11/24/2006
Holiday Gift Guide Home / Stuff to Buy / Bullz-Eye Home
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The Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 will be sitting atop many a holiday wish list this year, and for good reason. If you're one of the few who's able to get your hands on one of these new consoles, congrats! If you're not, though, there are still several cool titles out there that any gamer would love to have, including a new Zelda release and a potential "Halo" rival.
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Forget all that talk about next-gen gaming. The Nintendo Wii is new-gen, and though it doesn’t feature the same graphical prowess of its fellow competitors, it does offer something truly unique: a fun and innovative way to enjoy video games for even the most inexperienced of players. By way of the fan-dubbed Wiimote, the new system delivers a truly revolutionary experience that no longer relies on complicated button schemes, but instead offers a wireless controller that can be used in a variety of ways. Shooting a gun? Just point and click away. Driving a car? Turn the controller on its side like a steering wheel and you’re ready to go. The possibilities are endless and third-party game developers aren’t the only ones taking notice. With an attractive $250 price tag that includes everything you need to get started right out of the box (including the system, a controller and even a copy of “Wii Sports”), the Nintendo Wii has quickly become the must-have toy of the holiday season for children and adults alike.
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The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess |
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The perfect complement to Nintendo’s entry into the console wars and quite possible the single greatest launch title in the history of the video game industry, the release of “The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess” also marks the first time an installment of the long-running “Legend of Zelda” franchise will debut alongside a new system. The highly-anticipated game follows Link on an all-new adventure that boasts a 70+ hour storyline, tons of new skills (like shape shifting into a wolf), innovative gameplay and the promise of additional content to be available via Nintendo’s WiiConnect24 online service in the near future. Simply put, if you buy a Wii, you absolutely must buy this game.
The whole humans vs. aliens angle isn’t exactly a new concept when it comes to video game production, but when news broke that critically acclaimed game designer CliffyB would be tapping the clichéd sci-fi theme as the focus of his next pixilated masterpiece, comparisons between the action/adventure title and the ever-so-popular “Halo” series flourished around fanboy circles across the world. And now that it’s finally out, we’re more than happy to confirm that “Gears of War” is everything it said it’d be and more. Featuring amazing visuals and excellent gameplay mechanics not unlike “Resident Evil 4,” the game looks to take the next-gen debate to a whole new level. This is the killer-app that 360 fans have been clamoring for since last November, and it’ll no doubt satisfy your creature-killing hunger until “Halo 3” streets in 2007.
If the original “Guitar Hero” was as big of a hit as we promised it would be during last year’s holiday celebration, then you can only imagine how much Red Octane’s follow-up to the incredibly successful (and massively addictive) guitar rhythm game will rock the party this year. This is face-melting goodness we’re talking about here, from the killer selection of playable tracks (including newbies like Wolfmother’s “Woman” and oldies like Dick Dale’s “Misirlou”) to the new gameplay mode that allows a friend to play along as the rhythm or bass guitar. Also new to this year’s edition is the inclusion of three-chord notes, which will not only please real-life guitar players, but also delivers a more realistic experience. We know, we know, it’s still a toy guitar you’re playing with, but that doesn’t make it any less cool.
