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Christmas Cheer Entertainment Games

Christmas Shopping For A Gamer 135

Posted by Zonk from the slashdot-editors-like-mmog-time-cards dept.
An anonymous reader writes "This step-by-step guide shows you have to find the perfect gift for your gamer, even if you don't know anything about gaming yourself." From the article: "Trying to figure out which games are sure-fire hits and safe bets for the gamer in your life is never an easy task. Tastes range from the light and fluffy to the dark and deadly, and there are games for almost every type, style, and preference. There's no better way to come across as being on top of the game than to give just the right title, just as there's no faster way to cast yourself as clueless by dispensing copies of the GameCube's Charlie's Angles."
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Christmas Shopping For A Gamer More

Christmas Shopping For A Gamer

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  • Charlies Angels?? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by kermitthefrog917 ( 903403 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @05:41AM (#14227405)
    Why is charlies angels always the example???

    http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/19/153422 3&tid=233&tid=188&tid=97 [slashdot.org]

  • What the fuck? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by schild ( 713993 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @05:41AM (#14227406) Homepage Journal
    Just buy them a gift card or give them money.

    There, article replaced in one sentence. Jesus. Who pays people to write shit like this? Mom, Dad, Girlfriend, Boyfriend, Cousin, Uncle - we don't want you buying us games unless we specifically say "Buy us x."

    • Re:What the fuck? (Score:5, Informative)

      by flipsoft ( 582240 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @05:51AM (#14227435)
      Also if you purchase a "gaming" gift card from Best Buy it comes with a $5 off coupon for any game or gaming accessory.

      flipsoft

      • Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @06:41AM (#14227538)
        Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • In my experience, Best Buy (or at least the local Best Buy) has on average as good if not better prices on games than just about every where else. It might be the amount of competition they have here, but it's not uncommon to find a new release marked $5 or $10 below the MSRP that every other store follows. Walmart does have some games marked $1 or $2 cheaper, but I don't like being treated like a criminal so it's worth the extra $1 or $2 every so often to not shop there.

          I'm not affiliated with Best buy

          • They don't really do this anymore, Best Buy around here used to charge $30 for a new release the day it was released. I bought both unreal tournament 2k4 special edition and battlefield vietnam for $30 each this way.

            And I agree, there are games that I wouldn't have played if it weren't for a relative buying it for me. The original fallout was one of those games for me.
          • Treated like a Criminal? I don't know what kind of Best Buys you have...wherever you are, but the ones around here usually have a guy standing at the door checking all orders.
            • They stopped doing that here. There is still someone standing by the door but I haven't seen them try to stop someone in years.

              There seemed to be a lot of people who quite vocally stopped shopping there because of them checking their bags, and they seemed to have a lot of people like me who would refuse to stop (legally they can't force you to stop, nor can they force you to show them whats in your bag.). I dunno if it's those factors, someone lawyer hit them upside the heads, or something else. I like

        • Unless shopping for used titles or PC games, it rarely matters at which store you do your game shopping. MSRP rules the day for the vast majority of console games.

          As for cash, I'm personally of the opinion that while it's usually great for the teenager/adult, the giver just doesn't get a lot of satisfaction. If we assume that gifts are all about the giving and not the receiving (that's the platitude, right?), the giver should be the happier of the two parties. This is why I like spending money at Hicko
          • This is why I like spending money at Hickory Farms... few things make us happier than five-pound sticks of good summer sausage.

            If you want good summer sausage, why on earth are you spending your money at Hickory Farms? There are surely (heh, almost typed "surly") butchers or custom meat smokers in your area that will provide you with much higher-quality meats than that lowest-common-denominator mall trap. If you want to order online (and who doesn't?), give this place [garywest.com] a try.

            /I don't work there

            //I also enj

            • It's a combination of two things with the Hickory Farms deal. The first is the worst reason: Tradition. Everything about Hickory Farms says Christmas to us (and to most people, though I remember a time when Hickory Farms stores were HUGE and year-round instead of being relegated to the holiday season in many places).

