Well… I was planning on gussying up the interface a bit (my php skills are just SLIGHTLY better than they were last year at this time…), but time is an omnibus. (Don’t even ask.) The deadline for entries to our 343 Guilt O’ Lantern pumpkin carving competition came and went last night… and when the dust settled, there were 53 entries. Some are funny, some are simple, some will take your breath away. The rules for judging are the same as they were last year: you have five votes, they all count evenly. You have a week to cast them (though you have to cast them all at once; you can’t vote for 3, then come back and vote for 2 more). Voting opens right now, and will close sometime next Tuesday, late. (Or maybe Wednesday morning, if I’m not around Tuesday night.) Please, please, PLEASE read the directions – if you vote for the wrong pumpkins, those pumpkins are getting your votes, because we’re not messing with stuff. Look over ALL the pumpkins; if you pick 5 from the first page, you’ll be skipping some killer entries. In fact, the ‘next page’ button at the bottom of the page simply cycles around; once you’re done, you start over. So look through everything, maybe ruminate for a day or two, THEN vote. (Or vote right away – but look at everything first.) If you’ve forgotten what the winners go home with, check back on our contest page for the prize lists. Tell your friends to vote – but don’t tell them HOW to vote; make this a fair contest, no ballot stuffing! This is all about fun, and I gotta say, there are some amazing pumpkins again this year. Go see!

Marty Wells sent along a couple of pictures (this one and this one) showing 2 months of work for the Halloween costumes they wore last night, a “fun night of costume contests and bar hopping.” The original filename of the first one was “My name is Michael J Caboose and I hate BABIES.JPG” – do you think they’re RvB fans? Pretty nice work!

Ben Hollis writes to let us know that XBList has been updated to version 2.0; it’s now compatible with the new Xbox.com, has the ability to load XBL Gamer Tiles as well as Halo 2 emblems, and can popup notifications when your friends sign on and off. It’s a Windows program. Check it out!

MLGPro has completely overhauled their site and forums; the focus is much more on user interaction. I could live without some of the Flash… but it’s certainly more powerful from a community-building standpoint. Reaction on their forums is split between folks who love it and folks who hate it. Video on Demand, while still not Mac-accessible, is now FAR more searchable and sortable. And there are a few new articles to read over, some about the changes, others of more general interest (there’s a player spotlight on Ogre 2, for example). Check it out! Thanks to several people for pointing this out – Ryan Etsell was first.

There’s a writeup of Saturday night’s Video Games Live concert in Seattle over on Bungie.net; sounds like the Bungie guys had a pretty good time! Marty says I shouldn’t give up on the concert series… Marty’s a pretty nice guy. I can definitely get behind Frankie’s call for more cowbell! (His ‘First’ post on our forum actually made me laugh.)

CROSSFIRE submitted his vid, ‘Hell Quarters’, to the MPRRS last night – and it passed with flying colors. Reviewers liked the camerawork, the ambience, the action-driven story. You can grab a copy in WMP9 format (49.6 mb) or QuickTime format (51.1 mb). Worth watching!

Overswarm has submitted a slew of articles for his ‘Not So Common Sense’ Strategy Guide – you’ll find a pair of interviews (Hotshy and Gh057ayame), a video walkthrough of Midship, and an article called ‘Relearning Instinct‘, talking about habits that can trip you up. Check ’em out!

Z dropped us a note about a couple of vids to be had over at halo2forum.com; some great FFA gameplay filmed by ItWasLuck (quality is superb, and the gameplay is intense, especially as the game gets going), and a frenetic montage from HockyFreak22, with lots of sticks, snipes, and effects. (Z also wanted to point out a new montage contest starting December 1 – the prize is an Xbox360.) Go check it all out!

splode, a site devoted to gaming swag, has generously kicked in to the prize packs for the 343 Guilt O’ Lantern contest – we’ve got bumper stickers and t-shirts for all three prizewinners. (This is one set of prizes you can snag for yourself, even if you don’t win – the tees are about $15, and the bumper sticker (“my other car is a warthog”) is under $2. Check ’em out!) w00t!

Stuntmutt goes with a holiday-themed Monday strip for today’s One One Se7en. I hear moaning already!

Two more notices about Stephen Cawood’s Halo 2 Hacks book popped up today – Game News says it’s ‘totally fresh’, and an official press release (with links to sample text and info about the author) can be found at gameindustry.biz. Check it out!

Fourteen new stories in the Fan Fiction section over the weekend. Go read!

devildeggs owns a set of Nightmare Armor, and is considering selling it. No prices yet… but it looks like he’s feeling out interest. Let him know if that’s you!

Over at IGN, there’s a pretty interesting article on the matchmaking system on Xbox Live that will be ushered in with the Xbox360. The current system in place for Halo 2 is used as a comparison throughout the article (from here on in, all games will use the same system, rather than leaving matchmaking up to the individual developers), and the article lays out how the new system might do better. It brings up an interesting point, though – will the new system work with the original Xbox? The article doesn’t say, one way or the other… but if it doesn’t, will there be TWO matchmaking systems in place for games like Halo 2? Thanks, 3Suns.

In what is easily the most dedicated attempt to get a movie out to the Halo Community, PajKajJL submitted his ‘Bulletspeed’ to the MPRRS this morning… for the 8th time. It took two and a half months, and 8 iterations, to get through the rating system with a passing grade… but the work was worth it – the final product, a machinima piece about a pair of anti-terrorist agents working to protect a city, is nicely polished. QuickTime (33.8 mb) or WMP9 (32.4 mb) format. Go get it!

MrHen pointed out today’s Unshelved, a webcomic about libraries – it takes a funny shot at videogamers (and Microsoft, I suppose). Go read!

Over on Stuntmutt’s blog, you can find a bunch of guest One One Se7en strips sent to him recently (including one he did himself, but decided was a bit too uncouth to include in the normal collection). He also pimps the Blow Me Away Charity Auction – especially his contribution. You’ll make him feel really good if you bid a lot for it.

Jillybean sent word that there was a ‘small’ Halo Story Page update. Dunno… looks pretty meaty to me! Go read.

Podtacular has released Episode 20, with custom gametypes and call-ins from fans. Go listen!

There’s a slightly unusual piece of dialogue from Cortana on Halo’s Truth & Reconciliation level; it comes at the end of the hangar bay (after the pair of Hunters). It has to be really quiet to hear it; it is in our transcript of the level, but jman571 just sent us an audio recording of the line, so for anyone ELSE who’s missed it, it’s now immortalized in our Dialogue Databank. Enjoy! (For those wondering about my title for this news post… it’s always struck me as odd that the Covenant would put such a ridiculously large encryption key on a random door… but leave their battlenet unsecured.)