Halo Waypoint, the new virtual home for all things “Halo,” launches today on Xbox LIVE, and will be the exclusive destination for full-episode previews of “Halo Legends” beginning Saturday, Nov. 7. Available for “Halo” fans worldwide following a successful preview period, Halo Waypoint brings all the richness of the “Halo” universe together in one place. Halo Waypoint features daily updates of fresh, exciting content such as developer interviews, trailers and screenshots, exclusive video footage, community activities and the latest “Halo” news.

In addition, Halo Waypoint includes an innovative career system that tracks players’ accomplishments across multiple “Halo” games and gives them new ways to show off their heroic gameplay feats. By downloading and “enlisting” in Halo Waypoint, players will be rewarded with a variety of Bungie-created “Halo 3: ODST” Avatar Awardables for attaining specific Achievements in the game. Rewards vary from stylish T-shirts to full sets of ODST armor. The experience is retroactive, so if players have already unlocked the requisite Achievements, the awards will be ready for them once they enlist in Halo Waypoint.

The first preview episode of the highly anticipated anime series, “Halo Legends,” will debut only on Halo Waypoint. Set to be distributed on Feb. 9, 2010 by Warner Home Video, the rich anthology of anime short films will tell all-new stories in the epic “Halo” saga.

Written and created by an array of renowned anime studios and produced by 343 Industries, “Halo Legends” will explore never-before-told stories based on themes and characters in the vast “Halo” universe. Sponsored by the U.S. Air Force, previews of four new “Halo Legends” episodes will be available only on Halo Waypoint during 24-hour live-streaming events on Xbox LIVE over the next three months.

The first “Halo Legends” preview episode, “The Babysitter,” is created by famed anime house STUDIO4?C, and follows the story of a group of ODST’s who reluctantly accept a Spartan sniper into their strike team. As they embark on a perilous mission to assassinate a high-ranking Covenant Prophet, old rivalries must be reexamined if the mission is to succeed. Watch what happens as the mission progresses into hostile territory, and both the Spartan and the ODST’s discover something important about the other.

You can download the free portal by visiting this link: http://www.360sync.com/HaloWaypoint