It's amazing how thousands of gamers work together to find a little easter egg hidden in a huge digital world. Halo trickers and map explorers have been looking for days for the last white skull in Halo 3's campaign known as the "I Would Have Been Your Daddy Skull". This skull will unlock the coveted Hayabusa head armor for your multiplayer character.

A saved film of getting this skull has been publishd. You can automatically download it to your XBOX 360 my going to this Bungie.net forum post and click on "Download to Halo 3".

Triggering the skull is done in the "Covenant" map with the seven Halo rings. You must jump through the rings in a certain order. Gamers knew something was odd because jumping through the rings produced different notes of sound.

Assuming the first ring in the room is #1 and the last ring in the room is #7, the rings must be jumped through in this order:

4 6 5 4 5 3 4

Don't forget our Guide to unlocking the armor in Halo 3 and our guide to finding the skulls in Halo 3.

Thanks to Thumb who stepped up to the plate in our comments section and hit a homerun with some information that has been sending a lot of Google users to our site (over 20,000 yesterday searching for Halo 3 armor). Details on unlocking the different armors that are available in Halo 3's multiplayer mode are below.

[ed - Also note that Bungie has special "Bungie only" armor with flaming head pieces. This indicates that it's possible to have other armor than the armor listed below. I feel that it's possible that we'll see armor for sale on the XBOX Live Marketplace in the future. Why not?]

Update (Sept 28): We are getting reports that people are running a problem unlocking a couple pieces of armor using our guide. I don't like to think that Bungie screwed up on their achievements, but I can say that I haven't unlocked the 5th meta-game achievement just yet even though I have gotten enough points three times on Legendary (and this was while playing through with others as we unlock other meta-game achievements). Thumb says that he had to perform that act that leads to the unlocking of the "Used Car Salesman" three times before he actually got the achievement. I also know people that have had a hard time getting the "Headshot Honcho" achievement, although I think that one is left up to user-error or a poor description of the achievement. Anyone got any feedback?

Got any info to add to the guide? Then get busy in the comment section.

Where's the Hayabusa skull? We need help finding it.

Body Pieces

Spartan

EVA.................Complete Tsavo Highway on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary
EOD.................Complete Tsavo Highway on Legendary
Scout...............Unlock "Too Close to the Sun" Achievement (Destroy an enemy banshee with the Sp'laser or missile pod in a ranked playlist or campaign)

Elite

Flight...............Complete Tsavo Highway on Heroic or Legendary
Ascetic............Unlock "Up Close and Personal" Achievement (Kill 5 enemies via melee or assassination in a ranked FFA playlist)
Commando....Unlock "Triple Kill" Achievement (Get one triple kill)

Shoulder Pieces

Spartan

EVA.................Complete The Ark on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary
EOD................Complete The Ark on Legendary
Security..........Earn 750 Gamerscore Points
Scout...............Try getting the "Mongoose Mowdown" achievement. Then try "We're in for some Chop" Achievement. People are having a hard time getting this armor unlocked. We now believe you need to get the "Mongoose Mayhem" achievement. Please report back with your findings.

Elite

Flight...............Complete The Ark on Heroic or Legendary
Ascetic............Unlock "Overkill" Achievement (Get one overkill)
Commando....Unlock "Killing Frenzy" Achievement (Get one killing frenzy)

Head Pieces

Spartan

EVA.................Complete Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary
EOD.................Complete Campaign on Legendary
Security...........Earn 1,000 Gamerscore Points
Scout................Unlock "Used Car Salesman" Achievement (Destroy an enemy vehicle containing 3 enemies in Campaign or ranked playlists)
Mark V.............Unlock "UNSC Spartan" Achievement (Reach Sergeant ranking online)
ODST...............Unlock "Spartan Graduate" Achievement (Earn 5 EXP or complete 10 ranked matches)
Rogue.............Unlock "Spartan Officer" Achievement (Advance to the Spartan Officer ranks online)

Hayabusa...........Collect all Gold and White skulls

Elite

Flight...............Complete Campaign on Heroic or Legendary
Ascetic.............Unlock "Steppin' Razor" Achievement (Get one triple kill with an energy sword in ranked FFA)
Commando....Unlock "Overkill" Achievement (Get one overkill)

