Friday 23-Dec-2005 11:12 AM Stuck for a few festive gaming ideas? Well we've rounded up the office experts to give you their festive favourites Gaming, you'd think that reporting and writing about it all year would be enough and come Christmas, we'd be locking all of our consoles in the spare room, turning off our PCs and vowing never to look at a monitor again over the festive period.
Wrong - dead wrong. Christmas is the one time of the year we get to play the games we want to play, rather than the games we have to. Yup we can kick back, turn off the review machines and catch up with all those titles we've been meaning, secure in the knowledge that there won't be a deadline and a screaming editor looming over our heads.
So what will be lighting up our gaming lives this Christmas? Well we decided to consult the experts, the office experts that is, well at least the ones that weren't too drunk to type anyway to find out what they'll be dodging the turkey to play this Christmas
Here's what we discovered:
John Houlihan Editor C&VG.com
Call of Duty 2 - Xbox 360 One of my all time favourite WWII shooters launches a full out assault on the 360 and I'll definitely be renewing hostilities this Xmas.
Condemned - Xbox 360 Dark, atmospheric and at times genuinely pant-stain-ingly scary, Condemned is one of the 360's most underrated launch titles.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories - PSP Not many believed you could squeeze GTA onto the PSP but Rockstar have triumphed with a credible version of GTA on the go, an admirable achievement.
Buzz/Pro Evo 5 - PS2 The perfect PS2 combo to inveigle non-gamers into your Christmas trap. Kick off by suggesting a game of the excellent Buzz which even the most hardened die-hard non-gamer can't resist - especially if you bait them with "well I guess you don't know that much about music then." Then once all the sundry have scoffed the Christmas dinner and mince pies and have fallen into a stupor, you're free to wheel the classic Pro Evo 5 for an extended session.
Matt Wales News Editor - C&VG.com
Trauma Center: Under the Knife - DS Does for doctors what Phoenix Wright does for lawyers. Which is to say that it's utterly bonkers, totally compelling and about as far removed from a serious surgery sim as you can get. There's a couple of frustrating difficulty spikes and some of your surgical gear can drive you nuts with their peculiarly precise demands, but I've so far resisted the urge to sling my DS at the wall and keep coming back for more.
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble - DS A surprisingly faithful interpretation of the classic home console platform / beat 'em up - right down to the impressive stylised 3D world. The sexy combat system's been simplified for the handheld but the platforming and genuinely ingenious touchscreen puzzles make this a real treat.
Animal Crossing: Wild World - DS If you've played either of the first two games in Nintendo's bizarre village sim, you'll be right at home here. Purists will be disappointed by the lack of unlockable NES games, but the added online functionality - enabling you to fling your village gates open for visitors or go trekking off elsewhere for yourself - more than makes up for it. As always, the slow pace and lack of finite goals will put some gamers off, but for a soothingly tranquil tonic to the Christmas frenzy, this is perfect.
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones - PS2 It's no secret that we hated what Ubisoft did to our beloved Prince of Persia after the Sands of Time failed to set store shelves alight. Thankfully though, the devs have taken note, dropped the horrible teen-angst gothic overtones from Warrior Within and reinstated much of what made the original title such a joyous magically experience. The platforming action is glorious and the combat doesn't overwhelm everything else. One complaint though: checkpoints are too far apart making for some horribly frustrating retreads.
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - GC If you're a fan of Nintendo's turn-based strategy series Advanced Wars, chances are you'll love Fire Emblem, which is pretty much the same game with a fantasy setting. The GameCube iteration of the series spruces up proceedings with some nicely stylised 3D graphics, but other than that it's not much of a departure from previous installments. Still, with a series of this quality, that's not a bad thing at all. In fact, the only downside I can think of is that there's so much game here, there's barely going to be time to wolf down the turkey this Christmas.
Andy Robinson Staff Writer - C&VG.com/PC Zone
Animal Crossing - DS This will be my Christmas game this year. I'm keeping it safely wrapped until the morning of the 25th, when I can enjoy a spot of fishing and over a mince pie.
