With Halloween out of the way, the fifty-five day time bomb towards Christmas has begun. (For some retailers, they've already had their Christmas stuff out since Labor Day).
Every year I get various game-related queries about suggestions of what to get gamers for Thanksgiving / Christmas / Hannukah / Kwanza. While not everyone can get a Sword of a Thousand Truths for their favorite World of Warcraft gamer/lost soul, there are plenty of other gifts to entertain and delight gamers this holiday season.
The complete list of suggestions in the extended entry.
The hot ticket this year is the new Nintendo Wii ($249). This console ships with Wii Sports, a Wii Controller, and the basic console system. My picks for games to play with the system:
On the portable end of things is the Nintendo DS Lite ($130), which is now available in 3 colors: Coral Pink, Onyx Black, and the original Polar White. Those who already have a DS will likely enjoy the following games:
In the event that they've got those above already, here are some offbeat DS games that are a little more obscure:- Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!
This stylus-tapping rhythm game requires import from Japan, but if you can get it, it's well worth the trouble with its anime-style graphics and j-pop melodies. - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Take on the role of an Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney in this hilariously fun adventure game. - Trauma Center: Under the Knife
In this game, you take on a role of a doctor in the ER - you've got to be fast, and you've got to have a steady hand with the stylus -- too slow, and your patient could bleed to death. Not for the squeemish, but a fun game for those who can handle the pressure. - Children of Mana
Another Mana game from Square Enix, good for any RPG player.
Not everyone has one of the newer game systems, but some fabulous games have been released this year for the older systems.
For the XBox 360:
- Gears of War (XBox360)
Epic shows us what 10 million dollars can make.
- Ninety-Nine Nights (XBox360)
For the PlayStation 2:
- Okami (PS2)
Help recolor their world with sumi-e like brushstrokes. - Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
The legacy of Japanese console role-playing games continues with this latest installment, which isn't online. - Guitar Hero 2 with Guitar
Why play the air guitar when you can strum along with the song on Guitar Hero 2 with Guitar? Exclusive to the PS2, the game player becomes a rockstar with 55 new tracks and includes a practice mode to help those beginners to the guitar.
- LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (GameCube).
Relive the classic trilogy in the LEGO Star Wars Universe with the classic characters. - Zelda: Twilight Princess (Gamecube)
Long awaited, and two weeks after the Wii release the Zelda adventure finally continues on the Gamecube. There will be shortages on this release, so this is an item one should pre-order soon.
PC: Pre-order the World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade -- while this expansion set won't ship until January 2007, it is near guaranteed that all WoW players want this expansion. For those that have already pre-ordered, World of Warcraft: Heroes of Azeroth Booster Packs ($8) are a good item -- each pack has a chance of having one of the legendary loot cards which can be redeemed for in-game items. If you don't get the legendary loot card, never fear, each pack comes with UDE points which can be redeemed for in-game items.
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