We’ve been celebrating the relaunch of Bungie.net by playing a few games of Halo 2 in the office this week.  Returning to the Halo world is a bit like riding a bike and after just a few games of capture the flag, we were already desperate to run up the medal count with crazy stunts.  James (Gamertag: Kingkatt) would storm in going for the roadkill medal while Graeme (Gamertag: Aceybongos) took up a sniper position and went straight for a killtacular medal.

As before, the Bungie.net site lets you see some incredibly detailed stats from Halo 2 games you’ve played – including layouts of each map with where you and your opponents were when the battle unfolded.  There were some interesting discoveries made, including James’ surprise at a whopping 2310 games played.  With 17290 kills under his belt, he’s a man to be reckoned with but that’s not going to stop us from trying to take him down with the flag!

The re-launch has also given Bungie some space to add Halo 3 stats and analysis to the site and while that’s not available just yet, we can’t wait to see what new medals await for our online trophy cabinet.  With the game out later this year, we’re dying to get our hands on the new kit including the Spartan laser, which promises to be a formidable new weapon with which to take on the Covenant.

This week also sees the release of the expansion for Oblivion.   Shivering Isles promises a raft of new content, not least of which is a whole new world to explore that is almost equivalent in size and scope to the full game.  A truly epic new adventure for those who have finished the main campaign of the original game, role-playing fans will not be disappointed by this new realm.

Don’t forget to check out the highlights from last month’s snowboard design competition run exclusively from the Xbox Newsletter. The quality of entries was incredibly high in this competition and the winner should now be tearing down the slopes on their new, one-of-a-kind Xbox custom board.

By Mark Eveleigh, Xbox.com Editor. Gamertag: Making Sparks