Coming with the Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack this spring, Ghost Town is a map that Bungie refers to as the "O.K. Corral."

"As an asymmetric map it's designed for things like One Bomb, and One Flag. It also creates a great environment for FFA and team slayer," says Bungie artist Cameron Pinard.

Check out some stills of the arena below.

The original Xbox editions of Team Ninja's action-slasher Ninja Gaiden Black, Firaxis Games' swashbuckling simulator Sid Meier's Pirates!, and Criterion Games' first-person shooter Black will be available for download from the Xbox Live Marketplace beginning Monday, February 11.

Word of the impending releases recently appeared through the online marketplace itself as well as the official Xbox web site.

The three mark the latest additions to the recently launched Xbox Originals program, bringing its selection up to 11 titles. Other Xbox Originals releases include Bungie's Halo, Double Fine's Psychonauts, and Criterion's Burnout 3: Takedown, with each game selling for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15).

Bullies in a Point Pleasant, NJ school district are teabagging other children a la Bungie's Halo series, the Asbury Park Press reports.

Point Pleasant resident Jane Chmielwski said her son was assaulted by a group of boys, one of whom held the child to the ground while another put his crotch to his head. The incident was documented with a cell phone camera.

Schools have classified the act as sexual harassment, acknowledging that the recent trend of teabagging as part of routine bullying was likely inspired by Halo, "in which players can perform a posturing move over a defeated enemy," the APP notes.

Reports of taunting, teasing and Halo-brand teabagging have been occurring off school grounds, prompting school administrators to consider a new bullying policy which would allow punishment of students for incidents occurring both off and on the schoolyard.

New numbers released by the NPD Group reveal that the Xbox 360 version of Infinity Ward's intense shooter Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare edged out the competition this holiday season, barely beating Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy to become the top selling game in December.

For those interested in how the gift-giving spirit factored into this year's record sales for the industry, the top ten console games for December 2007 follow, in order of units sold:

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward, Activision, X360) - 1.47 million
2. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo EAD Tokyo, Nintendo, Wii) - 1.40 million
3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Neversoft, Activision, PS2) - 1.25 million
4. Wii Play with Remote (Nintendo, Wii) - 1.08 million
5. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft, X360) - 893,000
6. Halo 3 (Bungie, Microsoft Game Studios, X360) - 742,700
7. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (Nintendo, NDS) - 659,500
8. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports, Electronic Arts, PS2) - 655,200
9. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Neversoft, Activision, X360) - 624,600
10. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega Japan, Sega, Wii) - 613,000

Riding a wave of strong software releases and still-fresh hardware offerings, the North American console video game market grew a massive 43 percent in 2007, according to new numbers released today by the NPD Group.

Overall industry sales totaled a record $17.94 billion--compared to 2006's take of $12.53 billion--with software making up $8.64 billion of the pie. The highest-selling games list, which doesn't factor PC software sales into the mix, was unsurprisingly lead by Bungie's Halo 3, followed up by Nintendo's remote-including Wii Play.

The top ten software titles follow, listed in order of units sold:

1. Halo 3 (Bungie, Microsoft Game Studios, X360) - 4.82 million
2. Wii Play with Wii Remote (Nintendo, Wii) - 4.12 million
3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward, Activision, X360) - 3.04 million
4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Neversoft, Activision, PS2) - 2.72 million
5. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo EAD Tokyo, Nintendo, Wii) - 2.52 million
6. Pokemon Diamond Version (Game Freak, Nintendo, NDS) - 2.48 million
7. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports, Electronic Arts, PS2) - 1.90 million
8. Guitar Hero II (Harmonix, Activision, PS2) - 1.89 million
9. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft, X360) - 1.87 million
10. Mario Party 8 (Hudson Soft, Wii) - 1.82 million

Consoles hardware sales topped out at $5.12 billion, with Nintendo again leading the competition. The yearly numbers are as follows, with life-to-date totals... Read more

Microsoft plans to train fans of Bungie's Halo 3 (X360) and then pit them against one another in the game's first official tournament, with the sponsorship of the U.S. Army.

Starting on January 19, three training sessions will be held: Sniper School, Heavy Weapons, and Vehicles, with registration for Sniper School now open at the official site. Those who register their Xbox Live gamertags and then play an online Halo 3 match will also be entered into a sweepstakes to win a framed Master Chief print or 800 Microsoft Points.

