Gifts for Gamers

Featuring a track list with more than 100 on-disc and downloadable tracks from some of the most hallowed bands of the rock pantheon (AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Bikini Kill, Foo Fighters, Modest Mouse, and Nirvana, to name a few), Rock Band 2 challenges you and your friends to master lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, and vocals. The game also has a tool that teaches you how to play the drums in real life.

It's time to get the band back together with Guitar Hero World Tour. The game features 86 master-recording tracks, including hits by Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, and Metallica. Melt faces on the guitar controller, kick it on the 6-piece drum kit, and sing your heart out on the mic. When you're not performing, create your own songs in studio mode and share them with other players through GH Tunes.

Built by Alesis, a professional electronic drum manufacturer, the Ion Drum Rocker for Xbox 360 (other platforms coming later) delivers a set of four ultra-quiet pro-quality drum pads, a sturdy and highly configurable stand, cymbal pads, and a rock-solid metal kick drum pedal. So the better you get at Rock Band, the better you get at playing drums in real life. The Drum Rocker comes with 2 cymbals and mounting hardware out of the box, and a third cymbal (or a second bass pedal) is available as an optional accessory.

LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga lets you play through the events of all 6 Star Wars movies, with new levels, new characters, and new bonus levels. The hilarious character customizer lets you mix and match different characters (e.g., Han Windu), while puzzle solving, teamwork and the game's unique signature humor will keep you coming back for more.

Fallout 3 is a singleplayer action role-playing game (RPG) that combines the horrific insanity of the Cold War era theory of mutually assured destruction gone terribly wrong with the kitschy naivety of American 1950s nuclear propaganda. GameSpot says the game is "a profoundly engrossing role-playing game just waiting to reveal its deep, dark mysteries."

Dead Space, a "blood-curdling interactive horror experience that features state-of-the art graphics and effects, a panic-inducing audio system, and a truly frightening atmosphere of death and despair," is sure to get you into the holiday spirit. But we're guessing that a game that advertises you can "shear off limbs with powerful weapons as you carve a bloody path through the alien hordes" probably isn't appropriate for kids.

In Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, your mission is to go back in time to eliminate Albert Einstein before he creates the technologies that will lead the Allies to ultimate victory. Red Alert 3 brings back everything fans loved about the series, the humor, the popcorn style story and the franchise's fast, action-oriented gameplay, while breaking new ground with an entirely co-operative, story-driven campaign mode and an increased emphasis on naval gameplay.

Become a rock star in your living room with Wii Music, a game that lets you "play" more than 60 instruments with your Wii Remote and Nunchuk controller. You can play your instruments to the beat of a song or wildly improvise, then watch as your recordings are played back with the enhancement of dramatic camera angles. You can even wave your Wii Remote like a baton to conduct a Mii orchestra, and place your feet on your Wii Balance Board to use it as virtual pedals for the bass drum and hi-hat cymbal.

CNET says the new Sony PSP 3000 is "an evolutionary step up from last year's PSP 2000, with a slightly improved screen (better color reproduction, slightly less glare), a built-in microphone (Skype users can now use regular headphones instead of a special headset), and improved video-out support (games can now be displayed on non-HD TVs)." The PSP 3000 comes packaged with a 1GB Memory Stick, the Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters game, and the "National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets" UMD movie.

"With a bigger roster than ever, online multiplayer, and the ability to share screenshots, custom levels, and game replays with friends, Super Smash Bros. has never been better," says GameSpot about Super Smash Bros. Brawl. You can play as or against your favorite Mario characters, using the Cracker Launcher to shoot off fireworks, Smoke Balls to distract your enemies, and banana peels to beat them silly.