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Holiday profiling: Xbox 360 is perfect gift for Hispanics, Microsoft survey finds
The results of the first-ever Xbox 360 Hispanic Holiday Entertainment Survey are in! And wouldn't you know, Xbox 360 is the perfect fit for the Hispanic persuasion1. Did you know: More Hispanics want a gift that brings their family together (89% vs. 64% of general population) More Hispanics are looking for gifts that people can enjoy throughout the year (95% vs. 85% of general population) More Hispanics are looking for affordable ways to entertain their family over the holidays (85% vs. 81% of general population) Many more Hispanics would rather buy one gift for their whole family than spend money on lots of individual gifts (83 % vs. 52% of general population) Lips en Español features 17 songs in Spanish by artists such as Alejandro Sanz, Belanova, Fanny Lu, La Factoria, Luis Miguel, Pimpinela and Selena (42.5% less songs than the all-English version!) How do these compelling figures all add up? We're glad you asked! You see, Xbox 360 is the one, affordable gift that brings the family together throughout the year. In short, not buying an Xbox 360 this holiday season is simply Un-Hispanic.
WoW Insider's 2008 holiday gift guide
Yes, it's that time of year again -- the lights are up around town, the weather is cold and snowy, and you've got a long list of nice (and maybe even some naughty) people who will need gifts this year. But what will you get? If anyone on your list is a Warcraft player, worry not: WoW Insider has compiled a list of ten Nintendo Sixtyfoooooooour-level gifts for the Warcraft player in your life, five out-of-game and five in-game.Whether they're level 10 or level 80, odds are that they'll love any of this stuff, and whether you've got just a little bit of time and/or money to put in or want no expense spared, there's something on this list for you. Click into the gallery below to check out all of the gifts, and be sure to have a happy holiday season -- here's hoping there will be a little something more exciting than coal in that stocking!Looking for non-Warcraft related gamer gifts? Joystiq has up-to-the-minute news on the best holiday deals and tips around for Holidaze 2008. And our friends at Big Download have a nice set of guides up as well, featuring anything and everything you might need for a PC gamer.%Gallery-38276%Winter's Veil is almost here. Watch the 12 Days again, wonder what might be new this year, or settle down with some cocoa and some tasty... bark?
Black Friday: Wii crowned, economy still down
Black Friday 2008 will be remembered as a slight, but pleasant bump in a rocky road for retail this holiday. Fitting, then, that Wii and its equally scarce sidekick, Wii Fit, were the top search items on the day. As it turns out, folks wanted to shop (172 million to be exact!), they just couldn't always buy what they were searching for. With Wii in short supply at retail, eBay merchants continued to turn profits on resales of the console with an average selling price of $349. Overall, online shopping totals grew modestly relative to last year. Meanwhile, a stack of Xbox 360s caused a brawl at Walmart, and, in a macabre turn of events, an employee was trampled to death by a frenzied mob at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, New York. In California, two men killed each other in a gunfight that erupted at the Palm Desert Toys R Us. All convincing examples of why we prefer to pay it safe from our keyboards: Hellooo Cyber Monday![Image credit: Bruce On Games, Dec. 2007 -- same tune again this year, eh?]
2009 Petopia Calendar on sale now
Mania has released the 2009 Petopia calendar, featuring 12 beautiful images of some of the best pets in the game -- pretty much the perfect gift for the Hunter in your life. The pictures were put together by Aaron Perez, and each one was commissioned by Mania herself, so the calendar features all pets picked by her, including many of the new pet types: there's my current pet, a Rhino, in there for December and of course the Spirit Beast makes an appearance as well. It's available right now over on her Cafepress page for $19.99.Which may seem a little expensive, but Mania breaks the price down on her site: of the $20, a full $15 goes right back to Cafepress for printing costs and their profit. And of the $5 she gets, Mania sends it back to the artist for his work, so she doesn't even really expect to break even. Which is too bad -- there's certainly interest in these, I think, and it would be nice if we could set it up so the money goes somewhere besides Cafepress (but of course, then Mania would have to find a different printer and a different way to sell it, and who knows how much that all costs).At any rate, it'll definitely turn out to be a nice calendar, so if you know any pet tamers who need help keeping track of the date, there's your holiday gift.
