As Addicting as Halflings' Leaf–or Pie

HIGH Addicting tower defense gameplay to while away the hours.

LOW Trial and error scenarios and bland high fantasy package.

WTF Does every fantasy character have to sound like Sean Connery?

One thing that the video game industry needs to be more proactive in is the education of the general public with regards to video game schools or game design programs. When people think of gaming schools, they might think of the ones that get the most coverage like a DigiPen Institute of Technology or Art Institute of Vancouver. However, not everyone gets to attend these shining examples. Some aspiring Shigeru Miyamoto's and Ken Levine's might wind up wasting four years and tens of thousands of dollars at a less than reputable institution. That's where Extra Credits comes in to give some advice for anyone thinking about attending a school to actually become a game creator.

The good people at GungHo recently released six "classic" Japanese PS1 games on PSN. They are currently available in the "Imports" section for $5.99 each, and they're in their "original, unaltered" Japanese state, meaning that no localization work has been done on any of these. In the interest of disclosure, it should be known that GungHo PR sent me a code for all six games for the purposes of evaluation. It should also be known that I had never heard of any of these titles, so I was walking into all six with a totally clean slate.

I'm quite happy to say that my oldest son, age 11, will be flying in this weekend to spend Christmas with us. We plan on chopping down a Christmas tree and catching a showing of The Hobbit, but other than that, I think we are going to lay low and just hang out as a family… we may play a few video games as well. Maybe.

At long last, the in-depth Borderlands/Borderlands 2 discussion that has for too long been stricken from our main show. For a grueling six hours we tear into every possible facet of the Borderlands franchise, from secret relationships of the NPCs to Randy Pitchford's favorite breakfast cereal. Featuring Richard "Sniper" Naik and Tim "Going in Guns Blazing is Always an Appropriate Course of Action" Spaeth.

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HIGH Finding that final piece of gear that completes a set.

LOW Tossing out the 8 millionth piece of gear your character class can't use.

WTF Did a $20 Diablo II clone really wind up a better game than vaunted Diablo III?

So, Far Cry 3. I can't say that I've been a fan of this series, but all the pre-release chatter had piqued my curiosity, and it seemed as though the game was going to attempt to tell a more serious, darker sort of story.

Player in Distress

HIGH Cleverly using gems to reach hitherto secret areas.

LOW Dying, dying, dying all the time.

WTF Why is that giant waiter so angry at me?

Here are some things that I took away from what I saw of the VGAs...

Alimentary, My Dear Watson

HIGH "You control Sherlock Holmes."

LOW The terrible frame story populated by hideous children.

WTF You control... a dog?