Want to score a “Critical Hit” this Holiday season? (Ha, it works on so many levels! What a whimsical site title!) Here’s a holiday gift guide made by the staff.
To the writers: post as a comment to this what you would recommend as a good holiday gift, price range, and where to get it. (You can also use this as a place to post things that you want to receive, and then send your relatives to look at this post. Genius.)
I very much enjoy the PSP (Playstation Portable), including the games Lumines and Wipeout Pure which are both very -very- good.
However, this holiday season seems to be all about I-Pods and other extremly expensive electronics, so if you’re looking for other options:
-free tryout subscriptions to Netflix should brighten anyone’s day, as it is thus far an amazing service.
-I’ve seen a few commercials on G4(suck)TV for this new game service, GameNet or something else weirder then that, where you can play -any- videogame from any system/arcade on your computer for a relatively cheap monthly fee, that looks awesome.
-The ever-popular World of Warcraft 30/60 day paid subscription cards
A couple of cheap shopping ideas:
If you know someone who is a sports fan, get them a shirt! Sport tee shirts are a cheap and easy way to take care of the sports lover on your Christmas list. Just find out what team(s) they like, run out to your nearest WalMart, Target, Value City, or Steve and Barry’s, and you will be able to spend ten dollars or less to give that person on your list something they will enjoy!
Even if you yourself does not like sports, there’s no good reason not to buy a tee shirt for someone else. In fact, this is often an easy solution that non-sports fans overlook… don’t!
Also, while you are at WalMart, be sure to check out their bargin bin of DVD’s if you are strapped for cash. Every now and then you either find a gem of a movie, or else you find one that you know your dad or mom used to love watching on television ten years ago. Even if you yourself do not like the movie, pony up the six dollars and buy it for the family member.
See… shopping can be cheap!
The mention of “sports” on this website has just alienated our readers. Good job, douche.
The first gaming-related item that comes to my mind is poker paraphernalia. If someone you know has caught break of the recent poker wave, you can get all sorts of gifts for him/her. Poker chip sets can be found anywhere from a gaming store to Wal-mart.
I have found that the best place to get a nice poker set for cheap is Ebay. There are also a wide variety of books on the topic written by the top professionals. You can find them in bookstores and even Spencers.
My favorite poker related gift idea is the poker accessory. I, much to my fiance’s chagrin, love poker-related decor and fluff to add to your poker lifestyle, but have no direct effect on playing the game. Examples include, poker drinking glasses, Dogs playing poker posters, poker related zippo lighters, poker clocks ets. Some of the more oddball poker related items can be found at Spencers.
If I were to recommend one poker book, it would be Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book available at Amazon for about $15. Great advice and an incredibly accesible read packed with info. On second thought, if you’re going to ever play against me, it’s a terrible gift and you shouldn’t read it.
If you’re looking for a boardgame, I’ve yet to play with anyone who dislikes Wits & Wagers, the trivia gambling game. It’s available at funagain.com for around $25. If you order it from there, you can also pick up a copy of Klunker (AKA Schaufenster) for only $5, one of our perennial favorite card games.
And in the RPG corner, Wizards is releasing a Spell Compendium, chock full of new spells. Unlike a lot of their other releases lately, this is a very good general product that most players and DMs will want to own. Available at Amazon and other booksellers for around $25.
I actually have a question. Are there any stores that sell a nice set for the game Go? The real nice sets on Ebay at the moment only come from Asia with insane shipping costs (around $130).
Well, if you want a *nice* set, Boardgamegeek recommended:
http://www.kiseido.com/go_equipment.htm
but they’re pretty pricey too.
However, the ones from most game stores will be pretty decent quality too. Funagain.com has a pretty solid assortment.
Though it doesn’t seem to be on Amazon as of yet, I saw an ad for the ’40 Years of X-Men’ collection yesterday – about 50 bucks nets you a DVD including something to the tune of 400 comics. Pretty Schweet.
http://www.coolcomiccollectibles.com/40yeofxondvd.html