Why it's the perfect last minute gift:

I was in the grocery store this past weekend when I heard a song playing over the P.A. I don't remember the name of it, just that it was an old 80s rock tune. As I stood there in the dairy section, all I could think of at that moment was how cool it would be to play that song in Guitar Hero II. That's the kind of effect this game has, you'll never listen to another rock song the same way again.

What we said about it:

Do you think RedOctane and Harmonix knew they had a mega hit on their hands when they released Guitar Hero almost a year ago to the day? With its innovative SG guitar controller and wildly addictive gameplay, it quickly garnered accolades and support from millions of gamers. Now, a year later, RedOctane and Harmonix are ready for their encore performance, Guitar Hero II, with new tracks, new venues, new characters and new multiplayer modes.

Read more: Review

Get Guitar Hero II: PS2

 

Why it's the perfect last minute gift:

Extend your experience in the Half Life 2 universe again with this expansion pack that can be downloaded through Steam.

What we said about it:

The folks at Valve have developed a sixth sense about what works for FPS games. They mix some scary sections and some puzzle sections and some hardcore action sections with a careful dash of scripted segments included, and you're rarely traipsing through a section for what feels like far too long. Just as the puzzles get frustrating, just as you're saying to yourself "Jeez, I hope that was the last switch I have to find and flip" it turns out that it was, and you're off into a firefight or a mini movie to advance the plot.

Read more: Review

Get Half Life 2: Episode One: PC

 

Why it's the perfect last minute gift:

A fulfilling first person shooter that can be easily downloaded through Steam.

What we said about it:

Something refreshing about Emergence is that if you stick to default difficulty and PCS settings, the game is still unapologetically hard on your first run. Many current first-person shooters are prone to giving you a wide berth before you can fail; this one, by contrast, may kill you before you have a gun. That sounds like a negative, but in this case it's just showing respect for the average gamer's abilities and persistence. Other developers could stand to learn.

Read more: Review

Get SiN Episodes: Emergence: PC

 

Why it's the perfect last minute gift:

Rumble Roses XX is the kind of game where the gameplay comes across as some kind of happy accident.

What we said about it:

Some people are going to love it. Some people are going to feel as though they're too mature for it. Some people are going to pretend to be the latter but will actually be the former. Some people will screw up, play it in front of their mothers, and get their 360s taken away.

Read more: Review

Get Rumble Roses XX

 

Why it's the perfect last minute gift:

Everyone needs protection against viruses, spyware, malware and hackers.

What we said about it:

-Anti-phishing support is provided to prevent malicious websites from capturing sensitive information from you. For gamers, who always worry about a performance hit when anti-virus and other protection technologies are on, PC-cillin logged the least performance decrease out of the box and is much better than many of its competitors.

Read more: Review - 2006

Get PC-Cillin Internet Security 2007