The titular heroine will be a standalone character in Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns. Many of the available actions and decisions that players take will speed up or slow down the world’s demise.

It’s 12/21/2012, so if the nuts out there are to believed, today is the last day for good old planet Earth. Let’s send it off with a one minute mashup, courtesy of Chad Neidt. (Thanks Jayhawk!)

The Awesomer favorite Herman Yung of Doobybrain found this fun take on the trendy 5-panel cap hidden amid the accessories at Urban Outfitters. It’s a good hat and a conversation piece in one.

Affordable gifts that are still worthy of the moneyed Leica fan. These limited-edition coffee mugs sell for $35 and are based on Leica’s Noctilux-M 50 and Summarit-S 70 lenses. Call Leica USA to order.

The Lumiblade is a modular diffuse light source that uses OLED panels. It’s bright but very thin and does not get uncomfortably warm, making it easy to integrate into various surfaces. More at Dezeen.

(NSFW: Language) A family was enjoying a day out in Montreal when what appears to be a golden eagle swooped down and tried to snatch their baby. Update: it’s fake, it’s a 3D animation project.

An elegant 2012 Rolls Phantom heads out to the country for a quiet Sunday drive – assuming your idea of a Sunday drive includes shredding lawns and burning rubber with a 454hp V12.

An incredible bit of trickery pulled off by magician Yann Frisch at the 2012 Beijing International Magic Convention. Our heads nearly exploded when that fourth ball just appeared out of nowhere.

One of four new videos released by developer Epic Games, showing gameplay footage from the upcoming shooter Gears of War: Judgment. This video is from the single player campaign.

Milton High School student Zach Hodskins was born with only one arm. But that didn’t stop the high school junior from playing and keeping pace with other players and is now being scouted by colleges.

Street Fighter x Mega Man takes the Blue Bomber back to his NES era, but with characters from the Street Fighter series. The game will be available for free on 12/17/12. (Thanks Seanrobot!)

It has a matte black body and wheels and M racing stripes, just like the race car of 2012 DTM winner Bruno Spengler. Buyers can attend a training course with Spengler himself. More at BimmerPost.

James McVay created the MechBass as his Engineering honors project at Victoria University of Wellington in 2012. The machine makes quick work of the intricate bassline from Muse’s Hysteria.

A silly, but heartbreaking look at one of the staple “enemies” of the Mario Bros., the lowly Goomba. A labor of love by Filipe Costa and his entry to the 2012 Machinima Interactive Film Festival.

It still really has nothing to do with Seinfeld, but the second episode of Matin Comedy’s Game of Thrones sitcom is still backed with laughter and applause at the most hilariously inappropriate moments.

Pay what you want for PC Steam copies of six of the beleaguered publisher-developer’s best current generation games plus soundtracks with the option to donate your payment to two worthy charities.