In This Economy?

Merry Holidays, everyone!

It’s that time again. Time for all of us to go out there and spend our hard-earned money on unnecessary material goods for our friends and family. The holidays are here! Yes!

But, because 2009 has been extremely hard on the wallet, you can’t just throw your money around on a whim. You need to be sure that you’re getting a great gift, and this is where ITE comes in.

Each day, until Christmas day, we will be giving you guys some gift-giving advice. We’re going to break every day into three categories: The Good, The Bad and The Completely Bizarre. I think it’s pretty self-explanatory from there.

And now: Video games! Yay!

DAY 7 — Video Games

The Good

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

I’m sure you have all heard of this game by now. Whether you’re a gamer or not you’ve probably had or heard a conversation about this title. So with that precedent set, I’ll keep this brief.

Let me just say that there is not a better gaming package available this holiday. The single player campaign is incredible and what it lacks in credible storytelling it more than makes up for in amazing visuals and jaw-dropping moments. On top of that you also get a game mode called “Spec Ops”, which is a series of missions that can be played alone or with a friend. Some of these, when played with a partner, are insanely fun and can be played over and over. And then, just when you thought there wouldn’t be room for anything else, there is a fully realized multiplayer mode with everything from capture the flag to deathmatch. This mode just builds on the awesome momentum of the first Modern Warfare, and is a blast to play.

The only downside to the multiplayer mode is all the racist, homophobic tweens that are also online playing with you, but unfortunately you can’t do much to stop them.

Pick this game up. Do it. And yeah I know, that wasn’t brief. Sorry.

Available at amazon.com for $59.99.

The Bad

Tony Hawk Ride

Here’s the idea in a nutshell: Create a skateboarding video game that comes with a skateboard controller so that the player truly feels like they are actually skateboarding.

Here’s the problem with this idea: I play skateboarding video games because I’m too chicken-shit to get on a real skateboard, so why would I want to get on a fake one in my living room next to my roommates glass-topped table?

And here’s the bigger problem: The skateboard controller shown above doesn’t even work very well. When this controller and its corresponding game came out a few weeks ago it was slammed by critics for being poorly built, unresponsive and overpriced. So not only are you riding a fake skateboard in your living room, but you’re basically riding a fake skateboard that has a bum wheel.

Fail.

The Completely Bizarre

Cook or Be Cooked

Whenever I’m watching Food Network (I love you, Giada) I always long for a cooking video game to come out so I can finally cook like the pros.

Thankfully my wish has been granted thanks to this swell little game for the Wii. In the lamely titled Cook or Be Cooked you use the Wii controller to chop and peel and flip and cook your way to glory… and it’s fun! I guess. Honestly I haven’t played this game but I’m amazed that a cooking game has finally hit the scene. Soon we won’t have to do anything for real.

Stay tuned for the sleep simulator video game. It’s going to be awesome.

Oh, and one other note about Cook or Be Cooked: It supposedly only has twelve recipes for you to Wii your way through, which is pretty weak. But if you still want to pick it up it’s available from amazon.com for $36.99.

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Check back tomorrow for more gift advice.

Oh, and here’s the rest of the guide:

• Day 6 — Cars
• Day 5 — Mustache Gifts
• Day 4 — Sarah Palin Gifts
• Day 3 — Movies on DVD
• Day 2 — Hats
• Day 1 — Music

Tags: gift, gift guide, Holiday Gift Gude, holidays, nerds, video games, war

This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 1:08 AM and is filed under Good News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.