              The second reason I stick with HF is because I already know everyone likes the flavors. I've had better meats and cheeses (obviously) but I've also had "fancy" meats and cheeses that I thoug
              • I hear you on the whole tradition thing. We still have relatives who send us Hickory Farms boxes every year like clockwork... sometimes I think maybe it's a midwest thing, too (they'e from Missouri). Bottom line: get what you like! But seriously, you would probably love the stuff I was mentioning earlier :-)

    • Re:What the fuck? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Capt'n Hector ( 650760 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @06:54AM (#14227569)
      What an insightful comment. But not in the manner one would typically expect. Here folks, is a typical narcissist: "schild," instead of joining in the spirit of giving thoughtful and meaningful gifts, the facilitation of which the article assists perfectly well, rather thinks only of receiving what is most useful to him: money. Guess what buddy: if Christmas was just about what you wanted, everyone would just give each other checks. Marry Christmas, here's $20 from Dad.

      • Re:What the fuck? (Score:4, Interesting)

        by schild ( 713993 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @07:20AM (#14227622) Homepage Journal
        That's what I was going for, narcissism. Yea. Look, everyone knows what games cost. $50 for a third-party PS2/Xbox game, $40 for a 1st party one. $60 for a third-party 360 game, $50 for a 1st party one. 50/40 on the PSP, 35/30 on the GBA, etc etc. Anyway, it's not like a kid is shocked and thrilled when he gets a game he was going to get himself, but more than that - having worked in gaming retail going on 5+ years now, I can comfortably say that uninformed mothers and fathers shopping for their kids during the christmas season and not understanding the concept of "preordering" is the most aggravating fucking thing under the sun. More than that, if they can't find the game the kid wants (can we say, a new 360?) they'll buy something else and just piss the kid off. It's not worth the drama. If you can't find the item they specifically asked for just get them a gift card. If they didn't specifically ask for something, get them a gift card. And yea, I guess I should have said that if it's games the kid wants, get him a gift card from EB or Gamestop so they can preorder in full whatever game they want.

        It's the only way we'll get those youngin's ready for a hard-learned lesson about not preordering.

        Also, Hector, Hannukah is about giving family members money. Buying gifts is hard and rarely worth the hassle. Except with girlfriends. You don't get them giftcards if you're expecting to find your princess in the castle. In return, I expect her.... to give me a gift card. Anyway the article was a scientific anal retentive breakdown on how to buy someone under 18 a video game for christmas. And it was very obviously targeted towards buying gifts for guys and for parents who are overly worried that a game will make them kill their schoolmates (write down the ESRB rating? Oh, shove that up your ass. It's on the box in the store). I rarely comment on articles that qualifies as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters." That should give you an idea as to what I think of the original post and the linked article.

        • Re:What the fuck? (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Gulthek ( 12570 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @08:50AM (#14227798) Homepage Journal
          Oh man oh man. I feel you dude. I worked two Christmas seasons at a Sharper Image store. The burnout is a bitch. You are some kinda superhero for handling five without going drone to preserve your sanity.

          Some people think that sales drones are lazy or incompetent, they are actually shell-shocked veterans who have seen the face of human stupidity on a daily basis and their minds eventually learned to simply shutdown while at work.

        • Re:What the fuck? (Score:4, Insightful)

          by bwalling ( 195998 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @09:14AM (#14227839) Homepage
          Buying gifts is hard and rarely worth the hassle.

          Please discontinue your celebration of Christmas and/or Hannukah. You have no idea what they are about.

          • Re:What the fuck? (Score:4, Insightful)

            by Achoi77 ( 669484 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @11:01AM (#14228189)
            Please discontinue your celebration of Christmas and/or Hannukah. You have no idea what they are about.

            Because the primary purpose of the celebration of these holidays are about the purchase and exchanging of gifts? If so, why should we go about critisizing someone's method of going about it?

        • Are you my dad? ... Merry xmas ... my paypal account number is 123454321
        • Hannukah is about giving family members money

          The funny thing here is, I don't think you could have managed a more anti-Semetic statement if you'd been trying.