Registration for the championship tournament itself will open in March, with the games to begin in April.

The Xbox 360 has sold in excess of 17.7 million units worldwide, Microsoft revealed today in a statement that included several other sales figures.

The company also announced that Bungie's Xbox 360 exclusive Halo 3 has sold over 8.1 million copies since September 25, 2007, with BioWare's fellow Xbox 360 exclusive Mass Effect moving more than 1.6 million units after its November 20 release.

The figures follow proclamations made by Microsoft VP of corporate marketing Jeff Bell last December, in which he claimed that Halo 3 had sold in excess of 5 million units and Mass Effect sales totaled over 1 million copies.

"When we look back at 2007, we'll say this was the best holiday lineup in video game history," Bell stated at the time.

NPD just released its game industry data for November, and the month containing the infamous Black Friday brought with it an insane level of video game sales across the board. The $2.63 billion brought in by the gaming industry marked a 52% year-over-year increase compared to last November.

Software sales eclipsed hardware sales in both dollar amounts and year-over-year change. The 62% year-over-year increase in software sales brought in $1.31 billion for the month, led by 1.57 million units of Infinity Ward's shooter Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, X360) for Xbox 360.

Nintendo's Mario Galaxy (Wii) and Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed (PC, PS3, X360) on Xbox 360, both released later in the month, brought in second and third place in sales with 1.12 million units and 980,000 units sold, respectively. Notably absent from the top-10 best-sellers, listed below, is Harmonix's Rock Band (PS2, PS3, X360), which sold a combined 382,000 units across both PS3 and Xbox 360.

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (X360, Infinity Ward, Activision) 1.57 million
2. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, Nintendo) 1.12 million
3. Assassin's Creed (X360, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft) 980,000
4. Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock Bundle (PS2, Budcat, Activision) 967,000
5. Wii Play with remote (Wii, Nintendo) 564,000
6. Mass Effect (X360, BioWare, Microsoft) 473,000
7. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3, Infinity Ward, Activision) 444,000
8. Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock Bundle (Wii, Vicarious Visions, Activision) 426,000
9. Halo 3 (X360, Bungie, Microsoft) 387,000
10. Assassin's Creed (PS3, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft) 377,000

Bungie's Halo 3 (X360) has sold more than 5 million copies since the game debuted in late September, Microsoft corporate VP of marketing Jeff Bell told GameDaily BIZ.

In its first month of availability, Halo 3 totaled over 3 million copies according to sales figures from September. Shortly after its release, developer Bungie broke away from owner Microsoft, though it will still develop exclusively for the Xbox 360. A new set of multiplayer maps for the game, said to be the first of many, was released this morning.

Bell also noted that BioWare's hotly anticipated sci-fi RPG Mass Effect (X360), which Microsoft published, sold over 1 million copies within its first three weeks on the market.

"When we look back at 2007, we'll say this was the best holiday lineup in video game history," claimed Bell.

The Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack, consisting of three brand new maps for Bungie's mega-blockbuster shooter, is out in just a few hours--but in case your frothing demand for this map pack increases, we've captured dozens of screenshots. Hit up our brief Heroic Map Pack impressions for more details about each map before you buy.

Ever wanted lots of cars you could drive inside (as opposed to a nut you can play outside)? Check out Rat's Nest, a base similar to the second level of Halo 3's campaign, but full of vehicles. Next up is Standoff, a fairly large outdoor map suited to objectives, with underground tunnels similar to those of Snowbound.

Finally, crate-strewn FPS haven Foundry is billed as the ultimate Forge map, with nearly all of its geometry in the form of removable objects. It introduces new Forge objects such as ramps and walls, which can be used in all three new maps.

The Heroic Map Pack will be available later today for 800 Microsoft Points ($10), with plans to be free some time in spring 2008, just before the next round of maps. Perhaps that will be called the Legendary Map Pack. You think?

Bungie recently negotiated its partial independence from Microsoft, but even the company's projects unrelated to Halo will likely be developed for Microsoft's Xbox 360 platform, Bungie staffers told Eurogamer in a text interview. "We have no plans to work on any other platforms beyond 360 at this time," wrote Bungie writing lead Frank O'Connor.

