This whole Halo 3/Madeleine McCann thing is absolutely retarded. After Bungie was accused by certain morons of referencing Madeleine in its latest teaser trailer for a Halo 3 extension, the story has finally begun surfacing in the British, McCann-obsessed press.

The News of the World has picked up the story, with a headline that reads: "Halo team under fire for Maddie ad." While the article itself doesn't go so far as to demonize Bungie for the incident -- although the the online story's page title goes far enough to call the teaser a "Maddie McCann" reference -- the last line of the story really got on my nerves.

It was last night unclear whether the game manufacturers were planning to alter the name of the missing character before the launch of the new episode.

It's highly likely that Bungie will change the name now that everybody's blown the incident up out of all proportion. The game now couldn't not be about Maddie McCann if they keep the name, because that's what's been forced to the front of peoples' minds. However, here's a pro tip: Madeleine is a common name, it isn't exclusive to one missing British girl who most of America hadn't even heard about before this stupid faux-controversy.

It's not like Bungie said "Hitler, where are you?" Hitler is a name exclusively thought of as belonging to one person. Maddie, unless you're an idiot or the girl's family (or both, if you're someone who thinks leaving a small girl on her own in a hotel room is a good idea), is not. 

It shouldn't have gotten this far.