There's lots of good advice on which are the most valuable perks. (If you want to study all of your options and make a well-thought-out decision, I recommend that you do some online exploring or get your hands on the Fallout 3 strategy guide.) For this tip I'm going to focus on only one: the Here and Now perk.

For me games are an escape from all the stuff that I should be doing, like going for a run, reading something educational, or writing about the game that I’m playing for my job (yes, even game journalists procrastinate their work by playing games). So when the news came out last week that Angelina Jolie was losing her baby weight thanks to a pilates game on son Maddox's DS, gaming websites everywhere jumped all over the story. While the main takeaway seemed to be celebrities + gaming = legitimacy, what struck me was the increasing prominence of self-help software for game systems out on the market. And I don't know if I like it.

World of Warcraft isn't just large in terms of people playing -- the game world itself is also huge, with literally hundreds of square miles to explore. And with today's release of the newest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, that world just got even bigger. So it's not surprising that you can spend as much time trying to figure exactly where you're supposed to be going as you do while playing the game. While some purists consider it cheating to get any outside help, I don't have enough gaming hours in my day that I can afford to waste two or three of them meandering around the continent of Kalimdor trying to figure out just where exactly I need to go to find a hive wall sample for Hol'anyee Marshal. Fortunately, there are a ton of people out there with more free time than me, who have worked together to create great resources for those of us who just want answers. These are some of my favorite websites to hit up when I'm stuck.

One of the more common misconceptions of the video game industry is that gaming journalists are mostly nerdy guys who sit around in cubicles decorated waist high in collectible McFarlane figurines, old N64 game boxes, and abandoned two-liter bottles. While that's occasionally true, the gaming sector has become much more diverse in recent years.

You love sneaking. No, you really love it. There's just something about coming up on an unsuspecting enemy and blowing its head off before it even realizes you're there. So of course you get your sneak skill up to 100 right away, right? Actually, that might not be a good idea.

Gears of War 2 offers unbelievable graphics and Fallout 3 delivers a wonderfully complex set of moral dilemmas, but Peggle Nights, which you can download from Steam for $9.99, will pull you in with the most basic of graphics and absolutely no moral problems, or even story for that matter. Peggle and Peggle Nights are powered by pure addiction, with no extra additives or sketchy chemical enhancements.

Summary: MMO stands for "massively multiplayer online," which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a whole bunch of people who are online playing in the same game at the same time. These online game worlds, which are hosted on servers, are usually built heavily around interaction with other players; this interaction can come in both competitive and social flavors, depending on the genre and nature of the game. While some MMOs are free to play, many charge their players a monthly subscription fee, usually somewhere between 10 to 15 bucks.

Some combat skills are better than others, or at least some are more viable than others. I won't presume to tell you that a gatling laser is better than beating mutants to a bloody pulp with a sledgehammer -- that's entirely up to you. However, some choices are going to make things more or less difficult for you as you navigate through the game.

If you've ever fancied rockin' the fashion world without having to endure the suggestive criticism of Tim Gunn and his Project Runway associates, Pop Cutie! Street Fashion Simulation may be your next best bet.

I love banned books. There's a lot to be learned from a banned book; not only is the content usually notable, but the fact that a particular book was banned can tell you a lot about the people who banned it and the time during which the controversy takes place. Oh, and sometimes they're kind of scandalous -- and we all love a good scandal!