I've been fascinated with Deep Silver and Daedalic's The Whispered World has looked from the very beginning, and it seems perhaps the rest of the world is equally as thrilled -- the game has garnered six nominations at the prestigious German Game Developer Award 2009, including Best Game Design, Best Graphics, Best Youth Game, Best Story and Best Soundtrack, not to mention Best German Game of the Year. Nice!

The awards take place December 9 at Lichtburg in Essen, Germany, so let's hope the game sweeps them. If you'd like to learn more about the lovely title that has all the nominations, you can get a better look at it here at the official site. It's not due out until next year, but it definitely looks like something worth looking forward to.

Unless you're the type that confines yourself to your home and orders all your Christmas gifts through Amazon (not the world's worst idea, really), you're likely to go to a mall at least once this holiday season. If you do, you just might bump into Nintendo Holiday Mall Experience. What is that exactly, you say? Well, it'll be a little area set up in certain malls this Holiday season that will allow people to check out a ton of cool Nintendo games.

Featured will be Wii Sports Resort, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Fit Plus, Style Savvy, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Sure, maybe you've been reading about those games for months now, but the whole Holiday Mall Experience is really geared more towards the person who doesn't voraciously consume game blogs like the air they breathe. You can also check out the way MotionPlus works and download demos for your DSi. Got to hand it to Nintendo -- they're trying to turn the world into gamers, and I appreciate that -- makes it easier for me to explain my primary hobby to people!

When I was younger, I played all sorts of games, but now that I fit into that dubious "gamer over 30" demographic, I've noticed an interesting development: I really like games that chill me out. I guess it could come across as boring to some, but I'm too busy digging it to really care. I mean, I confessed to all of you that I loved Diner Dash, so if you don't think I'm a loser already, you never will.

I chatted with the staff about their favorite chill out games too, and between all of us we came up with a list of games you have to play when you're wiped out, nursing your hangover, or any other time you don't have too much brain power to spend, but still want to game. Hit the jump for our recommendations!

Halloween puts me in a good mood every year -- a whole holiday just dedicated to being scared. It's like heaven to me! The folks over at FEARnet know how I feel, and they provide the kind of horror goodness I love 24 hours a day. So when they said they wanted to do a giveaway on Destructoid, well, I was pretty down for it.

To celebrate what they call FEARtober (look after the jump for more details on that), they have given us a huge Grand Prize to give away, which includes an 80GB PS3, a copy of Fallout 3, Resistance 2, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, and a signed poster from the cast of Fear Clinic, which is FEARnet's newest online series. That ought to keep you busy inbetween passing out candy to trick-or-treaters!

We will also choose five first prize winners who will get one game of their choice from a limited selection (Fallout 3 (PS3), Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (PS3), Resistance 2 (PS3), Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360) or Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360)) and a signed posted as well. In other words, six total chances to win, and the contest is open to all countries. So what do you have to do to win this stuff?

Hit the jump to go to the comments and tell me what you think the best horror game of all time is and why. As you may have gathered from my choice of header picture, mine is Silent Hill 2. I'd tell you why, but I'm not eligible to win so I'll leave it to you! If you want to write an essay, a song, make a video, whatever, feel free to do it. The contest runs through November 2nd at midnight EST. Good luck -- this seems like a good reason to replay some old favorite horror games, doesn't it?

[Update: Winners were announced here!]

Surely any fan of the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series is wondering what to expect from the upcoming Wii title The Crystal Bearers. After all,you have Bon Jovi doing the music for the commercial (whoa), the ability to use your enemy as your weapon, and the fact that the game has a December 26th release date (why the day AFTER Christmas?).

We considered the best people to reveal all these mysteries and more were probably Square Enix themselves, and lucky for us, we got a chance to talk to them about itm specifically with Crystal Bearers producer Akitoshi Kawazu. Follow me past the jump to learn how much gameplay you can expect to get out of The Crystal Bearers, why they chose to work with a non-traditional control scheme and much more. 