There are two important cutscenes after the credits roll. One of the cutscenes can only be accessed after beating the game on Legendary. After beating the game, you can jump ahead to to certain points in the campaign, including the last half of the last level on Legendary. Go here to discuss those cutscenes (spoilers): http://hushedcasket.com/node/2381

Devin, Goatrope, jayWHY, and I have spent dozens of hours exploring the Halo 3 engine and map geometry. No doubt Bungie has hid plenty of easter eggs in this game and I'm sure there are plenty more to find. Jason Jones!

Mirrors:

http://www.gamingtv.us/rapture/Trickity Trick 5.wmv (goes live at 9:30 CST)
http://devinolsen.com/pictures/Trickity%20Trick%205.wmv

It details the fighting during the minutes before Master Chief's arrival back to earth. IMO, it's the best yet of Neill Blomkamp's three videos that started with Halo: Arms Race. I'm sure it will make its way to XBL, but as of now I'm told it is not available.

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/last-one-standing/halo-sweeps/halo-sweeps.html

This article on smartmoney.com examines today's increase in M$ stock value, but goes on to give plenty of other gaming news and industry tidbits, such as

-The entertainment division accounted for just 12% of the company's recently reported annual revenue of $51 billion. By contrast, the Windows and Office software business together accounted for more than 60% of total sales last year. My conclusion: MS is less concerned about short term profit from gaming than they are about long term home entertainment marketshare.

-Between the PS3 and the company's older console -- the PlayStation 2 -- Sony has an installed base of more than 40 million customers in the U.S., according to NPD data. My conclusion: There are 39 million PS2 users.

-Michael Pachter, a video-game analyst for Wedbush Morgan Securities, says Halo 3 could sell close to 3 million copies on its opening day alone. He says pre-orders typically account for about 40% of the first day's sales, and he figures pre-orders for Halo 3 are already around the 1.3 million mark. My conclusion: This guy has been notorious for making overzealous predictions. I'd take anything he says with a grain of salt.

-According to Metacritic, a Web site that accumulates and averages ratings of video games from many reviewers, the three top-rated games exclusive to the Xbox 360 have garnered ratings above 90 (out of 100). Bioshock, a 360-exclusive title that was launched by Take-Two Interactive last month, has garnered a Metacritic score of 96 -- the highest for a game title in more than five years. By contrast, the highest rated PS3-exclusive game -- Resistance: Fall of Man -- has a Metacritic score of 86. A recent high-profile Sony-exclusive release, Lair, has fared poorly with critics, earning a 55. My conclusion: ouch.

Click 'read more' for the full text of the article.

The game industry is buzzing about Halo 3. It's lowest score from any major magazine is 9.0 from Yahoo! Games and Game Daily. But do reviews really matter for this game? Check out what others have to say about the this giant:

• 1up: 10/10
• Gamespot: 9.5/10
• IGN: 9.5/10
• Gametrailers: 9.8/10
• TeamXBOX: 9.7/10
• Eurogamer 10/10
• GamerNode 9.5/10
• Gamer2.0: 8.8/10
• Yahoo! Games: 9/10
• GameSpy 5/5
• Gamedaily 9/10
• GamePro 5/5

Don't want to take their word for it? Then hang around. The THX staff will write a review of the game soon.

Still want more reviews? Go to MetaCritic. They have a detailed list of all the important H3 reviews. Also note that the gamers are giving this game about an 8/10 while the press is giving the game a 9/10. More on why the gamers might not see this as a 90+ game later.

Update: check out our new guide to Halo 3 armor here at hushedcasket.com.

Work for Bungie? Then you can wear this sweet flaming armor.

Here's betting that we'll see armor DLC in the future. Would you pay money to download custom armor for your character?.

Update: check out our new guide to Halo 3 armor here at hushedcasket.com.

It has begun.

Hushed Casket members are beginning to get their sweaty hands on copies of the most hyped game of all time. At the moment, Bungie does not have any multi-player playlists online. Therefore, you can't play MP with others unless you've got gamers on your list that also have the game. Other than that, the game seems pretty complete. Several of us have already bought Bungie Pro accounts and have been unlocking achievements.

