Holiday Video Games Buying Guide

Look like a rockstar this holiday with your gaming genius... after all, we all like the right gift.

Pity poor gamers. With three incredible systems (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii); two hot handhelds (Nintendo DS, PSP); dozens of highly-rated next-gen console titles; hundreds of MySpace-/Facebook-compatible outings; thousands of downloadable or massively-multiplayer amusements; and countless alternate game-playing devices (iPhone, iPod, self-contained TV Games units, mobile handsets, etc.) to choose from, it could easily take joystick worshippers well until December 2009 just to pick the right holiday gem. Thankfully, after weeks of grueling research – must… nggh… keep… playing… – we’ve done the homework here so you don’t have to.
Certainly, as any insider will tell you, there’s plenty of great ways to get games for free this year (see: InstantAction.com, AddictingGames.com, Kongregate.com, Shockwave.com, etc.). Likewise, you can also enjoy desktop hits for pennies on the dollar (thank online vendors including BigFishGames.com, iWin.com, Reflexive.net and PopCap.com). Or, for that matter, instantly download bargain-priced smashes including virtual classics and exclusive debuts for just $5-15 straight to your console via digital distribution services Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network or WiiWare. But for discerning dweebs, following is a list of several essential picks you’ll want to keep top of mind come that one special day and eight crazy nights.
Note to self: Be sure to read up on how to score extra cash for your time and hard work with free volumes Get Rich Playing Games and The Videogame Style Guide beforehand too. Because as much time as you’re bound to spend with these certified blockbusters in the coming weeks, hey… Let’s just say we hesitate to think just how many of mankind’s greatest works will forever be lost to civilization because closet geniuses were too busy ogling Lara Croft’s high-res buns in Tomb Raider Underworld or enjoying 13-hour marathons of World of Warcraft to bother.
For additional information, also be sure to check out the following podcasts and videos:
Oldies But Goodies
Interested in revisiting the pleasures of your misspent youth, but don’t want waste hours scouring the far corners of eBay? For adventure fans, two great options exist here. Specifically, Telltale Games’ episodic Sam & Max offerings (based on the classic point-and-click series starring a canine private eye and homicidal rabbit) and Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People, a tongue-in-cheek downloadable serial based on the popular Homestar Runner franchise. Both cost just $8.95/installment or $34.95 for a full five-episode season. Good Old Games is also the ultimate one-stop shop for those who cut their teeth on the PC CD-ROM legends of the mid-‘90s. Despite a limited selection, the online retailer lets you download protection-free versions of highly-rated titles like Fallout Tactics, Stonekeep, Descent, Jagged Alliance, Disciples and Operation Flashpoint for $5-10. All titles are patched to run on Windows XP and Vista as well – score!
For the FPS Fan
Publishers are shooting to thrill in record numbers lately, with several great choices available for those who enjoy a good gunfight. Gears of War 2 ($59.99, www.xbox.com) for the Xbox 360 reprises the best-selling sci-fi blaster of 2006, adding online survival co-op action, destructible environments, bigger beasties to slay and more alien-chainsawing action to enjoy. Call of Duty: World at War ($59.99, www.activision.com) for the PC and all major console platforms takes the popular thumb-cramper’s blend of military-themed mayhem back to World War II, featuring a Pacific Theater setting and darker, grittier undertones. Finally, Resistance 2 ($59.99, www.playstation.com) emphasizes giant-scale online battles and combat against massive monstrosities, while Left 4 Dead ($45-55, www.steampowered.com) is all about co-op multiplayer survival horror amidst a Night of the Living Dead¬-style zombie uprising.
