With the holiday season swiftly approaching and the gaming season starting, it is time for us to remember we are to look out for and protect our children. While game ratings are annoying to me, a grown woman, I find them invaluable when picking up video games for the kids in my life.

As with all things, use common sense too. Just because something is rated M, doesn't mean it is a "bad game" that only adults should play. It means you should think very hard about letting an impressionable four year old play that video game. Afterall, sometimes the ESRB rates a game Teen or Mature because of overuse of naughty words. But what if in your home you don't censor language? So you can see how that game suddenly, for some, becomes rated Everyone.

So without further yammering from me....

All ratings are listed from most innocent to most extreme.

Early Childhood
This one will be a big EC in the box and it means the game's content is OK for ages 3 and older. The game also contains no material that parents should find inappropriate.

Everyone
This one will be a big E in the box and it means the game's content is considered by the ESRB OK for ages 6 and older. Parents should note that titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon/fantasy/mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.

Everyone 10+
This one will have a big E10+ in the box and means the game's content is believed to be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category usually contain more cartoon/fantasy/mild violence/mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.

Teen
You will find a big T in the box and it means the game's content is considered to be suitable for ages 13 and older. This category may frequently violence/suggestive themes/crude humor/minimal blood/simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language.

Mature
Look for the big old M in the box. Mature means the game's content is more suitable for persons ages 17 and older. This category will contain intense violence/blood and gore/sexual content and/or strong language.

Adults Only
This one will have a big AO in the box and it means the game has content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category almost always include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.

Rating Pending
You will see the RP usually in ads for unreleased games as they have not yet been assigned a final ESRB rating. Once the game gets it's final rating, the RP is replaced.

Not Rated
Typically, if you pull out a mangifying glass or squint really hard you will see a NR and this almost always relates to online multiplayer. The ESRB has no way of reliably rating online activity.

As for the NR, I can tell you from experience, the single player rating is what you can usually expect from the multiplayer. In this I mean, when I pop onto Viva Pinata Party Animals (Rated E), I watch my language and behave myself. As should all people when in such a situation.

But, when I toss in the old Call of Duty (M), I make sailor's blush and do not take any prisioners, so to speak.

You see how the rating affects my own behavior? I find the same to be true for the most part with most games. There will always be idiots though that could care less about what type of multiplayer they are in and will be rude no matter what. That is why it is important for you, the grown person, to pay attention to your child's online gaming activity just as you would when they go outside and play.

I hope this helps you find the perfect games for the little ones in your life!

There is no getting around it as I look around and see the leaves changing and feel that wind beckoning me: Fall is here. So what if my calendar says it is still a few days away. Since when does Mother Nature follow our calendar?

This time of year I love to cook with pumpkin because, let's face it, pumpkin screams Fall. And this recipe was taught to me by Michelle D. many years ago and I have never found a reason to change it except to substitute nuts and occassionally add chocolate chips.

Yummy Easy Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients
1 small can solid pumpkin
1 box of spice cake mix
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, cashews, etc.)
Powdered sugar (optional)

Method
Either spray your cookie sheet with cooking spray or grease & flour it while heating your oven to 350.

In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients. I find a fork works best to get the pumpkin all mixed in.

Using a spoon, drop the mixture onto the cookie sheet. For rounder cookies, shape a bit. Then bake for 10 minutes. BUT...check your cookies starting at 6 minutes as the cooking time varies according to the amount of cookie "dough" you put on the cookie sheet.

Optional: Dust with powdered sugar or frost.

Notes

1. You can frost these with pre-made frosting. I prefer the coconut frosting for german chocolate cakes and the cheesecake frosting.
2. These do not freeze well but will still be yummy sealed up in a storage bag in the fridge for up to a week.
3. Using a teaspoon, you will get just a tad over 3 dozen cookies.

Sue B. whom won both codes from the Frugally Fabuloso Minecraft Xbox Avatar Masks - Giveaway! Congrats!

E-mail containing codes has been sent!

All you video game fans and video game widows and video game parents. Today is Video Game Day! Whoho!

"A day for video game players to give thanks for the great fun video games have brought to their lives."