          Except with girlfriends. You don't get them giftcards if you're expecting to find your princess in the castle. In return, I expect her.... to give me a gift card.

          Or a sexist one, at that.

          actually, the whole post

          Or a selfish, assholish one at that. Personally, I hate getting gift cards. Why? Because it means that someone doesn't know me well enough to
          • My grandpa's been getting us Best Buy gift cards for Christmas, and I love it.
            Let me clarify first by saying that he doesn't really understand technology. Last time he tried to buy video games for christmas he got Buzz Lightyear and Mickey Mouse computer games for kids more interested in RPGs and FPSs.
            If I got my brother a gift card, it would be lazy. If somebody who lives in Florida and doesn't know how to hold an N64 controller buys my brother a gift card, it's better for both parties.
          • Yeah, but the worst thing is when you get someone something that they already have. It's awkward because they're supposed to pretend like they like it and you just filled a big empty hole in their lives, and it sucks for them because they either need to take it back to a store or re-gift it or something.

            I would almost never buy a gift card for a close friend/family member( one exception, I got my girlfriend an iTunes music store giftcard, along side a bunch of other presents). But there are other people tha

      • Re:What the fuck? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by gad_zuki! ( 70830 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @10:17AM (#14228024)
        >giving thoughtful and meaningful gifts

        Heavy with the moralizing today eh?

        When you get a bit older and your list of gift receivers gets huge and you really don't know exactly what someone wants then you'll see the wisdom of the gift card. Especially when it saves someone from waiting in line to return something they dont want or already have.

        Not to mention, Xmas is pretty much forced on everyone is in the US. For some people I'll make some real effort and buy/create a really nice gift, but to expect me or anyone to do this for everyone is ridiculous.

        • Re:What the fuck? (Score:3, Insightful)

          by DerekLyons ( 302214 )

          When you get a bit older and your list of gift receivers gets huge and you really don't know exactly what someone wants then you'll see the wisdom of the gift card.

          I am older, and my list of recipients is huge - but the only people getting gift cards is a pair of twentysomething nieces that I've only recently added to my list (long and irrelevant story behind that). Even so, the gift cards are being placed in handmade Christmas stockings. The only other time I gave a gift card was to the daughter of a c

          • If you know the folks on your gift list well enough - that doesn't happen. If you don't know them well enough - why in heck are they on your gift list?

            What if this person has two wonderful friends such as yourself, and you both get them the same thing? The fact is, gift cards are supremely practical.

      • Mod you down, or reply? Hmm... ok, reply! (Score:4, Informative)

        by King_TJ ( 85913 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @10:38AM (#14228081) Journal
        Quite frankly, unless you're willing to reject all of the "commercialization" of the Xmas holiday completely, and refuse to give *any* pre-built products as gifts - you can't escape what you're complaining about anyway!

        I mean, what do you suggest? We all start making hand-made wooden gifts for everyone on our shopping list, so they "truly come from the heart"? Or maybe we should just write hand-written letters wishing them a happy holiday, and offer to mow their lawn a few times next summer, or shovel snow off their driveway for free?

        Personally, I find it the exception rather than the rule where I feel I have a great gift idea for someone I know, and feel positive they'll appreciate it every bit as much as anything they'd find on their own if I gave them a gift card or cash. Xmas may be "about giving rather than receiving", but nobody really wants to be the one giving less than desireable gifts.

        If anything, I'd venture to guess that most of the notion of "cash is such an impersonal gift" came from the mouths of retailers, scared some cash recipients might just save or invest the money, rather than spend it in their stores. IMHO, cash is a *very* personal gift, simply because you only earn money as a result of your labor. If someone thinks enough of me to give me a portion of their "buying power" they earned through hours and hours of work for someone else, I'm very thankful for that.
      • Marry Christmas, here's $20 from Dad.

        Who says you can't put the $20 inside a nice Christmas card and wrap a ribbon around it? The kid will spend the money, and he gets the Christmas card to remember 10 years from now. And surely he'll remember what he bought with that money, and think: "Ah... those times."

