I meant to do this a long time ago, but I’ve been super sick. So if you (like me) are finishing up your Christmas shopping at the last minute and have a gamer on your list. Here’s a list of my favorite games!

360

  • Fable 3- Play as a prince or princess who has to dethrone an evil king/brother and save the good people of the kingdom, Open world game with lots of fun quests. Marry, divorce, give birth, adopt…you name it.
  • Alan Wake- “Kill” the bad guys with light. You play an writer’s-blocked author who is living in a novel that he has written and doesn’t remember. Oh yeah, all while searching for his kidnapped wife.
  • Fallout 3- Post apocalyptic shooter with RPG elements (or the other way around). The predecessor to Fallout: New Vegas, but still equally good and can be gotten for a good price right now.
  • Oblivion- Open world RPG. One of the best I have ever played. It’s a couple of years old at this point, but there is lots of DLC to go with it at this point. The next one comes out Thanksgiving 2011.
  • CoD MW2/Black Ops-2 solid FPS. I have only played MW2 at this point, but Black Ops looks pretty good too.

Wii

  • Kirby’s Epic Yarn- A platformer with fibery elements.Unravel stuff and pull yarn to change the playing field.
  • Epic Mickey-Cute game. Nods to classic Disney. Platformer. Controls and camera can be a little frustrating.
  • Donkey Kong Country Returns- Who doesn’t like Donkey Kong? Play a new one while shaking your Wii-mote like a fool!
  • Just Dance- Ok, silly silly fun! Even has “Groove is in your heart!”. There is now JD2 and JD Kids!
  • New Super Mario Bros. Wii- Mario with co-op. Be fiendish and kill your partner. New help system will actually walk you through problem levels.
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2- Like Super Mario…only galactic!

DS

  • Dragon Quest IX- The best RPG on the DS to date! Hundreds of hours of gameplay and you can play with other DSes via the DS connection. Good story. Kid friendly.
  • Professor Layton- Any of the 3 are a good bet. Cute little mysteries with great logic puzzles!
  • Super Scribblenauts- Like Scribbllenauts only better because it has adjectives. Write things into being (scribbling, get it?) and use them to solve situations or just play with them to see if a Kraaken can beat Godzilla!
  • Lego HP 1-4- I love the Lego games, now add Harry Potter and you have the best Lego game so far.

PS3

  • Heavy Rain- A whole new genre. More interactive drama than not. Ending depends on how many of the beginning characters are alive at the end (and what they do along the way).
  • Little Big Planet- build your world and then play it!
  • Uncharted 2- Nathan Drake is much like a male Lara Croft. Solid gameplay.
  • Folklore- Beautiful adventure game with good soundtrack. Artwork gives it a real artsy feel.
  • Modnation Racers- Like customizable Mario Kart.

iDevice

  • Angry Birds- Not for the spatially challenged. Shoot birds at structures to bring them down. Oddly addictive.
  • Cut the Rope- Do just that to aim at a little monster!
  • Plants Vs. Zombies- Tower defense with a twist. Hilarious zombies and increasingly difficult situations.
  • Civilization Revolution- A Civ game that works well on idevices and it’s cheap!
  • Peggle-Addictive puzzle game. Clear the board with pinball like physics.
  • Words with Friends- Like Scrabble with chat.

PC/Mac

  • Starcraft 2- Sequel to the hottest RTS game EVER!!
  • WoW- MMORPG Fantasy based online RPG with over 12 million subscribers!
  • Torchlight- Indie RPG that is great fun and even runs on netbooks!