So maybe you didn't win the Alienware laptop you were hoping for from our Shiaya contest, and you were down about it. That is totally okay -- because I'm about to give you the chance to win another one. In fact, our newest contest gives you the chance not only to win a beautiful Samsung Netbook (see specs after the jump), but we also have an 8GB iPod Nano and a 4GB iPod Shuffle for you too. Good prizes are good!

So here's what you do to get a chance to win them: head over to Redbana.com and make an account with "Dtoid" at the beginning of the name. For example, I would make the username "DtoidColette". To get a chance at these prizes, create a character in the free-to-play dance game Audition and get it to level three. Once you get there, you've entered the contest. Easy as can be!

This contest will run through the 28th of October and we will choose three winners. You can enter no matter what country you live in, so don't let that stop you. If you have any questions about this contest, please feel free to contact me at colette@destructoid.com. Good luck to everyone and have fun dancing!

Update:  We're live!  http://www.justin.tv/destructoid  ... but just for another half hour!

We have raised over $4,000 in the last 24 hours but that's still a tiny amount to what's realistically needed to cure cancer and EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS no matter how small.  Got a buck? Donate now!  http://extralife.destructoid.com

What we're doing now:  BEATLES ROCK BAND!  We're taking requests - send them our way! Since 8am we've been gaming non-stop and we are almost done. (The chat room is right above our studio, we can seeeeeee you)

What you may have missed: Niero's spontaneous podcast! You had to be there, we covered everything from the meaning of life and bad choices in graphic design software.  We also played Geikisha Boy 2, fought Nazi zombies in Modern Warfare, played God Hand, Plants vs. Zombies, Niero failed to rescue (we tried again at 4am, it happened!) Michael Jackson in Space Channel 5 part 2 so the bad people in space took him away from us forever, just like in real life! We have this and more weird PS2 games coming as we go into the night. Colette made sammiches!  Niero beat Tetris level 9-5 on Tetris and launched a space shuttle. Rey turned blonde and Gabe lost his voice screaming: we just played a Japanese game called Super Mic Chan where you play mini-games by screaming.  Have you played Mr. Driller? Imagine Screamo Driller. Nuff said. Before that some weird guy trying to pay Colette a complement which turned into the funniest meme ever, you had to be there. Our Dreamcast melted after Leonard Nemoy's Seaman followed by Samba De Amigo, fired up 4-way I ma3d a gam3 with zomb13s in it!!!, got eaten alive at Ikaruga, Colette cosplayed as Mitsuru from Persona 3 and summoned various strange characters and am halfway through first quest of Zelda, Rey finished most of Uncharted 2, Niero beat Space Harrier II, Mega Man 2 and Noah's mission in Bible Adventures (seriously) by request, bizarro Chad Concelmo performed asombroso, we sang Sarah McDuckling accapella, we beat Legend of Kage, suck at Double Dragon II and Strider, completed a 2-hour session of face-melting Rock Band 2 song requests, beat the Citizen Kane of video games Altered Beast, beat E.T. on the 2600 while wearing a rubber horse head, played Fear 2 (aka Modern Warfare 42), and Mass Space Effect. 

We started Saturday 8am and our marathon will run through the night, ending at 8 AM Sunday. Want to donate something to sponsor our efforts? Head here to do so. It can be a totally minimal amount (or if you feel really inspired by our antics, a big fat amount), but no matter what, it all counts. You can comment in our live feed, too, so make sure to come in and chat us up. See you in the chat room!

Special thanks to all of our donors below!

What does it feel like to be a super hot chick who can deftly kick the asses of large groups of thugs all while looking great and managing not to rip the small amount of clothing you are wearing? Well, that's how the Fighter feels, one of the primary classes in Dungeon Fighter Online. Nexon was kind of enough to share an exclusive video with Destructoid of how she plays in the free MMO, and now you can check out the action.

If you want to try out this sidescrolling multiplayer fun, you can head over to the official site and download the client to check out the game for free. My username on there is DtoidColette, so if you want to play a few games feel free to send me a message anytime -- it's more fun when you play with more people!