        Heh I just remembered a gift card my sister gave me to buy an RPG magazine. It even had a smiley in it. :') It does make you nostalgic, you know.
        • Unless, like me, you open cards by tipping them over and create a pile of checks, gift cards, and cash to be dealt with later. I'm only hard to shop for becasue I really wish people would stop getting me anything.
      • Marry Christmas, here's $20 from Dad.

        Marrying Christmas for $20? Only in America!

    • Re:What the fuck? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Flyboy Connor ( 741764 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @07:00AM (#14227584)
      Just buy them a gift card or give them money.

      Or a blowjob, if you're a hot chick. I mean, the objective is to make the gamer happy, right?

      While the article in question is just meant as being "funny" (although it does not really succeed at that), finding a gift for ANYONE who is mightly interested in objects of a certain category X, is not to buy anything in category X. Either what you will buy is crap, or what you will buy is good but already owned by the person in question.

      Exceptions are: chocolates, wines, and blowjobs, as long as you are certain that they are of high quality.

      • Re:What the fuck? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Animedude ( 714940 )
        True. Never buy an adult who is REALLY interested in something a gift related to that area of interest. At the very least ASK the person if what you intend to buy is ok with him. Otherwise chances are you will buy something that person already owns, or you will buy something that person intentionally does not own (because he does not like it). A gamer who earns money usually WILL own all the games he really is interested in. As simple as that.
        • Which is why gamers (and others) should have whishlists on a couple sites.

          Or like the rest of us they should just practice their social skills :

          "Oh wow, great, thanks so much"

          And open an eBay account.
      • Exceptions are: chocolates, wines, and blowjobs, as long as you are certain that they are of high quality.

        I.e. consumables.

        That's why good spirits are always a good gift.
      • Add exception: Cuban cigars... I haven't smoked one I didn't like.
      • Yuck! Who wants a blowjob from their sister?
      • finding a gift for ANYONE who is mightly interested in objects of a certain category X, is not to buy anything in category X.

        Unless (a) you are also interested in category X and therefore understand what to get, or (b) understand category X well enough you know you won't look like an idiot. Not everyone is clueless.

    • What a n00b article. If you want to get a gift for a gamer, you'd better off not follow that BS guide, even if you are a n00b, too. I hate the whole idea of getting someone a game of the same type just because they like a similar game. I play FPS, but that doens't mean that I'll enjoy a random FPS that sucks, know what I mean? For example, I'd rather play Half-Life than Serious Sam (if you have to ask why, someone should smack you. Real hard.) I'm with schild on this one. A gift card with 60 bucks o

  • For some gamers that is.. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Ka D'Argo ( 857749 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @05:47AM (#14227423) Homepage
    Christmas is looking more depressing as each year goes on. Games cost more and more. I'm more of an MMO fan and there's several I'd like to play and others that run like ass on my system. A new system is out of the question, and the rest I just cannot afford to play. Not into console games and most non-MMO games require more than my little system can handle, again those that don't are often in the higher price range.

    Occasionally I'll find good deals. If I do get a game for christmas it might be something off the $10 shelf at Walmart.

    • Christmas is looking more depressing as each year goes on. Games cost more and more.

      Wow, where do you live, and where do you shop? Your experience is the exact opposite to mine. Games are getting less and less.

      Right now I can go out and buy Call of Duty 2 for AUD 89.99, which is the same as I paid for Ultima VI on the Amiga a decade ago. Taking inflation into account that is a big drop in price. Never mind that my income has substatially increased since then too.

    • According to this list, I would get Splintercell: Chaos Theory, despite never having played Splintercell. I have the game because it was amazingly cheap somewhere and I figured I might want to give it a try one day, but haven't gotten around to it.

      If I hadn't bought it, according to this article, I'd have no real sense of taste and any game would be fine. Nothing could be farther from the truth: I have a very strong sense of taste, and most of the games on this list just aren't my taste. Games that suit my
    • Also, you might want to check out abandonia.com, they've got a bunch of good ol' abandonware games you may have missed from years ago.

      Better yet, burn them to a CD and give that to your friends/family--and don't tell them how much it cost you to get a "classic game pack"
    • Games cost more and more.

