So I was over at Hawty McBloggy’s this morning, and I have to say, I’m sad. I think she must have written this rant after that game we played last night – it was only one game (she booted me after the post-game lobby), but pretty much every complaint she had came from that one 8-minute stretch. (It was a very weird multi-team slayer/CTF/VIP conglomeration in a playlist that only existed for a few minutes.) I’m really sorry, Hawty. I thought you understood that all the weapons were put there for me. Next time, I’ll leave you somet -ooh, look, a rocket launcher! And a sniper! Lemme just grab those before I get in the warthog and drive off alone.(Louis Wu 13:40:33 UTC)

RandomSauce let us know that the fourth Real7alk podcast has been released – guests include ForgeHub and Bryan Simon (who even gives a live performance). Go listen! And if you like what you hear, swing by their forum and join in the community.(Louis Wu 12:47:51 UTC)

The Halo 3 tournament portion of the World Cyber Games finished up yesterday – Canada’s EndResult took first place, followed by France’s SSK in second, and the USA’s Mob_Deep in third. Congrats to all who participated!(Louis Wu 12:47:09 UTC)

TTL Demag0gue let us know that Reclaimer 101 is up – and suddenly, the story looks more familiar.(Louis Wu 12:46:23 UTC)

News from McFarlane – a couple of interesting announcements. They’ve announced a new series of mini-figures – 2.5 inches, sold in 3-packs, available in March; you can check out the pics on their site. Also, they’ve released a “Top 10 ‘must Have’ Holiday Toys For $10” list – two of these figures are Halo figures. If you’re thinking about giving Halo figures to friends/family for the holidays – save some dough!(Louis Wu 12:45:43 UTC)

Superarticulated has put up a review of the Halo 3 Series 3 figures from McFarlane – pros, cons, lots of pics. Check ’em out!(Louis Wu 19:40:31 UTC)

IGN finished up a three-day ‘Top 15 Video Commandos’ series – and Halo’s Master Chief is in the final five. Thanks, WarFreak.(Louis Wu 17:38:41 UTC)

The ‘Cooler Tagline’ contest started by John_117 yesterday has already concluded – looks like we were victorious! That was the fastest Kotobukiya statue we’ve ever won. Now I have to go back through my mail – I seem to recall getting some cool contest ideas not too long ago…(Louis Wu 17:04:44 UTC)

RandomSauce let us know that the sixth installment of Halo 3 Mythbusters is now available at YouTube. Some of these are REALLY cool. A few are just novelties, or demonstrations of oversights in Halo 3 programming… but others have serious potential in competitive gameplay. I’ve got to try out the magnetic equipment trick!(Louis Wu 16:44:10 UTC)

jake108 let us know about Teabag Prevention #27 – tips to keep you from sucking on Foundry. Only read this if you’re on my team, okay?(Louis Wu 16:37:50 UTC)

The fourth episode of DigitalPh33r’s Hard Justice series is now online – it’s hard to be a cop in a town that has different priorities than you do. THanks, AvatarAang.(Louis Wu 16:30:24 UTC)

SonGoharotto has had a hard time finding a group to do the Annual achievement with – but yesterday, he managed it… and took some great pictures. Go enjoy his victory with him!(Louis Wu 16:30:05 UTC)

Last week, Cinema Blend put up an editorial discussing how Halo 3 was killing console multiplayer. There was some discussion on our forum, and a sizeable rebuttal from Narcogen, at Rampancy.net – but I managed to miss a counter-editorial at Cinema Blend itself. (After reading it, I’m not sure that was such a bad thing; the argument boils down to, basically, “multiplayer in most games sucks, and gamers are lazy” – neither of which are really decent arguments.) However, it’s there, and I’m sorry I missed it.(Louis Wu 16:29:32 UTC)

In the weird-but-cool category: John_117 stopped by to point out a thread he’s kicked off on Bungie.net (he’s known as Helveck over there). He wants to know which site, Bungie.net or HBO, has the ‘more comical’ title lines. (You know, those lines that show up in the title bar of your browser; look up to the top of this window to see the currently-loaded HBO one.) If he gets enough votes, he’s going to give away a very generous prize – a signed (by him) Kotobukiya Master Chief statue. (I don’t know if Bungie would even accept something like this – but if he gives it to us, we’d figure out a contest to give it away with.) Go vote!(Louis Wu 21:06:11 UTC)

Only a couple of days remain to vote for your favorite pumpkins in our Guilt O’ Lantern contest… if you haven’t voted yet, take this opportunity to do so! I’m going to close down the voting at Midnight, EST, Sunday night – you’ve got about 37 hours. Make sure your voice is heard!(Louis Wu 15:56:44 UTC)