Perfect Dark Zero - Xbox 360 Having already tackled the lower difficulties, the Christmas holidays are the perfect (ho ho) time for me to take on Perfect agent.
Super Mario 64 - DS It's just not Christmas time without diving head first into Mario 64's virtual playground.
Counter-Strike Source - PC More addictive than chocolate laced with crack - many noobs will be getting owned this festive season.
Kameo - Xbox 360 Playing through the game again with an Xbox Live festive makeover is an attractive prospect.
Steve Boxer Freelance extraordinaire and CVG regular
Resident Evil 4 - PS2 Having completed the original (GameCube) version of the best game of 2005, I've nearly polished off the PS2 version. But I need to get to the end to find that much-vaunted new content. Can gameplay get more satisfying than kicking zombies' heads clean off?
Call of Duty 2 - Xbox 360 There's yet more of the full horror of war which I haven't experienced - beyond its often scary immersiveness, the way in which CoD 2 dictates that you constantly think about your tactical approach keeps its gameplay experience fresh.
Buzz - PS2 This one is coming out to my parents' over Christmas: they'd never normally go anywhere near a videogame, but I know they will love it, and it will certainly make a change from the great Yuletide tradition of losing to my Dad at Trivial Pursuit.
Condemned - Xbox 360 Initial impressions suggest this is at least as scary as the likes of Silent Hill. I'll be testing out that theory in a suitably darkened room with the audio cranked up.
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble - DS Heard that this boasts a simplified fighting mechanism (which is good, as I've always been rubbish at beat 'em-ups) and some imaginative use of the DS's touch-screen for the puzzle-solving and platform elements. Which may annoy the hardcore element, but it sounds right up my street.
Graeme Boyd Editor OXM.co.uk - Official Xbox 360 site
Pro Evo 5 - PS2 I just can't get enough of Konami's fantastic footie masterpiece, and I've been trying since October. With my Master League team challenging at the top of the table, I definitely won't be giving my players a winter break - especially since the PSP version lets me train them even if I'm sitting down for Christmas lunch.
Football Manager 2005 - PC Football Manager - and Championship Manager before that - have ruined countless Boyd family Christmases, birthdays, funerals, etcetera, and this Xmas will be no different. What's quality time with the family when you've just signed Ronaldinho for Aberdeen?
Call of Duty 2 - Xbox 360 I keep getting my arse handed to me whenever I play Activision's cracking WW2 shooter in the office or over Xbox Live, so I'll be getting in some practice between mince pies. Those snowy Russian levels are relatively festive too - like a winter wonderland with more dead bodies and spent cartridges.
Project Gotham Racing 3 - Xbox 360 Beautiful sports cars going extremely fast online. What's not to like? I've asked for a Ferrari F50 for Christmas but something tells me PGR3 is the closest I'll ever get to one.
Halo 2 - Xbox Still the king of online console shooters, and the fact that it works on my Xbox 360 seems to have given the game a whole new lease of life. Let's just hope Bungie's New Year's resolution is to blow us all with Halo 3 in 2006.
Suzy Wallace Disc Editor - PC Zone
The Movies - PC To avoid the deluge of crappy films on TV, I'll be making my own celluloid masterpiece in Lionhead's cracking movie-making sim.
Need For Speed: Most Wanted - Xbox 360 Frantic racing, souped-up cars and head-on clashes with the police should liven up the days spent sat at home stuffed.
Condemned: Criminal Origins (Xbox 360) If I didn't get the presents I was after, can always take it out on some creep's head with a lead pipe in Monolith's creepy first-person action title.
King Kong (PC) The original's bound to be on at some point over Christmas so laugh at the old school effects before going ape and snapping T-Rex's jaws in Ubisoft's game.
Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones (PC) Hours spent being really nice to relatives you can't stand can be taken out in the split-personality fighting and acrobatics of the latest PoP.
Gavin Ogden Editor Official Xbox Magazine
Fable: The Lost Chapters - Xbox Loved the first one, a real enchanting adventure. Looking forward to discovering the new content that missed the original cut.