      I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one. Titles cost $40-$60 these days... they've cost that since the early 90's when I started gaming on the SNES. Factor in the rate of inflation over that span of time, and gaming is a much more affordable hobby then it was back then.

      [MMO games] run like ass on my system. A new system is out of the question

      A lot of gamers think that they need to stay 100% bleeding edge when 9/10 times the only problem with their current syst

  • nah, that's easy! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Janek Kozicki ( 722688 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @05:56AM (#14227446) Journal
    adom [adom.de] of course. There's no better game, even though I've recently bought 6600 GT (because I need dualhead DVI for development). And even though nexuiz [nexuiz.com] works pretty well on my debian system under 1600x1200, with 70 FPS.

    next question, this one was easy.
    • Prepare to be hung from a tree by Nethack fans!
    • ADOM is pretty good, I played it myself more than I should, also check out IVAN: http://ivan.sourceforge.net/ [sourceforge.net]

      Its not as big as ADOM as it is relatively young, but you start in a tropical island, can eat bananas and drop the peels in front of the slaves so they slip and break their legs, then you can take them and beat some monsters underground with it.

      It also has a religious system similiar to ADOM but you can pray more often. The only thing I miss is magic as its not implemented yet but you can make
    • 'Nuff said.
  • DL and burn a copy of Knoppix (choose your flavor).

    Then when the Inevitable Happens, they can pop in the CD and you'll have some free time.

    Stoner hands Trooper Ashtray, with lit joint and a dozen roaches [suvalleynews.com]

  • Obvious? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by JViz ( 856566 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @06:04AM (#14227471)
    It looks like the writer fails to mention the most important part of buying games for someone else: finding out what game system they have. Anyone ever get a Genesis game for Christmas when you had a SNES, or vice versa?
    "If your gamer has none of the titles on the lists, anywhere, then it's possible they simply have no sense of taste, and you're probably safe picking up almost any title at all; they might not be able to tell the difference."
    I see a serious lack of PC games on his list. I guess PC Gamers have no taste and should buy ourselves one of the latest uber consoles because we're out of touch.
    "ESRB Ratings: The ESRB ratings are like the PG-13 and R rating on movies..."
    Wow... Just wow... I guess he needs more pages to fill his quota this month. If you can't understand the ESRB rating system by looking at the box, I seriously doubt the contents are going to matter much to you.

    • Re:Obvious? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Scuff ( 59882 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @07:10AM (#14227599)
      notice the URL? http://nintendo.about.com/od/editorials/a/howtobuy .htm [about.com]

      now look at the lists again, many of the titles are exclusive to gamecube. This should be mentioned more clearly in the article, or at least by the /. submitter.
      • Oh darn. Silly me.
      • A guide for how to choose a game for the least popular home console this generation doesn't strike me as being terribly useful. The concepts are sound, I suppose, but really it needs to be an all-formats job. Also, what about gamers who prefer import games? It's going to be really tough to please them without having a clue. Personally I think the time-honoured method of actually asking people what they want for Christmas works pretty well and is much less hitty-missy.

    • I see a serious lack of PC games on his list. I guess PC Gamers have no taste and should buy ourselves one of the latest uber consoles because we're out of touch.

      In my personal opinion, you should. Sure I'll play Nethack or Jools, but for commercial games, I'm all console.

      It costs less.

      Theres a more diverse lineupof games.

      There's no worries about drivers/patches/iincompatibility issues.

      The controls are better. Trust me, for action games, keyboards suck. I don't know how those WASD loving FPS players can

    • Yeah, I was really surprised that he talked about not getting duplicate games, but completely failed to address the platform issue. What's more clueless than buying them Charlie's Angels for Gamecube? Buying them Charlie's Angels for Gamecube when they only own an Xbox.

