Best Christmas Game Purchases for Casual Gamers and FamiliesWritten By Roy
This week we’re continuing our Christmas theme, and why not? Christmas is a massive time for gamers, and some of the year’s biggest games get released between November and December in time for us all to rush to the shops and buy them for Christmas. 2009 has been a good year for gaming, so let’s take a look at what’s available for the casual market.
Gaming has certainly hit the mainstream in the last few years, so let’s take a look at games that should be a sure-fire hit for any family over the festive season:
EyePet: Strangely enough our first choice isn’t for the Wii or DS but the PS3 – a console more typically associated with more hardcore gaming. However, you just can’t get a game like Eye Pet on any other system. It uses the PS3 camera which you can buy in a bundle with the game if you don’t already own one.
The game basically plays like a Tamagotchi but one controlled by the movements of your body towards the screen. You can do things like feeding, playing and scolding the pet but all these actions are determined by how you move around in front of the screen making it great distracting fun for kids.
Lips: Singstar might have started the gaming karaoke craze but Lips has refined it. If you want to have a few hours in front of the TV at Christmas trying (and usually failing) to sing along to your favourite pop songs, Lips is certainly the number one choice. 
There’s a variety of different package available but the newest Number One Hits package with wireless microphones offers the best value for money and gaming experience, and you can even download new songs online via the XBOX Live Marketplace.
Wii Sports Resort: Nintendo fans probably already remember playing Wii Sports together as a family a few Christmases ago and having a bit of fun, though the limited range of sports available meant the game was quite quickly forgotten in favour of newer, bigger Wii games. Resort brings some new life to the series with a much wider range of sports including fencing and sky diving.
You can buy the game either alone or with the Wii Motion plus controller addon that makes your movements far more refined. However, you’ll need one Wii Motion plus for each controller to make the game fair, so this could end up costing you quite a bit of money!
Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games: Another Wii game and another sport collection, but this one differs from fairly large differences to Wii Sports Resort, even if you probably don’t need to be getting both this Christmas. It’s a great game if you’re going to play with four players and there are plenty of different sports on offer. You can even use the Wii balance board for some of them!
The News Release was written by: Roy who produces professional