A Holiday Cheatlist

Research

Before you just pack up the kids and start trekking into the jungle of bargain bins and membership cards, do a little research about the games your kids want. 

Whattheyplay.com is a game site just for parents that premiered just a couple of weeks ago, in time for the holidays. All of the reviews and articles are written in laymen’s terms and offer explanations about the content of the games. It is a superb guide for parents and brings the occasionally esoteric world of gaming back down to earth.


Shopping

If you’re shopping for a Wii or DS, make sure you call ahead first, especially if it’s an out-of-the-way drive.

Both of Nintendo’s consoles have been hard to find since their release, and during the holiday rush, they will be especially rare.

Nintendo has been faced with extraordinary demand, especially for the Wii, and cranking up supply has been a slow-going process for the Japanese company.

Try looking in out-of-the-way stores in rural, unpopulated areas. If they’re sold-out, don’t be afraid to ask when the next shipment is coming in, because workers should know the time of the next shipment.

If Microsoft’s Xbox 360 or Sony’s PlayStation 3 is more your cup of virtual tea, then you probably won’t have much problem finding them in stores. There should also be plenty of Sony’s handheld PSP in stock.

Be aware that there are three different Xbox 360 console skews (different packages) – each with their own accessories to the main console – and there are two different skews of PlayStation 3. Both Microsoft and Sony have given their higher priced skews a bigger hard drive to hold games that players might download online. 

And just as you look at the ratings of music, movies, and TV shows, make sure you check the ESRB ratings that are located on the back of all video games. Even though each rating will have a brief description of the content inside, make sure you read more in-depth reviews of specific content to understand everything in the game, especially if the game is rated T or higher.

Online

All three of the big companies have recently pushed a new sensation in video gaming: downloading and playing games online.

All three big consoles, the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii, have very unique offerings in the online department, and much of it is unfamiliar even to avid gamers.

PS3: Playstation already features PSN (Playstation Network), where gamers can play multiplayer matches online against friends from school or strangers in Australia for free. Arcade games can also be downloaded onto your hard drive from PSN, for a price.

In the near future, Sony is releasing an ambitious online 3-D chat-room similar to Second Life. Players can play games, meet people with their avatars and furnish their own rooms with couches and photos – hopefully you won’t have to pay rent. 

Xbox 360: Microsoft features one of the best online services available, utilizing top-notch matchmaking capabilities and lots of downloadable content; however, it’s not free. Microsoft charges per month ($7.99) or per year ($49.99) for its premium service, which includes online play.

Both Xbox and Playstation feature downloadable content for particular titles, meaning, for some games, after you beat them you can buy more content to keep playing.

Wii: While Nintendo significantly limited the Wii’s online capabilities by requiring gamers to enter a phone-number-sized friend code to invite friends for play, it has one thing the other consoles don’t have: the Virtual Console.

For a small price, between $5-10 depending on the game, gamers can download old retro-games from the NES, SNES, and Nintendo 64 days – a library that is expanding every week. Other games from non-Nintendo platforms (Sega and Turbograffix) are featured as well.

The Future

 If you’re a gamer, but instead of getting games for Christmas your Uncle gives you $50 and a beige tie, you’re still not out of luck – yet. Many high-profile games that were supposed to come out this fall got pushed back into next year.

One of Nintendo’s most highly anticipated titles, "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" (Wii), was pushed back until February. Every week, new features are announced for this fighter, but the biggest addition is online play, which is just another reason to stay home from school.

Another highly publicized and hotly controversial game pushed back is "Grand Theft Auto 4" (360, PS3). While the release is set for the second quarter of 2008, there’s really no guarantee this game won’t come out until next fall. 

"Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots" (PS3) is similarly scheduled for the second quarter. 

The "game" I am most excited for next year is coming for the Nintendo Wii in January, and it is one of the most interesting products ever made. Called Wii Fit, this exercise "game" comes with a controller called the Balance Board, which looks like a small yoga mat and measures the shifting of your weight and your BMI (Body Mass Index).

How is this a game you ask? Well, it’s part of Nintendo’s new philosophy to expand the gaming market. The board can be used for exercising (doing yoga or push-ups for example) or for games (like a snowboarding simulation), but more will be revealed closer to release.

The possibilities are endless, but it’s definitely something every one of all ages will want to keep an eye on. Maybe Nintendo will even invent a use for the beige tie – yeh, probably not.

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