  • ...Buy me something... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by AZskyPilot ( 867269 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @06:06AM (#14227477) Homepage
    I found the easiest thing to do is point them to my Amazon wishlist. The secret is to have lots of items at various price-points. It makes their shopping easier and you get what you want. That way I'll be playing Medal of Honor 2 for my PC instead of Backyard Hockey for the GBA.
    • Mod parent up. Wishlists are a great way to make sure you get something you really want but still get surprised. This year I only actually have one game on my Amazon wishlist, but I have a selection of books and DVDs too. I know my mum and dad will probably get me a few of them but I don't know which, so Xmas day will still hold some surprises, plus the fact that my parents still buy me a few presents (books/DVDs/CDs) that I didn't ask for and they just think I might like. This is something I am very grate

  • The joke is soooooo easy (Score:3, Funny)

    by gbulmash ( 688770 ) * <semi_famous@yah o o . c om> on Saturday December 10, 2005 @06:09AM (#14227486) Homepage Journal
    Perfect gift for your favorite gamer... get them a life!

    Sorry, but when you give someone a straight line like that, it is unfair to expect them to resist.

    - Greg

  • Marketers just trying to attract more suckers... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Chaffar ( 670874 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @06:13AM (#14227488)
    There's no way to ask, "If I buy you a game, what game would you want?" without your gamer being able to make an educated guess about what you're planning on doing with the information. There's no faster way to ruin a surprise.

    And why would that be a problem? People who aren't gamers cannot understand that our game preferences aren't only based on the quality of the game itself. A game might get rave reviews, and fit in my favorite genre, but I might not buy it. I just am not interested.

    The best example I have is Shogun:Total War/Crusader:TW. I loved the first one, played it to death, but I didn't even consider for one second buying Crusader. I wasn't interested. Even though the genre/quality/publisher is the same, I liked the first one because I'm an anime junkie and love anything with sociopaths running around with on horses with Katanas, "Crusader" just didn't work out for me.

    Just ask me what I want... screw the surprise, at least you won't end up having paid for a game that I don't want/need.

  • The article includes a list of titles to compare the gamers collection to, stating that if he/she has none of them, they probably don't have a taste and you can buy anything, since the'll probably not notice the difference. Sadly, I appear to have no taste :-D These types of games I think are missing (some probably because their list seems to target teenagers and aims to only include ESRB "right" games, still I was amazed not to find a single one of these):
    Adventure Games (the Myst series, LucasArts, Sierr

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @06:25AM (#14227509)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • notice this was in the NINTENDO section? (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    notice this was in the NINTENDO section? so that's why he's not delving into which console the gamer has, or console vs. PC or anything like that. And what's with the list? I glazed over it, but it seems like it's old...NFL/NHL2k3????

  • Edwin A. Abbott's classic tale of interdimensional hot, crimefighting chicks.

  • Charlie's Angles (Score:4, Funny)

    by mysticwhiskey ( 569750 ) <mystic_whiskey@hotm a i l . c om> on Saturday December 10, 2005 @06:46AM (#14227557)
    Charlies Angles? - I know they're (a)cute, but the reference is a little obtuse. ;)

  • More like (Score:2, Funny)

    by d0s ( 550629 )
    "Christmas shopping for the 12 year old gamer with ADD"
  • Well, I generally refrain from blatantly commercial posts but in this case it's on topic and begging for it. If it's a PC gamer you are shopping for, esp. a MMORPG player, it would be hard to go wrong with a t-shirt from my girlfriend's Gaming and Geek T-Shirt shop [offlinetshirts.com].
  • CIV I
    CIV II,
    CIV III,
    alpha centaur,
    Master of Orion
    Master Of Orion II
    Master Of Orion III
    Stars!
    Dungeonmaster II

    Sure I have no taste since none of my games are on the list, so please pick any game, I'm probably happy with ANY random game that a relative throws at me.

  • DN4eva! (Score:4, Funny)

    by metricmusic ( 766303 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @08:04AM (#14227721) Homepage Journal
    I give my friends a gift voucher each for Duke Nukem Forever when it comes out, expiring 24th Dec the next year. I've been giving them the same voucher for close to 10 years now.
  • You can never have one too good and it's what every gamer, myself included, actually wants. In some shocking cases absolutely requires to play the games from last Christmas. :(

  • Teach them to use eMule and BitTorrent (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Don't give the fish. Teach'em how to fish for themselves :-)

    That's the best present: knowledge for an endless supply of games.

