Bad Habits - The next big thing - August 03 2005
For the holidays, game gifts can be old or new
Nov. 22 is the date that will be remembered for giving the video game world — and holiday gift shoppers — the next big thing. For $400, the Xbox 360 becomes the new gold standard.
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Its high-definition games look eerily like real life. And it comes with goodies: a wireless hand controller; a subscription to online gaming; plus a 20-gigabyte hard drive to store videos and music. A $300 version lacks those goodies, but it plays progressive-scan DVD movies.
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THE BIG TICKET: If you go for the 360, be prepared to buy a game to go with it — and each game costs up to $60.
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Usually, it’s smart to buy games for cheap at used-game stores, but used 360 games won’t show up for a while. You could sign up to rent through GameFly.com. Supplies seem more plentiful there than at movie-rental stores. GameFly says these are the most sought-after 360 titles so far:
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1) Perfect Dark Zero (shooter, rated M for mature); 2) Call of Duty 2 (war shooter, T for teen); 3) Quake 4 (shooter, M); 4) Gun (Western shooter, M); 5) Need for Speed: Most Wanted (racing, T); 6) Dead or Alive 4 (fighting, M); 7) Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (fantasy role-playing, T); 8) Project Gotham Racing 3 (racing, E 10+ for everyone age 10 and up); 9) Condemned: Criminal Origins (action-adventure, M); 10) Madden NFL ‘06 (football, E for everyone).
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Sports games for 360 have good track records, too: Amped 3 (snowboarding, T); Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006 (golf, E); Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland (skateboarding, T); and NBA 2K6 (basketball, E).
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CHEAPER THRILLS: Older systems still make great gifts — the awesome Xbox ($150), the more popular PS2 ($150), and the kid-friendly Nintendo GameCube ($100).
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If your gift-receiver already owns one of those systems, here are 10 can’t-miss games from 2005, costing $20-$50 each:
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1) God of War for PS2 (slay many Spartans, rated M); 2) Resident Evil 4 for GameCube and PS2 (a masterful horror game, M); 3) Destroy All Humans! for Xbox and PS2 (funny space-alien shooting, T); 4) Burnout Revenge for Xbox and PS2 (awesome car racing, E 10+); 5) Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit for Xbox, PS2 and PC (one of the best kids’ games ever, E); 6) Lumines Puzzle Fusion for PSP (Tetris-like game, E 10+); 7) MLB 2006 for PS2, PSP (fun baseball, E); 8) Mercenaries for Xbox, PS2 (addictive war battles, T); 9) Area 51 for Xbox, PS2 and PC (sci-fi shooting on Earth, M); 10) Star Wars: Battlefront II for Xbox and PS2 (best Star Wars shooting game ever, T).
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HANDHELD GAMING: The Sony PSP is the best, if too costly at $250. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories ($50, M) is the murderous, must-have PSP game. The Nintendo DS is a fun toy ($130). Then there’s the old standby, the Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP ($80). The new Micro ($100) plays Game Boy titles, but on a tiny screen.
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Insider information: If you go for a GBA SP, Nintendo just came out with a new version. It has a better, brighter screen.
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ANOTHER IDEA: If your loved one already owns an Xbox or a PS2, you could buy a gift certificate for a used-game store, plus one terrific accessory. The Logitech remote-control hand controller — $50 for Xbox; $40 for PS2 -- is the best on the market. It gets rid of dangling wires. And batteries last for seasons on end.
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Doug Elfman is an award-winning columnist who is also the TV critic at the Chicago Sun-Times.