We'll be down for about 2 hours sometime within the next 24-48 hours while we upgrade to a more powerful server.

What this means to you: Clan sponsorship is now back on schedule.

Hopefully we'll release an update on this later this week.

Also, did you know that our forum has new skins available?

Check it out for more info.

As much as we love playing Halo, it's nice to play other games that don't suck.

A superb example is Battlefield 2, the sequel to the top-selling PC game Battlefield 1942.

Set in a modern setting, gamers start off by selecting a weapon kit (sniper, assault, anti-tank, etc.). Then, gamers also can either a: Join a squad, b: Create a squad, or c: Apply for Commander.

The commander unit is completely different from the normal squad units. Although he/she is still selects a weapon kit, their main job is to manage the battle. They can call in artillery strikes, supply drops, UAV Drones, as well as give orders to the different squads on their team.

Interested? The game doesn't come out until the 22nd of this month, but you can already download the free multiplayer demo, which is now available on pretty much every gaming site. We listed a few of the mirrors below, feel free to download from your preferred file network.

Multiplayer Demo Download Mirrors:

EA Games

FilePlanet

GameSpot

1UP

GamersHell

We love Halo 2. We love money. Most of all we love playing Halo 2 for money.

That's why we took 3 of our favorite Halo 2 Tournaments and 2 of our favorite ladder hosts and wrote a short review for each of them. (We know, we know, you don't get money for playing in ladders. Well, we needed more stuff to write about, so shut up)

Tournaments:

Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL)

One of the more serious leagues, this tournament goes worldwide annually, and the total cash pot is $1 Million Dollars. (for worldwide, including games other than halo; National tournaments available)

Your Chances of Winning: 98465451884.5495 to 1

Major League Gaming (MLG)

Known to be one of the most popular US Tournament Hosts, (even though they have a PS2 controller in the logo) these tournaments are excellent for Halo Lovers, both Pros and Amateurs.

Your Chances of Winning: 75 to 1

World Cyber Games (WCG)

We have heard that this has very amateur-friendly tournaments, though we don't know much more than that.

Your Chances of Winning: Probably very low

Ladders:

Halo Ladder

Though these ladders are not created by "professionals", and they pretty much stole the Half Life logo if I'm not mistaken, it seems to have a very nice ladder system. If you're looking for something more serious, try GameSpy Arena. (below) Tournaments are also available, but on a smaller scale than the ones listed above.

GameSpy Arena

One of the largest ladder hosts available. Very nice selection of ladders, both for amateur and serious gamers.

Admin Note: "Your chances of winning" ratios were created fairly randomly, with only a little bit of actual thought put into them. Do not get offended and email us, we don't care. (Unless you win and want to share some prize money....)

Tightwads, today is your lucky day. Whatever excuse you had to not buy Xbox Live is now gone.

Welcome to the universe of Xbox Connect. It's a free online gaming service similar to Xbox Live that connects to the internet by tricking your xbox into thinking that it is apart of your LAN (Local Area Network) or "System Link".

You will still need a high-speed connection such as cable or high-width DSL, and you will also need a computer.

Even if you have Xbox Live, you might be interested in this, since it basically works as a list of Custom Halo 2 games with levels and settings you can choose. Plus, (sit down for this one) it also supports online-play for the original Halo.

To find out more, visit there site, xbconnect.com