The voting for our Guilt O’ Lantern contest wrapped up last night – and the winners are now visible. Congratulations to the winners… and thanks to all the voters! First and second place were solidly taken – but third-place was an EXTREMELY close-fought battle, with the lead changing hands a dozen times in the past few days. The final tally had Jericho’s pumpkin taking the slot by just 7 votes. (Interestingly enough, the winning design was popular enough to take second place in last year’s competition – different carving, but same base image.) Prizes will go out pretty soon!(Louis Wu 15:37:55 UTC)

The Escapist runs a weekly series called ‘This Week in Gaming History’ – Halo plays a decent-sized role in the current installment.(Louis Wu 15:24:27 UTC)

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)