Role-Playing Redux
Today’s RPGs are quickly shedding the limitations of their forebears (e.g. half-naked elves, intricate statistics, the stigma of strictly being built for socially maladjusted basement dwellers) in favor of more mainstream topics, intuitive setups and action-packed implementations. For example: Post-apocalyptic opus Fallout 3 ($50-$60, www.bethsoft.com) for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, which reprises the cult classic desktop romp in 3D, forcing you to go all Mad Max and scavenge for food and gear while battling super-mutants and raiders using rifles, portable nukes and makeshift weapons. BioShock ($59.99, www.2kgames.com), a bloodthirsty thriller set in a sinking underwater utopia that lets you hurl ice or fire from your fingertips using snazzy genetic modifications, is also back with a welcome PlayStation 3 update. Also worth mentioning: The eye-opening Fable II ($60, www.xbox.com) for Xbox 360, which lets you play hero or villain in a lifelike fantasy universe where you can marry, have kids, buddy up with a canine companion and let friends enter your world and join in the on fun online. Buy any of these, and you won’t have time or need to play anything else until roughly mid-June…
Online Action
If you’re into hobnobbing around with hundreds of fellow fantasy fans in virtual worlds of might and magic, no question about it: World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King ($39.99, www.blizzard.com) is the must-have MMO choice this winter. The second expansion to the 11 million-subscriber Mac/PC sword-and-sorcery juggernaut, it adds a new hero class (Death Knight), wintry realm Northrend and oodles of additional quests and items. We also advise exploring The Lord of the Rings Online’s latest rendition, which sends chainmail-clad champions deep into the Mines of Moria ($39.99, www.turbine.com) on a search for fame, treasure and glory as two new classes (Runekeeper and Warden). Hint: If it’s running screaming at you out of the dark angrily waving an axe, or sports more than two jagged-edged claws, it’s probably best to start slinging spells or hacking away ASAP.
Sporting News
No question here: The Madden NFL 09 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition ($69.99, www.easports.com) is the way to go for the true ESPN fanatic, bundling the football franchise’s most beginner-friendly and accessible installment yet with celebrated tactical sim NFL Head Coach 09. But basketball buffs will also dig NBA 2K9 ($20-$60, www.2ksports.com) for PC and console platforms, which wows with its custom player creation suite, range of online options and social networking features. NBA Live 09 ($30-$60) further hits nothing but net with the ability to download team and player stat updates daily, keeping the game concurrent with real-world happenings. Ultimately though, fair-weather admirers and serious foam finger wavers alike have a full range of high-quality extreme sports outings (Shaun White Snowboarding), pseudo-athletic challenges (WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2009) and high-energy sims (NCAA Basketball 2009, Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, Tiger Woods 09, Blitz: The League II, etc.) to choose from.
Change is Good
Tired of the same old cookie-cutter sequels? Rest easy. Mirror’s Edge ($60, www.ea.com) has got you covered, featuring Prince of Persia-style acrobatics from a first-person perspective, letting you experience the thrill of leaping between neo-futuristic rooftops through heroine Faith’s eyes. Tom Clancy’s EndWar ($60, www.ubisoft.com) further blows the lid off the real-time strategy genre, allowing you to order hundreds of tanks and troops to fight World War III just by speaking verbal commands. Soul Calibur IV ($60, www.namcobandaigames.com) is all about eye-popping, weapons-based mano a mano brawls atop stunning environments, wowing with its online play and the ability to control guest stars Darth Vader and Yoda. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe ($60, www.midway.com) goes the opposite route, toning down the violence while keeping the brutal, one-on-one fighting game’s quality play intact, and lets you pit Sub-Zero against The Joker, or Catwoman versus Shang Tsung. Other notable picks here include amazingly open-ended trigger squeezer Far Cry 2 ($50-60, www.ubisoft.com), the psychologically terrifying Silent Hill Homecoming ($60, www.konami.com), and quirky button-masher LittleBigPlanet ($60, www.playstation.com), which lets you create your own platform jumping levels.