The company recently revealed it has begun prototyping a new IP, so its likely the culmination of this project will be an Xbox 360 exclusive. "Microsoft have been good friends to us," wrote production director Jonty Barnes. "You can see the strength of our relationship in Halo. We're really focused on continuing our collaboration in making the best games we can, and that right now is on 360."

Bungie's negotiations with Microsoft give the Redmond computer giant a minority equity interest in the studio, control of the Halo franchise, and publishing rights to Bungie's other products.

Speaking to Shacknews, frequently-cited Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter expressed his belief that acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series developer Rockstar North may look to split off from parent Take-Two Interactive in 2009.

According to Pachter, Sam and Dan Houser, founders of Take-Two publisher subsidiary Rockstar Games, have a contract with Take-Two that expires in February 2009. Following the precedent of Bungie Studios' epic maneuver to independence in October, the Housers may then attempt to gauge the company's value on the market.

"I don't think that this is an issue of dissatisfaction with Take-Two; rather, I think it is rational to believe that in the wake of the $850 million Pandemic/BioWare deal, high quality developers like Bungie and [Rockstar] North would look to test their market value," said Pachter. Rockstar North has famously enjoyed a great amount of freedom under Take-Two, as the developer of what is by far the company's strongest property.

Pachter also pointed out that the Housers remain close to key members of the Rockstar North development team, including Les Benzies, who is part of the studio's management team and also directs development of the Grand Theft Auto... Read more

The month in review starts off with a list of this month's most notable Shack-crafted features, followed by the most popular news items and feature posts. It continues after the jump with a concise synopsis of November's most important news in an easy to digest paragraph form.

Shacknews' feature picks:

• The Shacknews Holiday Buyers' Guide 2007
• Shacknews' Guide to Underhyped Holiday Titles
• Shacknews' PlayStation 3 Buyer's Guide
• World of Warcraft: The Guilded Age
• Super Mario Galaxy Review

Most popular news items:

1. First Crysis Patch Arriving Within Two Weeks
2. Report: GameSpot's Gerstmann Fired Due to Negative Kane & Lynch Review
3. Call of Duty 4 Online Woes Being Addressed
4. Wireless 360 Guitar Hero III Controller Compatible with PC Version
5. Update: Star Trek Online to Become 'More Casual,' Developer Perpetual Acquired by New Ownership

Most popular features:

1. Crysis Review
2. Hellgate: London Review
3. Gears of War PC Review
4. Mass Effect Review
5. Kane & Lynch: Dead Men Review

The month of November will come to a close tonight, heralding the arrival of December and its multitude of traditional celebrations. But November has much to be remembered by in in the world of gaming news.

The month started with the creation of a hack for the PSP version... Read more

San Diego resident Randy Nunez has filed suit against Bungie and Microsoft, alleging that the company's recently released Halo 3 (X360) "does not function with the Xbox 360" as claimed by its creators. Nunez filed a complaint acquired by gossip website TMZ this week in a Southern California U.S. District Court.

According to the text of the complaint, Nunez purchased the game in October but could not play the game because he claims "attempted use of Halo 3 consistently causes the Xbox 360 to 'crash,' 'freeze,' or 'lock up' while the game is being played."

The claim alleges that Nunez is not alone in his plight, and that "Many consumers have reported that the Halo 3 video game has caused their Xbox video game console to crash and remain totally inoperable after playing the Halo 3 video game." As such, the suit has been filed as a class action and open to others in Nunez's similarly bizarre situation.

Nunez seeks unspecified relief for his troubles, otherwise he claims others will be hurt by Halo 3's mischievous marketing as well. "Unless equitable relief is granted, the sale of Halo 3 video games for exclusive use on Xbox 360 game consoles will continue unabated," the complaint concludes.

When contacted for comment, a Microsoft rep said the company "just received the lawsuit and are not in a position to comment on it at this time."

In celebration of Thanksgiving, Microsoft and Activision will be providing Xbox 360 owners with a free downloadable Guitar Hero III song pack featuring the MJOLNIR remix of the Halo theme.

Slated to arrive on Xbox Live Marketplace on Thursday, November 22, the song was written, composed, and performed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori, and has Steve Vai on the guitars.

"It's a real pleasure to hear one of the best loved and most iconic themes from Bungie's Halo Universe in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock," noted O'Donnell.

