Our Favorite Things: Last-Minute Gift Ideas (Day Three)

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Dark Souls ($60)

Dark Souls is a great gift for someone you don’t want to see for a while. It’s a game that demands undivided attention from the player, due to its brutal but calculated difficulty. Let your guard down for a second as you traverse Dark Souls’ open fantasy world, and you’ll be dead, banished back to a remote check point with all your in-game currency stripped away. The intensity of Dark Souls serves a higher purpose, to draw the player further into the game’s gloomy environs, where almost everything seems to damned and forsaken. Heavy stuff, man.

(MORE: The 10 Games I Want to Play Most in 2012)

GarageBand for iPad ($5)

Apple doesn’t need to make its own iOS apps when it has the support of so many developers, but I’m glad the company occasionally shows everyone else how it’s done. GarageBand is a powerful music creation app for skilled musicians and amateurs alike, thanks to a combination of virtual instruments, preset sounds and support for external guitars, microphones and audio samples. For prospective iPad buyers, GarageBand adds curb appeal. For existing owners, it’s a steal at $5.

iCade ($100)

When I first saw ION’s iCade at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, I couldn’t believe it. The product, which turns the iPad into a mini retro arcade cabinet, began as an April Fool’s joke on ThinkGeek, and turned real due to popular demand. The iCade mainly relies on Atari’s Greatest Hits app, but other app developers have also added support for the cabinet’s joystick and buttons. Normally priced at $100, it’s on sale now for $90.

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