When I was a kid, my absolute favorite holiday-related thing to do every year was carve a pumpkin. We never did anything totally off the wall, but I just enjoyed the whole ritual every year. Now, I see stuff like this epic project, and I think I need to get off my ass and do something similarly awesome since I love Halloween crafts so much.

Spotted over at 8 Bit Fix, this set of four pumpkins totally rocks and even features a Miyamoto design. The creator is also responsible for those epic Punch-Out!! scarves you may remember from way back when. All I can say is, this beats the hell out of wasting your time with the pumpkin carving sim. NOW we're talking. I wonder if I could pull off a Persona 4 pumpkin....

We know there's a lot of ideas out there for custom creations using the Wiimote and nunchuk, but this one might be one of the weirdest of all. How about a Nunchuk controller furry tail that you can wear and even make swish from side to side? 

Controlled by RFID "mood cards", you can use them to control which way the tail wags, or you can also use the Nunchuk to do so. So, uh, why would you want to wear a movable tail? Well, there's two options: either it's Halloween, and you're planning some sort or animal costume, or you're into this. It's not my thing, but you know , if it's yours, you can wag your tail with a Wii accessory. I'm sure Miyamoto would be thrilled to hear about that.

All excited about your shiny new PSPgo and want to put some brand new games into it? Well Rockstar wanted to make that easier on you, so they announced the Legacy Collection today, which includes Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, Manhunt 2 and Midnight Club: L.A. Remix. You can now download all three games for your PSPgo or PSP system from the PSN store. A little something to get you on the go while you're on the go!

Also, Rockstar is premiering their own storefront on PSN. As of October 22nd, this store will feature a ton of titles both classic and new for download to the PSP, including Grand Theft Auto's Vice City Stories, Chinatown Stories, Liberty City Stories, The Warriors and Beaterator. It sure seems like a great time to be a PSP owner, with all these goodies popping up left and right. Now if I could only tear myself away from PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe...

Man, let me tell you what I did NOT want for Christmas is a collection of holiday themed minigames, but you know, you say "minigames" and there's someone just waiting to make a Wii game for you. I guess I should be more optimistic -- if I had a kid, we could play Destineer's new We Wish You A Merry Christmas with them and they could meet Santa Claus in the game, therefore taking away all his mystique and proving to them he is definitely not a real person.

The game features six minigames including Deck The Halls, Santa's Sleigh, Hot Chocolate and more. It'll be out on October 27th, so you can buy it early and keep it as a stocking stuffer. Don't be surprised if the person you give it to gives you a box of reindeer poop the following year, though.

I don't even have the words for how looking at these garage kits makes me feel. Well, actually, that's not true. I feel like running around the Dtoid office wearing a hula skirt shimmying and yelping nearly indescribable noises of delight. Spotted in Tokyo Hunter's Treasure Festa round up today, I cannot believe that no one else photographing the Japanese toy event last weekend took scrutinizing photos of these customs from the Persona videogame series.

Shown were Thanatos from Persona 3 and Izanagi and Izanagi-no-Okami from Persona 4. These kits were made by a group of custom artists who go by the moniker of Rampage Ghost, and mark my words, I WILL OWN ONE OF THEM. They are resin and already colored, so all I have to do is put them together. They go for between 7,000 and 8,000 yen, so if you have a means to import them, they can be yours too. DO WANT!

I'm sad that the Taiko no Tatsujin games were not a success in America, but I know why -- the American version, Taiko Drum Master, simply lacked the musical oomph that the original Japanese games pull off so well (and I'm not just saying that because I'm a big Japanese music fan!). There's definitely something unappealing about beating a replica of a taiko drum to a Britney Spears song.

Meanwhile in Japan, sales of the series are as strong as ever, and the Wii version of Taiko no Tatsujin gets its sequel next month. Called Taiko no Tatsujin Dodon to 2 Dai Me, the game boasts seventy songs, including new stuff from chiptune masters YMCK. It seems as if the game will also include an expanded version of the adventure mode from Taiko no Tatsujin DS 2.

The game comes out on November 19th and can either be purchased with the drum peripheral for $89 or without for $56. Guess I better get my wallet ready for another import...