You will note it is celebrated annually on September 12.

I'm not sure how I will celebrate. I am thinking some video games followed by some video games and then maybe later on afterwards, more video games.

The real question is which video games will I play today?

What are you playing?

This weekend is hot for gamers. Plenty of new games coming out and that came out. Plus a few multiplayer gaming events for Mass Effect 3, Max Payne 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Mass Effect 3
This weekend is the every other weekend N7 event.

"Unexpected attacks have taken out several squads and damaged vital Alliance equipment. We will deploy drones to repair damage and investigate the nature of these attacks.
Squad Goal: Complete up to and including wave 10 on any difficulty without using a consumable (medi-gel, ammo, Ops pack or Cobra missile launcher)
Allied Goal: Complete 250,000 escort missions on any difficulty.
Special Circumstance: None

Individual Goal Success: All individual players awarded a Commendation Pack
Allied Goal Success: All players awarded a Victory Pack"

Sounds like many players will be taking turns on not using consumables while teammates use theirs.

Max Payne 3
Rockstar has double XP all weekend long on Max Payne 3 for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Usually when these events go on you get a chance to kill a Rockstar too so keep your eyes open for one!

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
The infamous Infinity Ward announced that double XP is live. Unfortunately they failed to mention for what platform and for how long. So, fingers crossed it is all weekend and across all platforms!

Red Dead Redemption
Nothing for Red Dead Redemption this weekend. But a promise of triple XP sometime later this month was issued. The last few times such a promise was made, I found myself getting extra XP randomly all weekend long. Might be worth a bit of multiplayer time, just in case.

Summer is practically gone and so the game studios are starting to release their "big" game titles bit by bit. So, here you go, the list of what to expect in September 2012 in North America.

Please be aware that game studios are notorious for changing release dates so do not yell at me if the dates don't match the actual release. 

Nintendo 3DS 

11th Finding Nemo: Escape to the Big Blue

18th Hotel Transylvania; NCIS

25th Angry Birds Trilogy; Wipeout 3; FIFA 13; Puzzler World 2012 3D; Pro Evolution Soccer 2013; Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure

PC/Mac

4th Far Cry 3; The Sims 3 Supernatural 

11th Battlefield 3 Premium Edition

13th I Am Alive

14th Black Mesa: Source; FTL: Faster Than Light

18th Borderlands 2; Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition; End of Nations

19th Jet Set Radio

20th Torchlight 2

25th World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria; The Testament of Sherlock Holmes

27th FIFA 13

28th Euro Truck Simulator 2 

 

PS3

4th Far Cry 3

11th NHL 13; Tekken Tag Tournament 2; Battlefield 3 Premium Edition

18th Borderlands 2; F1: 2012; Jet Set Radio; Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collector's Set

25th Dead or Alive 5; Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse; One Piece: Pirate Warriors; The Testament of Sherlock Holme; FIFA 13; Angry Birds Trilogy; Pro Evolution Soccer 2013

  

PSN

11th Jet Set Radio 

25th Marvel vs. Capcom Origins; Tokyo Jungle; FIFA 13

PSVita

25th LittleBigPlanet; FIFA 13

Xbox 360

4th Far Cry 3; Fable: The Journey

11th NHL 13; Tekken Tag Tournament 2; Battlefield 3 Premium Edition; NBA Baller Beats
18th Borderlands 2; F1: 2012; Kinect Sports Ultimate; Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collector's Set; Harley Pasternak's Hollywood Trainer; Kinect Nat Geo TV; Kinect Sesame Street TV; Zuma's Revenge! with Bejeweled 3 and Feeding Frenzy 2

25th Dead or Alive 5; Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse; The Testament of Sherlock Holmes; FIFA 13; Angry Birds Trilogy; Wipeout 3; Pro Evolution Soccer 2013

TBA Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown;

Xbox Arcade

5th Dogfight 1942; Kung-Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise 

7th Mark of the Ninja

19th Jet Set Radio 

25th Marvel vs. Capcom Origins

Wii/Wii U 

16th Kirby's Dream Collection 

25th FIFA 13; Pro Evolution Soccer 2013; Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure

You should bookmark this page as I will be updating it throughout September as the studios, shall we say, fine-tune release dates.

