Don’t you just love Christmas? You get to spend a ton of money buying gifts for people you can’t stand or have endless difficulty buying the right gift for the significant other in life. Since I am the resident shopaholic on Destructoid — I swear it has nothing to do with my womb — I decided to make a list of some of my favourite gamer gadgets, clothing and general collectibles that I have seen throughout the year that would make perfect Christmas gift for someone you know...

First, Nintendo introduces a great new expansion pack for the 3DS,which lets you play with a second circle-pad.Then there’s alist of new games for the Playstation Vita. The initial PC release ofDead Islandwas aconsole dev port, which Techland is fixing. Also,this lady walks like an orangutan.The PSN Play thingy is still happening, and this week sees the release ofBloodrayne: Betrayal, which looks to be a hit amongCastlevaniafans.Batman: Arkham Cityhasa new game plus mode, but who cares about that?...

The Podcastle, Destructoid’s one and only Euro-flavored podcast, is recording in just over an hour. We’d have had this post up way sooner, but I was so busy masturbating and crying that I forgot. Tonight it will be myself, Atheistium, Wardrox and some guy called Wilbo. Wilbo sounds like a tramp’s name, so I am assuming he’ll just drink Special Brew and flash his knob at passing schoolchildren before being moved on by the council....

PAX just gets bigger and bigger each year. We love the hell out of this show and are amazed just how grander it gets each time. This year there are two whole floors dedicated to gaming, not to mention HaloFest taking up a floor right across the street. And of course there’s all the tabletop and free play areas too. Not only that, but the cosplay keeps getting better too. There weren’t too many standouts on Friday, but today’s cosplayers were out in full force....

The first Call of Duty: XP came to a close the other night and overall I think the event was a good first attempt by Activision. There were definitely some problems, but it was a fun environment despite some hiccups. Nick Chester and I went around the compound checking out the various fun things to do, like the sumo wrestling and a room full of the guns that have appeared in pastCall of Dutygames....

If you were wondering where the DOJO update post was last week, I held off because I knew today was going to bethe final updatefrom Sakurai on the DOJO Web site. Yup, after all this time, the DOJO has finally closed its doors. Sakurai talks a little about how he came up with the idea for the DOJO and thanks everyone that has helped the DOJO out. Sakurai drops some stats on the DOJO Web site and most notable is that the DOJO had over seven million views in just one week....

You may remember thatStrong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People, featuring all of your favorite characters fromHomestarrunner, was due for a July release on WiiWare. Well, July ends today. So, why am I not hanging out in Strongbadia with the tire? It seems we’ve hit a small delay. Telltale Games has submitted the game to Nintendo and it’s currently working its way through the approval process. Apost in the Telltale forumsoffers a little explanation:...

Two weeks have gone by since Harmonix rocked our world with thefirst full album ofRock BandDLC, and it appears that they’ve exhausted their lineup of “triple-A” songs that everyone has been requesting. So instead of more Judas Priest, someMuse, or, I don’t know,anything else, we’re stuck with two songs I’ve never heard of, and one lackluster song by one of my favorite bands. Next week, Harmonix will be bringing you “Date With The Night” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and “It Hurts” by Angels & Airwaves, two songs that I’m not familiar with....

This isn’t the first we’re hearing about Devo tracks coming toRock Band, but here’s a good confirmation: next week’s DLC will include two Devo songs, both re-recorded by the band for the game.“Girl U Want”and“Through Being Cool”will be available for 160 MS Points ($1.99 a piece) next Tuesday on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, and Thursday for PlayStation Network. But even more exciting, for me, at least, is the announcement that Duran Duran’s“Girls on Film”and“Rio”— both master recordings — will also be available for download for 160 MS Points ($1....

So while it seems like we’ve talked about this five or six times since it wasannounced last December, here we are again — Pearl Jam’sTenis coming to theRock BandMusic Store. When? Next week, Tuesday and Thursday on Xbox LIVE Marketplace and the PlayStation Store, respectively. The downloadable tracks will make the full album in conjunction with “Alive,” which appeared on theRock Band 2disc. The 11 tracks can be downloaded as a pack for $17....

We’ve all heard about how dangerous videogames are from a variety of crackpots who vilify their violent content and penchant for teaching kids how to murder people, but it’s not often that the virgin-white Wii is branded dangerous. Fortunately, Dr. Bret Bruderhas come outto keep America’s idiocy levels rising, by claiming that the Wii is a dangerous machine ready to ensnare and then hurt unsuspecting gamers. The emergency department doctor warned viewers about the perils of Nintendo’s albino wagglebox on Cincinnati television, pointing out how complaints ranging from sore muscles to outright injuries are piling up....

When it comes to videogame-related t-shirts, there seems to be a hell of a lot more crappy designs than there are good ones. Slapping a giant, usually unattractive game logo on a black shirt? I’ll wear it to the gym, maybe, but you’d be seriously pushing your luck. This fine product from Capcom, on the other hand … wow. How can you say no to that? Comic-Con attendees can get one of these bad boys for simply playing a co-op level inResident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles....

Nine new songs are coming to the ever-venerableRock Bandthis week. The big headliner band isThe Offspring, who will be offering up three songs for download as part of a package. It will include the lovely songs “Gone Away,” “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy),” and “Self Esteem.” All of the aforementioned songs are terrible, but only Nick is the real judge of these things. There’s also a prettyhefty smattering of titlescoming out this week, all at the low price of $1....