It is almost Christmas, that magical time of the year when we buy too much shit for the people we love to celebrate the birth of Jesus and the wonders of Capitalism. It can be hard shopping for geeks, we are very picky about gifts and most of us have the cynical attitude of the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons when it comes to expressing our true wants and desires for Christmas ("Just give me a gift card, I know you haven't heard of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona or Battlestar Galactica...sigh.") Fear not, I am a geek, and I will help you make some great selections for that gaming guy or gal in your life.
Gaming Consoles
When I was kid the only people who could afford a Neo Geo console were the rich or the very rich. I really wanted arcade quality games at home but I had to settle for the Average Joe's choice, the SNES. However, SNK is giving us grown ups another chance to relive the dreams of our childhood, and it is slightly more affordable this time around. For $199, you can now buy the
Neo Geo X, a portable Neo Geo that docks into a console shaped charger with a TV output. The system includes an original style Neo Geo arcade stick and the console is pre-loaded with 20 games. While you can get these games for much cheaper in other formats, this is a great collectible for SNK fans or people that love old arcade games without the budget for a vintage AES Neo Geo.
Another portable console to consider is the
Nintendo 3DS XL. It is basically a bigger 3DS with a bigger screen, but that is good enough for an upgrade in my book. Also, if you were a Nintendo ambassador (aka 3DS early adopter) your free stuff transfers to the new system. The 3DS is a great system (even with it's region lock nonsense) and the library of games is getting better every week, so there is no reason not to invest in one of these. It is certainly doing better than the Vita (sorry Sony, but I am starting to regret my purchase.)
Games
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is a fighting game packed with value and top quality production values. There are over 56 characters to choose from, a variety of play modes, customizable costumes, ending movies galore, and customizable music. This is the ultimate Tekken game with a great tag system and a fun online ranking hierarchy. A fighting game fan simply cannot go wrong with this one.
Final Fantasy Theatrhythm for the 3DS exploits fans love for the classic music of the famed RPG series, but that is a good thing. If you know someone that is a Final Fantasy fanboy or fangirl, then they will pee their pants with joy over this game's playlist as they enjoy tapping to the beat of awesome songs like "One Winged Angel" and " Battle with the Four Fiends." This rhythm game has over 70 tracks, tons of unlockables, and a shitload of DLC songs if they somehow get bored with the existing track list.
Persona 4 Golden is an upgraded version of 2008's classic PS2 RPG for the PS Vita. This console quality RPG is amazingly deep and loaded with new content like social links with Adachi and a new chick from the Velvet Room, cool changeable costumes for dungeons, and a new town to explore with a freakin' scooter. RPG fans with a Vita cannot miss this game, especially since it is one of the few Vita games worth owning at the moment.
Assassin's Creed 3 combines American history, crazy science fiction, and beautiful graphics into one stunning package. The game concludes the story of Connor, so it maybe hard to understand the overall narrative if you haven't played the Assassin Creed series, but this game
can be played without prior knowledge of the AC lore ( though I do recommend at least a primer on Youtube about the origins of the Templars and the Assassins.) If you have a graphics whore on your list, this game should whet their appetite.
Other Cool Stuff
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| Duke Togo from Fewture Models |
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| Dark Knight Rises on Blu Ray |
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| Hardcore Gaming 101 presents Sega Arcade Clasics Vol. 1 |
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