Off to the Races
With gas prices finally coming down, you may be tempted to peel out with a quickness. Thankfully, doing doughnuts is much safer with titles like Midnight Club: Los Angeles ($60, www.rockstargames.com) for PS3/360, which sends you speeding past familiar Hollywood landmarks. Need for Speed Undercover ($30-60, www.ea.com) for the PC, PSP, Nintendo DS and major consoles also shifts into high gear, tasking you with infiltrating a notorious crime ring while negotiating hairpin turns and breezing past the cops. Off-road thrills also come easy as of late, thanks to top offerings such as Baja: Edge of Control ($60, www.thq.com) for PS3/Xbox 360, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift ($60, www.playstation.com) for PS3 and Pure ($50-60, www.disney.com) for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, while MotoGP ’08 ($40-60) for PC/PS3/Xbox 360 will satisfy any jones for a little two-wheeled rubber burning.
Kids R Us
Little ones have it best of all this season, with a flood of holiday releases deluging shelves in virtually every category. Rather than extol the virtues of, say, High School Musical 3 or We Cheer, we’re simply going to highlight several of the leading choices here, so you don’t get stuck with stinkers like Imagine: Interior Designer or Wall-E. After all, as evidenced by the fact that we’re still bitter 20 years on over that time Dad gave us an ActionMax instead of NES (good choice, Pops!), your child will remember if you try to foist My Little Pony: Pinkie Pie’s Party on them instead of that copy of Pokemon Ranger they’ve been dreaming of. Notable selections here include:
• Animal Crossing: City Folk ($50, www.nintendo.com) – Wii
• All Star Cheer Squad ($30-40, www.thq.com) – DS, Wii
• Nancy Drew series ($20-30, www.herinteractive.com) – PC, Wii
• My Sims Kingdom ($30-40, www.ea.com) – DS, Wii
• Ben 10: Alien Force ($30-40, www.d3p.us) – DS, PS2, PSP, Wii
• Bella Sara ($20-30, www.codemasters.com) – PC, DS
• Petz titles ($20-30, www.ubisoft.com) – DS, PC, PS2, Wii
• Hannah Montana Pop Tour Guitar ($70, www.jakks.com) – N/A
• futureU ($20-30, www.aspyr.com) – DS, PC
• Skate It ($30-50, www.ea.com) – DS, Wii
Music Games
Let’s cut to the chase… If you’ve got a lot of friends handy; prefer playing drums or singing to thrashing along on a plastic axe; and/or dig the idea of creating real-world merchandise based on your fake group, grab a copy of Rock Band 2 ($50-60 game only, $190 with full instrument kit, www.rockband.com) for PS2/PS3/Wii/Xbox 360. If you like the idea of creating your own songs, then uploading them for friends to enjoy or peers to ridicule, and live for thrashing the living crap out of guitar solos, choose Guitar Hero: World Tour ($50-60 game only, $190 with full instrument kit, www.redoctane.com), also for the same platforms. Alternately, karaoke is equally well experienced through the SingStar titles (ABBA, Pop, etc. – $30-40, www.playstation.com) for PS2/PS3 or Lips on Xbox 360 ($70, www.xbox.com). As for portable gamers, try Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades ($50, www.redoctane.com) for Nintendo DS, while Wii owners shouldn’t miss the leisurely, jam-friendly Wii Music ($50, www.nintendo.com), which lets you play 60+ instruments by physically waggling controllers.
Movies and TV
Want to be James Bond? Start your straight-to-video (game, that is) experience right with the new Quantum of Solace ($40-60, www.activision.com) interactive edition for PC and major console platforms. Two anime-flavored titles, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm ($60, www.namcobandaigames.com) for PlayStation 3 – tops for gorgeous, high-definition animated brawls – and Naruto: The Broken Bond ($60, www.ubisoft.com) for Xbox 360 – emphasizing action-adventure elements – should please the otaku in your household. Last, but not least, be sure to pick up Scene It? Box Office Smash ($40, www.xbox.com) and You’re in the Movies ($70, www.xbox.com), both for Xbox 360, which let you show off your trivia skills and digitally project yourself on-screen to star in quirky, cinematic mini-games, respectively.