Peter Jackson's King Kong - Xbox Been waiting to see the film before I tuck into the game, so I don't spoil it. Nice and easy Christmas fun that won't tax the brain too much.
Project Gotham Racing 3 - Xbox 360 The mother of all racing games should keep anyone going, not just over Xmas, but right through 2006. The sooner I get started on it the sooner I'll be a force to be reckoned with over Xbox Live.
Football Manager 2006 - PC A whole week off work means that there'll be ample time to lose myself in one of the most addictive games ever created.
Halo 2 - Xbox Live Because I simply can't stop playing it. It's like a sport!
Mark Robbins Deputy Editor OXM
Singstar 80's - PS2 The ideal Christmas party game, now in an all improved, all-old, retro song coating. Karma Karma Chameleon indeed pop pickers!
MarioKart - DS Assuming, that is, that Santa brings me a DS this Christmas in the first place.
Resident Evil 4 - Cube Yes, I know, but it's taken me ages to finally get round to playing what everybody else has told me is an absolute classic.
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time - PS2 Really looking forward to playing this and seeing how it all ends.
F.E.A.R. - PC Christmas is traditionally a time of ghost stories, and here's something nice and scary to help celebrate the birth of our Lord. Jesus loves guns he does.
Mike Jackson Reviews Editor OXM
Mario Kart DS - DS Nintendo have finally delivered a Mario Kart that lives up to the original. I've got my Wi-Fi rigged up at home and it's going to keep me hooked for this Christmas and beyond.
Perfect Dark Zero - Xbox 360 On the harder difficulty settings, PDZ ALMOST feels like a next-gen GoldenEye. It's not quite as good but I'm enjoying it and will probably finish it this Christmas.
PGR3 - Xbox 360 I thoroughly enjoyed the previous two and I wasn't even linked up to Xbox Live. But I've got my Gold account sorted now so I can't wait to see how the game plays online.
Condemned - Xbox 360 Yes, I've listed three Xbox 360 games. No, I'm not showing off. I've just dropped 400 on a shiny new games console and this Christmas is my first opportunity to hammer it.
Super Princess Peach - DS I buy and complete all Mario platformers by default. If I don't my life feels incomplete. I know - this game's for girls. Whatever. I'm going to play it and love it
Jonathan Todd Staff Writer PlayStation World
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One - PS2 The best World War Two shooter since Medal of Honor: Frontline. More intense than a DVD marathon of Saving Private Ryan, Platoon and Full Metal Jacket.
Star Wars Battlefront II - PS2 A big improvement on the first game, with a stronger single-player campaign, space battles and playable Jedi.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories - PSP PSP's biggest game to date stands proud alongside the PS2 GTA games. Many people doubted Rockstar could pull it off, but this proves them dead wrong.
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones - PS2 The Prince's final outing is even more thrilling - and confusing - than the previous two games. They saved the best for last.
Pro Evolution Soccer 5 - PS2 This will be a life-saver on Xmas Day when you're looking to get away from the boring relatives for an hour or two.
Simon Bramble Staff Writer PSW
Project Gotham Racing 3 - Xbox 360 I've been drinking Castrol for breakfast in preparation for Bizarre's vehicular porn-fest for the last two weeks. It looks dazzling and should be just as slick to play. Now I just need my 360 to arrive...
Half Life 2 - Xbox Been more excited about this than Christmas itself - can't wait to see how Mr. Freeman fares on Xbox. From the looks of it, it stands up very well to the PC version.
Resident Evil 4 - PS2 Played this for 15 hours or so over the last couple of months - it's so terrifying I can only stand it for an hour or two at a time. Fantastic all the same, though.
Flashback - SNES Just for nostalgia's sake this, as it makes Christmas feel like it did when I was 12. Thinking of leaving the funky sci-fi intro music on all through the day - it beats bloody Wizzard.
PES 5 - PS2 Getting this was a bit of a mistake, because none of my other games really get a look in. I'm going to have to ration the sexiest version of the sexy game so that they do.
If you want to let C&VG.com readers know what will be floating your gaming boat this Christmas, why not let us know your festive five in the forum below.
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