The ankle-gun packing, library-glasses wearing, hair-manipulating witch is set to hit store shelves in her self-titled game in October in Japan and January her in the U.S.

But if you think you're a dead ringer for the witch, you need to submit your pictures by Sept. 30. The best looking of the lot will then be posted on Maxim.com for fans to vote on from Oct. 1 to Oct. 23.

The final winner will be selected by Maxim and game developer Platinum Games, awarding the lucky faux Bayonetta an Xbox 360, a 50 inch Panasonic TC-P50X1 HDTV Plasma TV and an Xbox 360 version of the game.

Just don't tell Sarah Palin or it will be no contest.

Bayonetta Contest [Maxim

The modeling was light and the cosplay often stuck somewhere between frightening and confusing. Here, you be the judge.

If you have any doubts as to Miss Carroll's athletic prowess, hit the jump for an action shot that proves once and for all that she could completely kick your head off while standing right next to you. Borderline NSFW.

Pictured: The new Lara Croft is unveiled as a former gymnast ... from Croydon! [Mail Online]

Dragon Quest VIII Mimic Papercraft [PaperKraft.net - Thanks, Sonia]

Lacoste, the tiny alligator obsessed clothier, has officially lost its mind... for Second Life.

Women's Wear Daily is reporting that Lacoste is holding a modeling contest for the "100 most remarkable avatars" on Second Life. Six of the winners will participate in a virtual photo shoot, aka screen shot session, and split $1 million in Lindens, aka funny money. Brian Crecente

Bits and Bytes [WMD, via 3pointD]

It seems that the Lego made Halo weapons and character craze has spread to the point that it now has it's own website. Webmaster and Lego wrangler, Saber Scorpion, has gathered the finest Lego Halo toy makers from around the world and cataloged them all on the Lego Halo Portal. You can peruse the works over over 30 different masters in the art of the little connecting blocks. There are vehicles, weapons, mini figures and some of the craftsmen provide instructions on how to build your own.

Submissions are always being taken, so go explore your Lego skillz and build a Scorpion Battle Tank for the world to see. Flynn De Marco

The Lego Halo Portal [Saber-Scorpion]

With Tomb Raider: Legend soon being released in China, Sina.com, the massive Chinese-language entertainment news site, decided to search for the Chinese Lara Croft. Apparently Karima Adebibe wasn't good enough for them. The contest is featured on a section of their site called, oddly enough, PlayGirl, which is now one of my Firefox bookmarks. The winner receives a cash prize and a photo extra included in the game.

Unfortunately I do not speak Chinese, and the only person I know who does is a woman who would be highly offended by me asking to translate an article about scantily clad women, so I have no idea if the contest is still running, or if not, who won. I think most of us can agree, however, that when adorable Asian women dress up like Lara Croft, we all win. Michael Fahey

Sina.com's Chinese Lara Croft Gallery [via Shanghailist}

The store did not get extra 60GB models to make up for the 20GB shortage. Maybe this is why the Playstation 3 shipments to the U.S. are being reduced. I'll be checking in with Sony P.R. this morning to see what I can find out. Brian Crecente

She's Japan's biggest model and trendsetter. Her name is Yuri Ebihara, affectionately dubbed "Ebi-chan" by all ("ebi" also means "shrimp" in Japanese). She's hocked McDonalds shrimp burgers, digital cameras, turned out flat performances in TV dramas and has appeared in countless women's fashion mags. Next up, Ebi-chan will be starring in ads to promote the Puyo Puyo DS game. Some gripe against her for always having the exact same expression. EVERY TIME. But, who cares? It's Ebi-chan. And there's Sega logo kissing involved. Brian Ashcraft

Ebi-chan *Hearts* Sega [Watch Impress]

We were shocked by this unprecedented flaunting of the E3 dress code. At least Wonder Woman had the decency to put on a pair of star-spangled hot pants. In all seriousness, Monty here is the property of Freedom of Teach, a company that provides models and tutorials to help developers make their game models more realistic. Oddly enough, not everything at E3 is designed to make gamers rush to EB Games and lay down a preorder.

Freedom of Teach [Official Site]

Luscious sometimes Kotaku lass Alice pointed our attention to this amazing Quake paper doll. Don't bother trying to buy it: old as the hills, me bonny lads. But we desperately want one anyway.

Papercraft Quake Marine (Thanks, Alice!)

The BBC has a short but interesting story up about the latest actress to play Lara Croft. Karima Adebibe is the first Croft actress who is allowed to actually talk as Croft.

Karima is the first person that Eidos have actually entrusted to "be" Lara, meaning that she is allowed to speak as the character, rather than just pose.

In the game, Lara Croft is an English aristocrat and world-renowned archaeological expert, as well as an unparalleled athlete and fluent Arabic speaker.

So Eidos has sent Karima on all kinds of training, from the obvious combat and motorcycle routines through to the less obvious, such as elocution and deportment.

"In the beginning, it was a little bit surreal," she told Radio Five Live's Up All Night.

"But because of all the training, I really do feel like Lara Croft now. It's incredible."

Being Croft [BBC]

Eidos has a lot riding on the success of the next Tomb Raider game, so it's no suprise to see them drumming up publicity with the appointment of the latest (read: seventh!) Tomb Raider model: 20 year old London sales clerk Karima Adebibe.

"Karima has all the assets needed to accurately portray the world's favourite female action hero" comments Matt Gorman, Brand Controller for Tomb Raider. Wonder what those could be?

But before Karima can lay claim to supermodel stardom, Eidos is shipping her off for an "SAS survival, combat and semi automatic weapon firing course in Eastern Europe and a crash course in world archaeology, deportment, elocution and etiquette lessons". Whatever happened to the superhero girl next door?

Somehow I missed the 178 pictures of Antonia-clad women over at IGN last week. The babe-obsessed site managed to capture nearly 200 images of attractive brunette women wearing similarly ugly purple bikinis as they attempted to win the right to play the part of Everquest's Antonia at events. The 178 images show enough purple swimsuits and cheap gold high heels to last a thousand stripper-lifetimes.

Antonia Pagent [IGN Babes, via Cathode Tan]