something you should take the time to read.