Get Your Game Face On

By: By Special Contribution | TriCities.com
Published: December 09, 2007

Each year at Christmas, there are more gadgets and gizmos wrapped under the tree than ever before.

And whether it’s for your tech-savy teenager or your only electronically curious spouse, the choices can become overwhelming.

But if there is one market where the stores have their own language and where the products are the most misunderstood, it is video games.

For the unfamiliar, it is a world with strange, alien names like "Halo 3" or "Super Mario Galaxy," but the industry as a whole is quite mature and already making more money than Hollywood.

"Halo 3," considered the most popular game ever, sold an estimated $179 million its first day of release, beating records set by such entertainment giants as the latest "Harry Potter" film and "Spider-Man 3."

Lately, the company that made video games a household name, Nintendo, has shifted its focus to appeal to a mainstream, non-gaming market. Nintendo’s latest hardware creations, the Wii and DS, have together outsold both Microsoft’s (Xbox 360) and Sony’s (PS3 and the PSP) consoles combined and simultaneously revolutionized the way we play games.

At the same time, the gaming industry is facing increasingly heated controversy over violent games like "Manhunt" and "Grand Theft Auto."

I hope this guide will help you, the consumer, understand what these consoles and games are, tips when shopping and what is really hot in games this holiday season.

Stephen Woodward is a review and features writer for Gamezone.com. He attends Emory & Henry College.

Get Your Game Face On

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