Holidaze 2008: The Best of Cyber Monday
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/The_Best_Video_Game_Deals_of_Cyber_Monday_2008'; Nothing quite like being packed into a frenzied shopping mob, is there? It's why we wait for hours in the cold dark with nothing more than the lingering memory of ... wait a second, it's Cyber Monday! Now we can spend money on reduced-price games without leaving the comforts of our keyboards! Here's our picks for the best deals out there today. Amazon Toys 'R' Us GameStop Wal-Mart Best Buy Newegg Target Dell Sears Buy.com
Amazon's 2008 Cyber Monday deals
In case your wallet isn't hurting enough from this weekend (or you simply decided to take the frugal route with Black Friday shopping), Amazon has unveiled their Cyber Monday deals, which starts tomorrow at 3:00AM ET. While no way as exhaustive as its weekend specials (which, like the new deals, last until Tuesday, December 2 at 2:59AM ET), there are a few steep discounts worth noting. Fable 2 and LittleBigPlanet are $40 each, and Spore is being offered for only $20. We've posted the full list after the break. Be sure to also keep an eye on GameStop, who has its own specials starting at midnight ET tonight.
Holiday Game and Rating Guide: Rated M for Mature
Today marks the final day of our four-part Holiday Game and Rating Guide, co-developed by parent-focused site What They Play. In today's list we recommend five must own titles rated "M" for "Mature." Jump in for chainsaws and zombies and find out what you should be asking for this holiday season.Developed by X3F and What They Play president John Davison -- you may also know him from the 1UP Yours Podcast -- the Holiday Game and Rating Guide hopes to showcase the best of each rating while helping to inform your loved ones what kind of content each game includes. It isn't meant to scare them away, in fact think of it as a walk through of what's really found in each game to help everyone make an intelligent decision this holiday season. Click the banner below to check out our picks for titles rated "M" for "Mature."
Catch great MMO Black Friday deals at Amazon.com
If you're like the bloggers at Massively, you're wisely staying away from the doorbuster crowds at the major US retailers. That said, even MMO players have to buy Christmas gifts, right? Do what we're doing, then, and shop from home. Joystiq's fantastic Black Friday guides cover the length and breadth of gaming deals today, but you know where we're interested. That's right, the online stuff. Amazon.com not only allows us that great 'avoiding the crowds' feeling, they're also the only retailer to offer bigtime MMO deals! Check them out: Guild Wars - $9.95 (Reg. $29.99) Guild Wars: Eye Of The North - Expansion Pack - $9.95 (Reg. $29.99) Warhammer Online 60 Day Prepaid Game Time Card - $19.95 (Reg. $29.99) Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning - $19.95 (Reg. $49.99) World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack - $25.95 (Reg. $39.99) If you have to go deal with the humans, we suggest you brush up on the full Joystiq Black Friday guide before you do. There are deals to be had at most of the big box stores, perfect for making your games-buying a little more tolerable this holiday.
Stay at home: Amazon's incredible Black Friday deals (and Newegg, too)
Knowing that we would prefer not to get off the couch (especially with temperatures dropping as they are wont to do this time of year), Newegg and Amazon are celebrating Black Friday with their own super deals. Newegg's deals (effective now through Sunday, November 30) are predominantly PC-centric, but console gamers can still enjoy $20 off Metal Gear Solid 4. Amazon's deals, however, are absolutely irresistible. Far Cry 2 for $38? Dead Space for $30? Left 4 Dead PC for $20?! There are plenty more; we suggest you get cozy and have your credit card handy tonight.Full list after the break. Amazon's deals begin Friday, November 28 at 3:00AM ET. The Friday Only deals (designated as such) end 2:59AM ET Saturday morning (or until supplies run out, natch), while the remaining discounts end 2:59AM ET Sunday morning.
Holiday Game and Rating Guide: Rated T for Teen
As many of you loosen your belts after a superb Thanksgiving feast we present part three of the X3F and What They Play joint holiday game and rating guide. Today we feature five titles rated "T" for "Teen" with games ranging in genre from trivia to fighting. Jump in and check out what's available and recommended for this holiday season.Developed by X3F and What They Play president John Davison -- you may also know him from the 1UP Yours Podcast -- the Holiday Game and Rating Guide hopes to showcase the best of each rating while helping to inform your loved ones what kind of content each game includes. It isn't meant to scare them away, in fact think of it as a walk through of what's really found in each game to help everyone make an intelligent decision this holiday season. Click the banner below to check out our picks for titles rated "T" for "Teen."
Meta-Metareview: The best reviewed games of 2008
With almost all of the big games of '08 now on shelves (we're looking at you, Prince of Persia) or available via Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network, you're left with a lot of choices. Some of them you've already bought; others you've been on the fence over; others you didn't realize were "supposed to be" any good – but, if you're anything like us, you don't want to miss any of the must-plays this year has to offer.Enter our "meta-metareview," a list of every game released this year that's scored above 85% on average from reviewers around the world. You won't be surprised by the games that made the list; you will be surprised that some of your (and our) favorites didn't make it. Check out the full list after the break and please, before you send us a nasty email because Castle Crashers didn't make it on, remember that them's the (sometimes painful) breaks with aggregate scoring.Some fun facts: October was the most crowded month for quality titles with 12 released, followed by November (8), September (7) and April (6). Breaking it down by console, PlayStation 3 has the most presence on the list with 22 titles, followed by Xbox 360 (20), PC (15), Wii (8), DS (7), PSP (2) and PS2 (1). The best-reviewed game this year? April's Grand Theft Auto IV (98%), followed by a three-way tie between LittleBigPlanet, BioShock (PS3) and World of Goo (95%) -- all three of which were released in October. Metal Gear Solid 4 and Wrath of the Lich King are the next tier below at 94%. Of the 55 titles listed, 12 (or approximately 22%) were not based on an existing franchise: Sins of a Solar Empire, Patapon, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Braid, The World Ends with You, Boom Blox, World of Goo, GRID, Pure, LittleBigPlanet, Dead Space and Valkyria Chronicles.
Holiday Game and Rating Guide: Rated E10+
Continuing our Holiday Game and Rating Guide, today we present titles rated E10+. The newest rating from the ESRB, this list features five must own titles for gamers aged 10 and older. Lace on the skates and prepare to get strategic because these recommendations cover a wide range of genres. Developed by X3F and What They Play president John Davison -- you may also know him from the 1UP Yours Podcast -- the Holiday Game and Rating Guide hopes to showcase the best of each rating while helping to inform your loved ones what kind of content each game includes. It isn't meant to scare them away, in fact think of it as a walk through of what's really found in each game to help everyone make an intelligent decision this holiday season. Click the banner below to check out our picks for titles rated "E10+ for Everyone Age 10 and older."
Be a Guitar Hero for $59 this Black Friday
If you're still deciding where to take your sleeping bag and flask of cocoa for this Black Friday's queues, Target's deal on the Guitar Hero: World Tour Guitar Kit may sway you. The store will be offering the SKU, which includes the game and a wireless guitar, for a mouth-watering $59, a generous saving on the original MSRP of $99.99. It certainly beats paying close to three hundred big ones for the full band experience.%Gallery-23491%
Holiday Game and Rating Guide: E for Everyone
Xbox 360 Fanboy and parental gaming site What They Play have joined forces for a special holiday guide to inform both you and the people who are deciding what to get you for the upcoming holiday season. Today through Friday, the Holiday Game and Rating Guide will showcase five recently released titles -- with some exceptions -- from each of the ESRB rating classifications to add to your collection.Kicking off today with titles E for "Everyone," part one of the holiday game guide varies in recommendations from a sports fan's dream to ATV stunt-racing wannabes.Developed by X3F and What They Play president John Davison -- you may also know him from the 1UP Yours Podcast -- the Holiday Game and Rating Guide hopes to showcase the best of each rating while helping to inform your loved ones what kind of content each game includes. It isn't meant to scare them away, in fact think of it as a walk through of what's really found in each game to help everyone make an intelligent decision this holiday season. Click the banner below to check out our picks for titles rated "E for Everyone."
Holidaze 2008: Best of Black Friday
Note: No, the starred letters in this image don't rearrange to spell out Braid.We don't know what you're talking about. Nothing to see here, move along. Now that you've had a taste of our complete (and completely awesome) Black Friday shopping guide, we thought it best to give you a more concise edition to digest. Introducing: "The Best of the Best of Black Friday 2008" ...But first, some Joytips: There are two excellent Xbox 360 deals: (1) At Target, scoop the Pro Bundle ($300; 60GB HDD) with bonus $50 gift card, which is good for: Call of Duty: World at War ($49); or an EA 2-pack: Dead Space ($30) and Burnout Paradise ($20); or Halo 3 ($30) and 3-month Xbox Live Card ($15 -- with $5 to spare!); or (2) Circuit City's Arcade Bundle ($200), which packs in an extra wireless controller and refurbished 20GB hard drive on top of the other goodies. Best Buy is the only featured retailer with a Black Friday PlayStation 3 bundle ($400) with Ratchet & Clank and the first "new" 007 on Blu-ray Sam's Club (not featured in our guide) has the only notable Wii Bundle ($425 -- not $224 as originally rumored), which includes 3 extra Wiimote-Nunchuk sets, Mario Super Sluggers and King of Clubs: Mini Golf ($115 total savings); good luck duking it out for this one! In case you missed one of the better third-party Wii games of the year (and plenty of Wii owners did), Boom Blox ($20) is discounted at Target Now's a great time to cop some of last year's best, like Bioshock, The Orange Box ($20 each at Circuit City) and Halo 3 ($30 at Target) In general, there are some great PS2 deals to be had ... if you're still living in the past-gen (and let's not forget GameStop is selling pre-owned original Xboxes and GameCubes for $40 and $30, respectively -- just don't assume your kids won't know they've recieved hand-me-downs) Quick-search the best deals: Best Buy | Circuit City | GameStop | Target | Toys 'R' Us | Wal-Mart
Holidaze 2008: Black Friday Video Game Guide
Nothing quite like being packed into a frenzied shopping mob, is there? It's why we wait for hours in the cold dark with nothing more than the lingering memory of Thanksgiving stuck between our teeth. Or ... maybe it's just the promise of unbelievable savings?We've scoured the nation's largest retailers for Black Friday's video game deals and compiled these savings into a series of really good lookin' guides. Since you're likely to focus your efforts on one retailer, selling not just games, but various gift opportunities, we've narrowed our field down to six nationwide megastores -- with the exception of GameStop, which, well, just sells games. (Joytip: Consult GamerDeals or other Black Friday compilation sites for additional sales at small, regional or online retailers.)Without further ado, we present ... Joystiq's Holidaze 2008: Black Friday Video Game Guide! Click on a store above to view its Black Friday Guide
Upper Deck offers free shipping on WoW stuff
Blizzplanet's got the news that Upper Deck is offering a break on shipping in the next 24 hours, so if you've been thinking of picking up any WoW TCG-related items for a friend, now's the time to do it.It's a pretty terrible deal though -- you've got to order $50 worth of stuff to get the free shipping, and at Upper Deck's official prices, you're probably just better running out to a hobby store and picking the things up yourself. But who knows. Maybe there's one of you in Alaska who have wanted to buy tons of stuff from UDE without paying shipping, but don't have a hobby store for miles around -- if so, you're in luck.The sale inexplicably ends on November 21st, which by my calculations is tomorrow, so get your order in fast. But seriously, someone needs to teach Upper Deck how to have a holiday sale -- who buys all their gifts by Thanksgiving? Maybe we'll see a better sale on Black Friday.
Holidaze 2008: Xbox 360 SKU chart, revisited
We'd love to say picking up an Xbox 360 is as easy as going to the store and grabbing the first box with the console's name on it. For better or for worse, this generation of consoles gives consumers many choices at the (potential) expense of causing confusion at the store. This holiday, Microsoft has three different models (aka SKUs) on the market: Arcade, Pro and Elite. So, it's with all this in mind that we present you this handy guide for discerning the difference between the various Xbox 360 SKUs out there. Please note that the red, green and yellow coloring is not only festive decor for the holiday season, but a subjective highlight of what each version excels in (or subsequently lacks). #comparechart { border: 2px solid #333; border-collapse: collapse; } #comparechart td { padding: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; vertical-align: top; margin: 0; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 80%} #comparechart th { font-size: 80%; font-weight: bold; text-align: left; padding: 4px; background: #eee; } #comparechart th.mainth { font-size: 100%; border-bottom: 1px solid #333; } #comparechart td.red { background-color: #f08c85; } #comparechart td.yellow { background-color: #ffffcc;} #comparechart td.green { background-color: #b3e2c4; } Elite Pro (60GB) Arcade Pro (20GB) Halo Edition Core Hardware Price $399.99 $299.99 $199.99 $349.99* $399.99* $279.99* Storage 120GB HDD 60GB HDD 256MBmemory card 20GB HDD 20GB HDD none Color Black White White White Green/Orange White HDMI port Yes Yes Yes After July 2007 Yes After July 2007 Bundled Accessories Ethernet cable Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Headset Wired Wired No Yes Wired No Play &Charge Kit No No No No Yes No Video cables HDMI 1.2,RGB**,Composite RGB**,Composite Composite RGB**,Composite RGB**,Composite Composite Controller Wireless Wireless Wireless Wireless Wireless Wired Other Xbox Live Silver,1 Month Gold Silver,1 Month Gold Silver,1 Month Gold Silver, 1 Month Gold Silver,1 Month Gold Silver BackwardsCompatibility Yes Yes No*** Yes Yes No*** Notes:* Model has been discontinued. Price based on final MSRP.** To correct some formatting issues, "component" has been replaced with "RGB" in the chart*** Hard Drive required for backwards compatibilityI've got to ask some rhetorical questions, can you help me out ... again?Of course, it's always fun to talk to yourself.Awesome! Thanks!No problem.
Holidaze 2008: PlayStation 3 SKU chart, revisited
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Holidaze_2008_PlayStation_3_SKU_chart_revisited'; We'd love to say picking up PlayStation 3 is as easy as going to the store and grabbing the first box with the console's name on it. For better and for worse, this generation of consoles gives consumers many choices at the (potential) expense of causing confusion at the store. In all, there have been six different hardware configurations for the PS3, with two of those currently in production.So, it's with this in mind that we present to you a handy guide for discerning the difference between the various PlayStation 3 versions (aka SKUs) out there. Please note that the red and green coloring is not only festive decor for the holiday season, but a subjective highlight of what each version excels in (or subsequently lacks). #comparechart { border: 2px solid #333; border-collapse: collapse; } #comparechart td { padding: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; vertical-align: top; margin: 0; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 80%} #comparechart th { font-size: 80%; font-weight: bold; text-align: left; padding: 4px; background: #eee; } #comparechart th.mainth { font-size: 100%; border-bottom: 1px solid #333; } #comparechart td.red { background-color: #f08c85; } #comparechart td.green { background-color: #b3e2c4; } #comparechart td.yellow { background-color: #ffffcc;} 160GB 80GB(Aug. 08)80GB(Aug. 07)60GB40GB20GB Hardware Model # CECHP01 CECHK01 CECHE01 CECHA01 CECHG01 CECHB01 Price $499.99 $399.99 $499.99* $499.99* $399.99* $499.99* Chrome trim Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No USB 2.0 slots 2 2 4 4 2 4 802.11 b/g Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Flash cardreader No No Yes Yes No No Bundled Accessories Ethernet cable Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Video cables Composite Composite Composite Composite Composite Composite Controller DualShock 3 DualShock 3 Sixaxis Sixaxis Sixaxis Sixaxis Backwards Compatibility PS2 No No Software** Yes (NTSC),Software** (PAL) No Yes PS One Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Notes:*This model is discontinued. The price on the chart represents the listed price before Sony axed it.**See explanation in F.A.Q. below.Alright, Joystiq, time to answer your own questions.Let's do this.
UK shoppers try to hunt down Wii Fit for this holiday
Online analyst Hitwise is reporting that folks in the UK who're searching online for the perfect gift are searching for Wii Fit. With Reggie saying there won't be that many on store shelves, we can't blame them for heading online to try and track one down for the holidays. As you can see, the second item that UK shoppers seek is the Wii. Two years in and it's still going strong. We're expecting North Americans are searching for the same two items right about now.Are any of you trying to pick up Wii Fit or the Wii this holiday? Is it a gift for a friend, loved one, family member, or yourself?%Gallery-4745%[Via CVG]