While direct sales of Bungie's Halo 3 led to the first profitable quarter for Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, royalties from Halo-related properties will surely solidify its financial position. The newest novel in the Halo series has taken its place on the New York Times Bestseller list in its first week of sales, Bungie announced today.

Halo: Contact Harvest went on sale October 30 and took the number three spot for trade paperback fiction, although it's slipped to number four since the announcement. It's the fifth novel in the series of Halo-related writings, but it's the first by Bungie's own Joseph Staten, who wrote the story and directed the cinematics for the Halo games.

The novel apparently explores the first contact made between humankind and the evil Covenant.

Beginning December 11, three new multiplayer maps will be available for players of Bungie's Halo 3 (X360). Titled the Heroic Map Pack, its three maps--Foundry, Rat's Nest, and Standoff--will be downloadable from the online Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points ($10).

Microsoft describes Standoff (pictured here) as "ideal for mid-sized objective and Slayer game types" due to its symmetrical layout and boulder-filled battlefield. Rat's Nest (pictured here) is said to be "an indoor vehicle paradise" best suited for big team battles, whereas Foundry (pictured here) is "the ultimate Forge map" as players can manipulate and replace every object object within it to create their own custom arena.

The maps will eventually be provided free of charge, similar to Microsoft's efforts with Halo 2's downloadable content as well as that of Epic Games' Gears of War. According to the publisher, players can expect the Heroic Map Pack to be free in spring 2008, "just prior to the next wave of all new 'Halo 3' multiplayer maps."

Update: The promotional site for the offer has been reactivated, providing more details. Apparently, only original Xbox owners who have a current Xbox Live account and migrate their subscription to a new Xbox Live Gold membership after purchasing an Xbox 360 during the specified period will be eligible.

Original Xbox Live subscribers with an active account as of as of November 20, 2007, will be considered eligible. Though it's an online promotion, it's also only valid for subscribers living in the United States.

Original story: Want a copy of Bungie's Halo 3 for free? Microsoft will apparently be giving free copies of Halo 3 to anyone in the U.S. or Canada who purchases an Xbox 360 between November 21 and December 21, according to a page spotted by Evil Avatar on the official Xbox site that was quickly taken down.

The registration site for the offer is still up, requiring buyers to log in with the Windows Live ID linked to their gamertag. The site requires a valid Xbox 360 serial number and instructs applicants to enter the code XBX7777 on the online form.

Unfortunately, interested parties may have to wait until after Christmas to join their Halo 3-playing friends, as the site says Microsoft will ship out the games by January 18. Shacknews contacted Microsoft for comment, but has not yet received a response.

NPD has kept its word and released gaming sales numbers for October, revealing game-related revenues of $1.1 billion for the month, a 73 percent year-over-year increase.

Hardware sales brought the biggest increase with growth of 127 percent over last year to $469.7 million. The console sales were led by Nintendo's Wii, which reclaimed its spot atop the hardware sales charts after the Xbox 360's Halo 3-related sales spike last month.

Nintendo actually took the top two hardware spots, with the Wii selling 519,000 units and the portable DS moving 458,000. Microsoft's Xbox 360 came in at a respectable third with 366,000 units sold, followed by Sony's PlayStation family with 286,000 PSP sales, 184,000 PS2 sales, and 121,000 PS3 sales.

On the software side, Bungie's Halo 3 (X360) still topped the charts when considering all editions of the game, but the various versions of... Read more

Update: Xbox Live programming director Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has confirmed that Xbox Originals will not feature achievements. "In order to preserve the integrity of the original gaming experience they provide, they will have the features available at the time of their initial release." he wrote.

Original Story: Fresh off the unveiling of downloadable Xbox Originals for Xbox 360, which are slated to arrive on December 4, Microsoft has released a list of known issues experienced when playing the born-again titles.

A result of the Xbox 360's software-enabled backwards compatibility, similar problems tend to crop up when certain original Xbox game discs are inserted into the system as well.

Bungie's Halo is marred by some "very mild" drops in its framerate. During FASA's Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, the top of the screen "very rarely" undergoes some "minor flickering," and during multiplayer, the "Press A to Continue" message does not display after the host leaves. Bursts of static will randomly occur in Lionhead's Fable, along with some texture issues and a brief pause when removing tattoos.

European gamers will find that Double Fine's Psychonauts will not run at... Read more