This is… amazing. A cosplayer and a designer have teamed up to build a helmet with 25,000 Swarovski crystals on it, and are selling it on eBay to raise money for the Make-A-Wish foundation. There is still over a week remaining on the auction – current bid is a bit over $3500 US. (The helmet is in Taiwan, and being auctioned by Xbox Taiwan.) Whether or not you can afford this, you owe it to yourself to at least go look. Thanks to Tex for the heads-up on this.(Louis Wu 19:54:32 UTC)

I’m beginning to get nervous – we might have left the launching of this year’s Guilt O’Lantern contest too late to actually be viable. There are only 3 days left for entries, and as of now, we don’t have enough to even HOLD the contest! Please… won’t you consider the baby squash? Carve your pumpkin today! (And send us the pictures.)(Louis Wu 21:18:32 UTC)

Congratulations to Jordan117, whose gamertag was picked at random from the pool of folks who entered our Lockeout contest – he gets to spend the next few hours downloading Halo 5! (Well, and playing it after that, of course.) Thanks to everyone who entered, and thanks to 343, for the code! If you didn’t win, here’s hoping you find another way to grab a copy, because this game is pretty serious fun.(Louis Wu 18:19:27 UTC)

After the successful launch of their latest game, 343 Industries is revealing from behind the scenes in episodes 3 and 4 of season 3 of The Sprint. These are some of the best videos to watch for those interested in Halo, video game development or the old school vidocs that used to accompany game or DLC launches. (Thanks ChrisTheeCrappy!)(MacGyver10 18:18:30 UTC)

We had Bonnie’s take on the release of Halo 5, but here a little late (from us, not them) is Josh Holmes penned launch into Halo 5.(MacGyver10 18:02:13 UTC)

Thanks to our friends at 343, we’ve got a digital copy of Halo 5: Guardians to give away – and please, blame me, not them, for the fact that you’re going to win it tomorrow instead of yesterday. But hey – free is free, right? Swing by our contest page, sign up, and you’re in the running! Winner will be picked tomorrow – you’ve got just under 24 hours to get your name in!(Louis Wu 19:48:45 UTC)

For those that Twitter!

Tip: Use the #Halo5 hashtag & Twitter will automatically add a custom Emoji of the iconic Master Chief helmet pic.twitter.com/nLkBT4n3C8

— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) October 26, 2015

(MacGyver10 21:27:40 UTC)

The latest episode of Hunt The Truth is live a little early (some video game launches tomorrow or something). Maya risks it all to spread the truth, the anomaly is revealed, and a new hero rises on Laika III. (Thanks Grizzlei!)(MacGyver10 21:18:04 UTC)

Since today is the day before the launch of the latest game in the Halo franchise, you can expect to see a LOT of reviews to start popping up today. Here are the ones that have been shared on our forum so far! REMEMBER, there may be some campaign spoilers in these, so be forewarned!

• Reclaimer Hub
• Giant Bomb
• The Verge
• IGN
• Polygon
• Eurogamer (Campaign only)
• Best Game Ever
• Kotaku

(MacGyver10 16:11:16 UTC)

Alexis shared a beautiful blog post from Bonnie Ross, head of 343 Industries, where she reflects on what brought her and her team to this point before Halo 5’s launch. These are the kind of things I like to see developers share, as their passion for a game can be contagious!(MacGyver10 16:07:53 UTC)