Special Christmas Movie Guest Appearance: The Loser Cousin From Christmas Vacation
Christmas Vacation. To me, it's easily the best of the Vacation series. Chevy Chase is at his best here. The scene with the hot lingerie sales clerk provided a hilarious substitute for the word nippy in my vocabulary. But it was the nutty cousin who stole the show. Draining the septic tank into the gutter, talking about his "Mississippi Leg Hound", the plastic plate in his head; all were hilarious. At the climax, when the gas from the sewage ignites and sends Santa's sleigh flaming into the sky like a meteor, well... words just fail to describe it. You know Cousin Eddie loved the pyrotechnics involved, and he'd probably like this too:
For The Super Creative Child Prodigy:
Kids these days. They can run a DVD player when they are two years old. Computers are a snap before they start preschool, and by the time they graduate from kindergarten, they can use the speed dial on a cell phone. Technology is a snap to modern kids. Maybe there's one special one on your shopping list, though. This kid is extremely bright, and particularly creative. They build entire cities out of blocks, make huge rockets out of Tinker Toys, and drool over model kits of cars adn airplanes. Why not combine a kid's love of tech with the ultimate digital sandbox, all wrapped up in an adorable little package?
For The Swag Lover:
This person has a weakness for the words "collector's edition". As long as there some percieved value, they'll pony up for a premium version of any game they are interested in. Full-size lancers, exclusive game character action figures, even the Too Human watch: you name it, they have it. This person collects video game related paraphenelia like it's going out of style. They wear shirts advertising favorite game related websites, and they have a different hat with the logo of each video game system, ever (even the Vectrex). Wouldn't it be awesome to get this person a collector's edition of a huge fall blockbuster? Particularly when that edition COSTS THE SAME as the regular version? You know they want it!
For Your Dad:
What, you don't think your dad is interested in video games? Chances are, he played pinball and Pong when he was younger, maybe even with you when you were growing up. You sure as heck couldn't have afforded to buy PAc-Man for the Atari 2600 on your own, so it's a good thing he did. Unfortunately, the more buttons the game controllers added, the less interested Dad became. Why not get him back in the swing of things with a fun, easy to play title based on a very Dad-friendly movie series? Your dad, like Harrison Ford, might be a senior citizen but that doesn't mean he isn't cool. Try this one out with him, just don't make him play as the girl.
For the Martial Arts Fan Who Imports All Their Movies:
This person is a bit hardcore, but in a good way. They learned how to speak Mandarin Chinese just to watch Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in all it's unsubbed glory. While you were playing Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog, their NES had Romance of the Three Kingdoms in it for over a year. They have a collection of Japanese fans proudly on display in their living room. They import all their movies and games just to get them earlier. In this person's opinion, "Best Wire Fu" should be an Oscar catergory. The choice is clear for this person:
For the More Eclectic Music Fan:
Guitar Hero World Tour is a good game in it's own right, but there's no way you're getting this person to play it. All the extreme metal art, grim reapers, and demons just aren't this one's bag. They love music though, of many different genres, and have a huge collection, all nicely categorized, ripped to exacting standards, and backed up regularly. They buy a new portable music device at each hardware revision. On the rare times they listen to the radio, it's one of those variety channels that plays anything from the past forty years. The choice of video game for this slightly snobby music fan is clear:
For Anyone You Don't Want to Spend a Lot On
So, it was really hard finding value priced titles for the PS3. It appears that value means about $30 for those who choose Sony's system. That seems high to me, but the quality of these titles is a bit better, I'd say, then our value recommendations for other systems. Playing through one of these is a decent way to spend some quality holiday time with your giftees. Slap one of these in the PS3 in between watching The Dark Knight on Blu-ray for the 3rd and 4th time.
The required accessories and system: