Nothing expresses "holiday season"
like being closer with your favorite gaming device and spending more quality
time into the backlog of games piling up next to the TV. But 2012 was the year
of change when it comes to gaming devices - PC graphics cards are dropping in
price and easily surpassed rival consoles, and new products such as the
PlayStation Vita and Nintendo Wii U offer new ways to interact with those
classic characters. So, what should you buy for the gaming-inclined people in
your life? Keep on reading to find out what best fits your budget.
On the cheap
Nintendo
DSI XL
Obviously, the Nintendo 3DS is the new hotess,
but there are so many great contents (and cheap) on the final version of the
DSi, XL. With games ranging in price from $1 to $30, the DSi XL is a great
choice for kids (and parents), which are basically guaranteed to keep the
long-term financial investment low. Why is it also good for kids and parents?
It is very solid. You can hardly find a new DSi XL in the store, but a
pre-owned one will cost even less than the $130.
Main Specification: Dual 4.2-inch LCD screen (256x192), SD card slot, rated for 3 to 12
hours of battery life and weighs 314g (0.7 pounds).
Price: From $154 on Amazon
Nintendo
DS XL
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Neo
Geo X
Give the gift of handheld nostalgia with
SNK Playmore's Neo Geo X handheld. The compact gaming machine has a price tag of
$130, or you can spend $70 more for the special edition (which includes many
great accessories).
Price: $130 on GameStop
Skylanders:
Giants Starter Pack
Skylander: Spyro's
Adventure made the game industry surprise and became a breakout hit. Activision
and Toys For Bob was betting with Skylanders: Giants and it worked with
any toy you bought.
Price: $75 on Amazon
Mid-range
Sony
PlayStation Vita
PlayStation Vita couldn't be topped in
terms of sales, but there was a lot of content available for Sony's second
entry in the portable console market. The 5-inch OLED multi-touch screen is
bright and fast, the controls and button layout are comfortable and graphics
outclass the Nintendo 3DS's performance. Yes, for $ 250, it's still too
expensive, but at this price, there are many good reasons to buy one (Gravity
Rush, and Sound Shapes LittleBigPlanet come to your mind).
Main Specification: 5-inch multi-touch screen (960x544), ARM Cortex A9 processor, Wi-Fi
support, weighs 260g (0.6 pounds).
Price: $250 on Amazon.
Sony
Playstation Vita
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Nintendo
Wii U
Nintendo's Wii U could still have work to
do to convince gamers to its value, but the original gamers among us would like
to grab this advanced system when it launched last November. A huge list of
games at launch, of course, does not cause any harm.
Price: From $300 starting from 18/11 on Nintendo
iPad
mini
Yes, seriously. We are recommended you to
buy yourself a mini iPad for gaming. There is just too much game for iOS to
overlook Apple's new, smaller tablet. (Have you not played Super Hexagon?!) It
also has many other games.
Price: $329 from Apple
Money's no object
Alienware
X51 mini gaming desktop
The Alienware X51 gaming is only bigger
than your average gaming console a bit, but much stronger. After all, it's
packaged Nvidia GTX 660 chipset and Intel Core i7 processor with 1TB HDD
memory. The X51 can easily be connected to a living room TV to use as a media
center and Steam Big Picture Mode game box. Of course, kitting it out all the
way comes with a hefty price.
Main Specification Core i7-3770 processor with 16GB of RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX 660
with 1.5GB dedicated RAM, weighs 12.1 pounds.
Price: $1,200 from Dell
Alienware
X51 mini gaming desktop
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Second-gen
Razer Blade gaming laptop
The Razer Blade is a gaming laptop which is
strong, thin, beautiful - with a terrible price. But if there is no budget
constraints for the holiday shopping, we can't suggest a better way to spend a
bunch of money on a hardcore gamer.
Price: $2,500 from Dell.
Digital
Storm Bolt
The next-generation gaming has been here,
you just have to pay for it. The Bolt Gaming PC from Digital Storm is no
exception, especially if you spend money on this high-end model which is
equipped with Nvidia's GeForce GTX 680.
Price: $1,949 from Digital Storm