So, what games are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments!

With the winter holidays nearly here, only 120 days left until Xmas, 103 days until Chanukah...you get where I am going with this, Frugally Fabuloso is looking to do our annual holiday guide. This year will be slightly different in that the Holiday Guide will be on static pages on this blog instead of a regular blog post.

In order to make things easier the gift guide will be in a variety of categories:

• Little Ones (Babies-Toddlers)
• Kiddos (5-9 years)
• Tweens (10-12 years)
• Teens (13+ years)
• The Gals
• The Guys
• Everyone
• Home

Plus, just so everything is nice and neat and easy to use, there are sub-categories:

• Video Games
• Movies & Music
• Beauty/Grooming
• Gadgets/Tech
• Toys
• Yummies (Food & Drinks)
• Fashion
• Health & Fitness
• Green
• Other

You can find the gift guide the last week of September right here at Frugally Fabuloso and will be updated often until mid-December.


To have your product(s) included, just fill out the handy form below.

Frugally Fabuloso's Holiday Gift Guide Submission
Questions marked by * are required.
1.	Name: *
2.	Email: *
3.	Company Name: *
4.	Category: * -Little Ones (Babies-Toddlers)Kiddos (5-9)Tweens (10-12)Teens (13+)The GalsThe GuysEveryoneHome
5.	Sub-category: -Video GamesMovies & MusicBeauty/GroomingGadgets/TechToysYummies (Food & Drinks)FashionHealth & FitnessGreenOther
6.	Brief Product Description: *
7.	Discount Code for FF Readers:
8.	Product URL/Shop URL: *
9.	Interested in having your product reviewed? * Yes No
10.	125x125 Product Image (2MB Max)
11.	Message:

If you are having problems with the form, feel free to leave a comment below. :)

I find myself in possession of not one, but two codes for some nifty avatar masks so, thinking of you all, here is your chance to win a code (or two).

There is the cow mask and there is the pig mask. Yes, it is for your Xbox Live Avatar. ;-)


How To Win A Code
Comment right here at this post. Be sure to indicated if you want the Cow, Pig or no preference.

Additional Entries
Post on Twitter using #FreeAvatarMask. Not feeling creative? Feel free to use the following:

• I've entered the Frugally Fabuloso Minecraft Xbox Avatar Pig Headgear Giveaway #FreeAvatarMask http://dld.bz/avatarmask
• or
•  I've entered the Frugally Fabuloso Minecraft Xbox Avatar Cow Headgear Giveaway #FreeAvatarMask http://dld.bz/avatarmask

The Rules

• One (1) time entry via non-SPAM comment on the post entitled "Minecraft Xbox Avatar Masks - Giveaway". 
• One (1) Twitter entry per person per day for a total of nine (9) additional entries. If you are going to Tweet, be sure to include your Twitter Name (eg @fateddiva) in your comment here.
• Make sure your e-mail address is readily available to me in the Comments. youremail@(domain).com is acceptable to avoid the email harvesters. No e-mail means no valid entry.
• Be sure to respond to the e-mail within 24 hours or a new winner(s) is picked.
• Codes are sent by e-mail after winning notification response is received.
• Giveaway is open from September 4, 2012 2:30p EST and closes September 12, 2012 11:59p EST.
• Open to everyone, worldwide, 18 and older.

Fine Print

• Winner will be determined by Random.org on September 14, 2010 to ensure fairness. Winner will be contacted via the e-mail address with the codes. Should the winner be unable to be contacted, a new winner will be picked via Random.org and contacted via e-mail. This procedure will repeat itself until someone can be contacted via e-mail.
•  Odds of winning are relevant to total number of entries via comments plus additional Twitter entries.
• This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, promoted or anything else byMicrosoft/Xbox/Xbox Live/et al. But it would be nice if they did sponsor a contest here.
• Participant's e-mail addresses are only for giveaway notification. 
• Codes expire on or about September 16, 2012. Failure to enter codes in time is not Frugally Fabuloso's responsibility.