    If you want something to go with the eMule tutorial, give'em a 100mbit connection.
  • A colleague recently asked what his gamer son might want. As I had previously helped them purchase a good video card for him, I suggested other hardware options- RAM, a ~$40 OEM Audigy 2 sound card to take some load off the CPU, a Logitech G5 mouse, and surround headphones.
  • As I read the Article, I saw that there would be lists showing games related to those already owned by the person in question. Naturally, I assumed that they would be split into categories, like sports, FPS, RPG, exe. Boy was I surprised to find that all the games were for Gamecube. I guess Guildwars, World of Warcraft, and other mmorpg don't make the list, along with every civilization builder ever made, including CIV IV, something I wouldn't mind for Christmas. If someone actually follows the instruct

  • Nope. Wouldn't work for me. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by FlyByPC ( 841016 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @12:12PM (#14228482) Homepage
    ...but then again, I'm probably not considered a typical "gamer."

    My collection is pretty much Flight Simulator, Train Simulator, Syberia (I and II), the Myst series, various Chess games, and old-school DOS games such as Stunts and Tetris.

    Why does everyone assume that all gamers either want to play a sports-related game or kill something? (OK, so judging from the titles available in the stores and the video games in the arcades, most of them do, but not all.)

  • A useful trick (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Ellen Spertus ( 31819 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @12:45PM (#14228643) Homepage
    A useful trick for finding out what someone would like as a present is to ask him to go shopping with you for presents for other people, then see what he shows interest in. A clever boyfriend did that with me.

    Something simpler would be to ask your friend for advice on buying games for someone else. Your friend will end up volunteering what games he has, what's new and hot, what he thinks is cool, etc.
  • Not a bad article on the whole, though I find some of the lists a bit weird - I don't quite get the Pikmin/Sims connection, and in gameplay Eternal Darkness is closer to Zelda than Resident Evil - zombie games are not a homogenous form. I also question the sports section, with its lack of warning about going backwards, and note that including Crystal Chronicles on a list for non-expert shoppers is an invitation to a total fuckup.

    But basically a good methodology, and one that should be extended more sensibly
  • I'm both a PC and console gamer. Just this month I asked my uncle for a Playstation 2. I know it's about 5 years old, but seeing how long its been around, maybe this is the year I'll get one.

    I've grown up playing yesteryear console and PC games. The most advanced console I have is a PS1 I got 3 years ago and that's currently keeping me busy with Final Fantasy Tactics and Resident Evil. I got a PC in my room with windoze/SuSE 9.3 that's just good enough to run Starcraft and Baldur's Gate, and my mom's
  • The signal-to-noise ratio on the linked page is pretty low. I found the printer-friendly version to be much more tolerable. Unfortunatley, you can't link directly to it. /slap about.com
  • As an avid Gamecube player, I obviously have no tastes according to this author. I currently own 7 out of the almost 35 games he listed. And out of the games he listed those are the only game I would ever want to own. I've had quite a few of the games in the article but quickly disposed of them due to a lack of interest in them or because I thought they were just plan horrible. There are a lot better games for the Gamecube than what is listed here. Examples... Mario Golf is an amazing golf game, quite
  • Video games, and to an extent, DVD movies, are a tricky sort of gift to buy for a number of reasons. The article does a good job of indirectly summarizing the difficulties, despite seeming obvious. And while many Slashdot types will gripe about articles stating the obvious, consider for a moment how many tech support calls really are solved by asking the user to turn on / plug in the computer?

    For Games or DVD's, there are only two key things you need to do right:

    1) Dont buy something they wont play
    2) Do
  • A quick gift idea for a gamer: Anything other than a game.

    If you pick a random game off the shelf, it's one of the following:
    - Substandard.
    - Already owned.
    - A rehash.

    If you do your research, it still might not work. Do your loved one a favour, and give him chocolates, a card, or something else of sentamental value.

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