Hushed Casket co-founder Midnight is writing again for the New York Times. Since the NYT recently stopped charging for access to certain parts of their website, you can read his writings for free without registration. He is participating in a group blog called "Home Fires" that covers life after deployment. He doesn't have a new piece up yet, but check this URL for his writings:

http://homefires.blogs.nytimes.com/

As always, you can read his personal blog at:

http://midnight.hushedcasket.com/

And you can view some of his old writings (that used to be subscription only) while he was deployed on the Frontlines blog:

http://frontlines.blogs.nytimes.com/

Can Halo 3 upset Halo 2 for the most gross sales in a single day on any piece of electronic media in history? Halo 2 currently holds the record from when its 2.38 million units sold totaled over $125 million during the 24 hours of November 9th, 2004. On September 25th, 2007, Halo 3 is gunning for the top, but can it be done? Let's see what the numbers say.

If you haven't yet begged, borrowed, or stolen a token to download the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Multiplayer Beta then you really should, because it's probably the most entertaining demo/beta I've ever downloaded from XBL. Yes, the Halo 3 Beta was good, but without a friends and family invitation it required a $60 purchase of the retail version (Crackdown), and COD4 is absolutely free if you are capable of using the internet and following directions. What makes the fun of COD4 even more surprising is that nobody was expecting it! Who had a date marked on the calendar for the COD4 Beta release? Not me. I buy the COD games mostly for their campaigns, but since COD3 busted I haven't loaned any credence to the franchise's multiplayer experience. COD4 changed that...in a big way.

I highly recommend you check out Podtacular's latest podcast about Bioshock.

"This show we talk all about one of the greatest games to come down the pike in a long time: Bioshock. Joining JVB and [Foo Mo Jive] are Immortal Three from the Podtacular crew and Mintz from Halo Portable. Hope you like it!"

There are no spoilers. There are, however, major THX plugs.

In this week's Bungie Weekly Update, we get a healthy dose of HALO 3 and where it stands. A new Bungie.net will roll out next week with lots of new features. Some users will be playing the game before the game's official launch. Since a new feature in HALO 3 is the ability to upload screenshots to your B.net profile, there will be spoilers at B.net. This could include shots of the entire last battle. It is safe to bet that spoilers will be all over the internet next week.

Community stand-out, Miguel Chavez, is quoted in the BWU as saying the ending to HALO 3 was "perfect". This should be taken as a good sign for all of us as few people take the HALO storyline more serious that Miguel.

If you look at any HALO 3 online marketing, you have got to see halo3.com/believe. This website contains an interactive flash movie that allows you to fly through the battle memorial seen in the commercial "Believe". You can even take screenshots as you pace through the battle. Also, you can get personal interviews with the characters in the video.

There is an interview with Bungie's Frank O'Connor over at Shack News. I thought it was worth reading, but one part really disturbed me.

"DLC is never based on scraps we swept away from past games, it's always new maps we decided would be good for specific reasons. For example, we already now see there will be a need for more smaller symmetrical maps."

I hope there is at least a few small symmetrical maps, I am sure a few can tide me over until DLC comes out. Fingers crossed for Midship redesign shipping with the game.

Catching Up with Bungie's Frank O'Connor

Mitch Gitelman posted today was the official last day of employment for those who had not moved on to other positions. About half of the team has found positions at Microsoft game studios. It is always sad to see a studio close, especially one like FASA.

Shadowrun forums

Gamespot is giving away 100,000 Call of Duty 4 beta codes (20,000 a day until Friday) on a first come first serve basis. THX Hubcap and I just got beta codes.

1. Go to this link http://www.gamespot.com/event/codes/call-of-duty-4/.
2. Make a Gamespot account or sign in if you have an account.
3. Link your XBOX Live gamertag
4. Hit submit. If they still have codes a page should load and show you the beta code.

I don't know how long this offer will last.

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Just thought I'd let you guys know that my son was born September 5th, 2007. Both he and his mom are doing great. We just got home today. His name is Logan.