We at NYMGamer have compiled a list of suggestions for what to buy the gamer in your life. With Black Friday just around the corner, you may want to think about what kind of holiday fun you can give your gamer. Below, we have split up the list into “Care and Feeding of Your Gamer” (for the adult gamers), “Care and Feeding of Your Future Gamer” (for the youngins), and “Care and Feeding of Your Technophile” (for the techies who may not be into gaming, or are so into gaming that they already have all the good ones). Enjoy!
Care and Feeding of Your Gamer
Sam
Skyrim: The most recent game in the Elder Scrolls series. It is in my opinion one of the best yet. It does assume that you have some familiarity with the mechanics of the series, but the learning curve is not too steep if it’s your first trip to the rodeo. What can possibly be better than killing dragons and stealing their powers? It’s like killing immortals….only better! Be prepared to lose at least 100 hours of your life to this one!
Playstation Vita: With the delay this one will have to wait until Christmas 2012.
Batman Arkham City/ Arkham Asylum (Best buy black friday for $30 for Arkham City): Arkham City is the sequel to the crazy popular (and damned fine) Arkham Asylum. The game play is exciting and if you have anyone who is a fan of the Dark Knight comics this is a definite MUST BUY. Since the dialogue with and about women can be downright horrendous I would personally only gift this one to the mature gamer on my list.
Microsoft Points/PSN Dollars/Nintendo Points cards (at least $20): Can’t choose a game for someone? Give them a points or dollars card so that they can choose games for themselves. While they won’t be able to get the new releases via download they can get some of the Greatest Hits and some of the great arcade titles that really are giving the big studio releases a run for their money these days. Keep in mind that these games are running about $15 a piece so gift accordingly.
Sarah
New Super Mario Bros for the Wii–Super Mario is always a classic. Many people who are only casual gamers enjoy plunging the famed plumber into yet another adventure. This is fun for the whole family.
Plants vs. Zombies Game of the Year Edition–Who doesn’t enjoy defeating wave after wave of zombies? Much like Angry Birds, this is a game that never seems to get old. There is a bunch of merchandise that also goes along with this game. Power to the plants!
Gamefly–The Netflix of video games! If your gamer doesn’t have a lot of money to spend, you might buy them a subscription to this quick and convenient way to play games at an affordable cost. You can begin renting games through the mail right now for $7.95 a month. This is an affordable option to buying games and returning them for a reduced price. So far, I love it!
Alex
Modern Warfare 3: a must-have for your gamer. As COD may be the gaming series of this generation, your gamer will want to give this a try.
Kinect and dance central: It’s about time to get your gamer a Kinect. It may not be great for solo play, but it is a ton of fun and can be a nice facilitator for social gaming.
Frayed Knights: For your retro gamer: Frayed Knights is a great new indie game put out by Rampant Games, who consistently produce quality games. In Frayed Knights, you travel around in a party exploring caves and towers D&D style. At only $25, it is a great way to show your gamer you care about their retro-gaming past.
Civilization V: For your gamer who needs to get lost this Christmas: If you have a gamer who works hard all year, and may need to check out of reality for a good 20 hours over break, you can’t get better than Civilization 5. It’s only $30 on Steam right now, so it is an inexpensive way to escape this holiday.
Care and Feeding of Your Future Gamer (kids 0-3, 4-8-, 8-12, 12-16)
Alex
Glowfish: 4-12; This is a fun, fairly simply game with pretty graphics and engaging sound effects. This would be fun for kids with the ability to use directional keys to pilot their character.
Fortix 2: 4-12; again, this is a simple game without violence that kids can easily play.
Tiny Bang Story; 8-adult. The puzzles in this game would make it challenging for the younger players, but it is so beautiful it’s worth a look.
Sam
Once Upon a Monster: 3 and up! The Kinect based Sesame Street game where children interact with the characters in races, reading, dress up, and any number of other activities a great game and it allows for the little gamer to play along with a parent. A good workout for all.
Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures: 10+ for cartoon violence. Half action game, half collectible. While collectible games of the past involved cards that showed characters with specific moves, Skylanders has little figurines that you place on a “portal” to port them and their moves into the game! Each figurine is more than just a figurine, it also records and keeps track of what the characters learn during gameplay. Tons of fun and you can always add on to the game by buying more character figurines at any point. Some stores have characters that can only be purchased there. Available for the 360, Playstation 3, PC, Wii, and 3DS.
Lego Batman/Harry Potter/Pirates of the Caribbean/ Indiana Jones/Star Wars: 5+ (or less) These game have some cartoon violence but might be appropriate for younger kids because getting “bonked” (as Pea says) only results in the bad guys breaking into individual legos and there is no blood. They do a good job of telling the respective stories and are available on 360, PSP, DS, PS2, PS3, PC, Mac
Nintendo DS: 2 and up. This is actually a great gift for gamers of all ages. For little ones I recommend this over the almost equally priced “educational handhelds”. There are great educational games available for the DS as well as lots of kid appropriate games like the 2 listed above. Be sure to buy lots of extra styli and a well cushioned case as it will probably take quite a few spills. Pea’s has been dropped no less than 100 times in the NERF case and it still works perfectly. Please don’t buy the 3DS for children 7 or under as their eye development might be adversely affected by the 3D technology.
Care and Feeding of Your Technophile
Sam
Amazon Kindle: For the avid reader in your life (or the student). A good e-reader can help save space for those of us who find that our trade paperbacks are now taking over whole rooms in our houses. It can also make the backpack of your favorite student a whole lot lighter if they get e-textbooks instead. Especially good now that Amazon is renting e-textbooks!
iPad 2: Want to make sure Santa makes someone really happy this year? How about a new iPad? Great for running games, word processing, editing audio, you name it. Want to make it even better? Don’t forget to stuff an iTunes gift card in the recipient’s stocking!
Sarah
Kindle Fire–This is one of the hottest new devices on the market right now. It has all of the capabilities of the Ipad and more. If your gamer likes to play games on the go, then this is the something to check out!
Playstation 3: A few weeks ago, you could find a PS3 for $199 at Game Stop. Black Friday prices will be even lower at most box stores. If you’re like me and haven’t invested in a PS3 yet, this might just be the time to consider purchasing this particular game system.
Nintendo DS–If your gamer doesn’t own a DS, then this might be the year to invest. The prices of a lot of gaming devices are going so low, it’ s hard to ignore! The DS offers a wide variety of fun games not available on other systems. If your gamer has been good this year, then Santa might consider buying a DS.
Alex
$30 Retrophone: The rhetrophone is blowing up as a hot anachronistic present for your technophile. It plugs into your cell phone, and then you can speak into the old school receiver just like you would a landline. It’s really fun, and a sure bet for the geek in your life.
$170 Virtual keypad for ipad: Every time I see these keyboards I feel like I’m in the future (or in an episode of CSI Miami). I am not sure how well they work (um, mostly because it is a little pricey), but I have been drooling over this. If you have some s
