ShareThisParents and grandparents yearning for the good old days, when a pair of roller skates and a copy of the Beatles' "Abbey Road" would satisfy a 12-year-old's Christmas Day wants, should accept modern-day reality.
There's no reason to fear video games, even if the occasional violent content, fear-mongering by politicians and a confusing rating system have turned the simple gift-buying process into a dilemma.
For content questions regarding video games, we recommend www.commonsensemedia.org, a site that advocates for parents while acknowledging first that games are art and that stays away from the preachy approach of some less-informed parent groups and pundits.
Families with unlimited resources should by all means invest in the hottest new gaming toys -- the PlayStation Move and Microsoft Kinect.
This is a column for gift givers who are working in the gray area of limited budgets and suspicion about video games. Below are several scenarios we've come up with for gaming agnostics, who are living with spouses, kids or other loved ones who want to get their game on this holiday season.
Q: My 17-year-old wants to play "Call of Duty: Black Ops," but I've heard it's very controversial. Should I buy him this game and risk turning him into a serial killer?
A: Yes. "Call of Duty: Black Ops" is a "Mature"-rated video game, and should be considered equivalent to an R-rated movie. ("The Expendables" is probably the closest match this year.) But the controversy surrounding it has more to do with its popularity than any extraordinary content. It's a well-made Cold War-era first-person shooter, with interesting historical elements and wild bonus content -- including a mini-game that lets you play Richard Nixon and kill zombies. If you have an otherwise well-behaved, well-adjusted older teen who wants to play this game, my advice is to spend the $60.
Q: I have a budget of $200. What should I buy for my game-loving significant other/kids?
A: Assuming you don't already have a system, I would get the $199 Nintendo Wii red bundle, which includes "Wii Sports" and "Super Mario Brothers Wii." If you have an extra $50, spend it on either "Kirby's Epic Yarn" or "Super Mario Galaxy 2" (for children), or "Metroid Prime Trilogy" (for older teens/adults).
Q: I have a budget of $50. What should I buy for my game-loving significant other/kids?
A: Look for a Sega Dreamcast on eBay. You can buy a used console with two controllers and a dozen games -- and have shipping covered -- for less than $50. It's a great system that was often overstocked, so you can even find new ones cheap. If you can find someone bundling in the games "Jet Grind Radio," "Rez," "Ikaruga," "Crazy Taxi" or "Tennis 2K2," all the better.
Q: I want something my kids can play in the waiting room only during doctor's-office visits and long car trips. Any video-game suggestions for parents who hate games?
A: Buy an iPod Touch for yourself, use it as a music player while gardening/at the gym/etc., and download a few fun cheap games -- "More Cupcakes!," "Angry Birds" and "Fruit Ninja" -- for the kids. Download a couple of "Shaun the Sheep" videos from iTunes for variety. Everyone wins for as low as $250.
Q: What's the best deal for casual gamers who don't want to buy a console?
A: "Warcraft III", one of the most enjoyable games I've ever played, is available on the PC for less than $25. This is a strategy game that you could spend the rest of the year playing -- and that's before you find a friend who also came late to the party ("Warcraft III" came out in 2002) and start playing online. The biggest complaint from gamers about the Middle-earth-style battles involving orcs, elves and men was that the game was too easy. Novice gamers won't have a problem with that.
Q: What's the best sports game on the market right now?
A: The best game I played this year was "MLB 10: The Show" for the PlayStation 3. If you don't have a PS3 and hate baseball, I would look at "NHL 11" from Electronic Arts or "NBA 2K11," which both mark high points for the hockey and basketball franchises. Hockey and soccer arguably make the best translation from real life to video games, and "FIFA Soccer 11" is a very solid game as well.
(This is the part where you ignore all of the above and buy "Madden NFL 11" anyway ...)
Q: What's the best deal for gamers who don't want to buy a console, don't have a computer and have nothing but an old Zenith color television from 1996?
A: Definitely the Atari Flashback 2, which offers 40 original Atari 2600 games in a retro faux-wood console for less than $35. The console contains arguably the five best hit games from the console -- "Adventure," "Combat," "Pitfall," "River Raid" and "Yar's Revenge" -- plus a few unreleased prototypes that will be fun for Atari die-hards.
Q: Seriously, did you just say I should buy my older teen "Call of Duty: Black Ops"? Are you trying to train my child to be a cold-blooded killer?
A: When I was a kid, we used to sneak BB guns into the grounds of the local all-girls school, and shoot each other while pretending we were in Vietnam. It was way more imaginative and significantly more dangerous than "Call of Duty: Black Ops." Those friends have gone on to professions including a Hollywood art director, a project manager for a contractor that builds schools and a CFO of a venture capital firm. Not a murderer in the lot.
"Call of Duty" is the latest in a never-ending cycle of violent pastimes engaged in by older teens and young adults. It's not an innovation. Decide what's best for your family. If you decide your older teen is mature enough for "Black Ops," sleep peacefully.
(E-mail Peter Hartlaub at phartlaub(at)sfchronicle.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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