Shopping for gaming gear

[ music ] ^M00:00:07 >> Welcome to CNET's Holiday Gift Guide 2007, I'm Rich Demero [assumed spelling]. Here to help you gift the perfect video gaming console, there are a lot of them to choose from, but John Falcone's [assumed spelling] gonna help us choose the perfect one for your gift recipient. John, thanks for being here. >> Absolutely. >> Let's start with the top. Nintendo DS. >> It's actually the DS light, which is the, the, the current incarnation of the console. Really super popular, and what's great about this is that it appeals to a lot of non-traditional gamers because of the touch screen. So whether you're six or sixty, you can find a game on the DS light that's good for you. Pokemon for the kids, stuff like Brain Age for the adults, and all the Mario and Zelda stuff in between. >> I like all that brain age stuff, Sudoku, got to keep fresh up there. >> Absolutely. >> How much? >> Only a hundred twenty nine dollars, so kind of - >> Easy to find? >> Pretty easy to find, it's still so popular sometimes they can go in and out of stock though. >> All right, your next pick. This is the PSP from Sony, another hand held portable device. Who's this good for? >> This is good for people who might think the DS is a little too kiddy for them. It has a lot of much better graphics, games particularly good for people like sports games and action games, and shooters, and things like that. And it also has a lot of great multimedia features that DS doesn't have, so web browser, music, videos, and a whole bunch more stuff like that beyond gaming. But a lot of great games too. >> A lot of good games on this one, and how much did we say? >> This one, it's slimmer this year, got a nice redesign, and it's only a hundred and sixty nine dollars, or two hundred dollars if you get it as part of a package with a game and a memory stick. >> If your recipient already has one of these, the old one, do they need to get the new one, or no? Should you get them that? >> If you already have one, I almost think the DS would be a better gift so they could have both of them. But if you're coming to the PSP the first time, it's better than ever. >> Okay, Xbox three sixty, Halo Three of course just launched, huge game for this. Who's this for, and what's the point of getting that one. >> The Xbox three sixty is really great for people who I would say are hardcore gamers, love shooters, have an HD TV, and are particularly interested in a lot of those specific exclusives that the three sixty has, like Halo Three, like Mass Effect, games like that that are really sort of for the true gamer. And it also has a lot of great media features, can stream all sorts of media from your PC, and on Xbox Live in addition to all the great head to head gaming you can also rent high def movies and all sorts of things like that. >> Tell me about the PS three, is it still a holiday gift option? >> The big problem with the PS three is that the games aren't quite there yet, but they're getting there. There's some cool titles finally available, like War Hawk, and this fall they're gonna have Uncharted and a new [inaudible] client game, next year Metal Gear Solid. >> Graphics, graphics are awesome on it. >> Graphics are really great. It, it's the only one with a built in blue ray drive, so you're getting basically a great high def player right out of the box. The only down side of the new four hundred dollar version is that it, it's not backwards compatible with the PS two games. So if you want that backwards compatibility, you're still gonna have to pay for the five hundred dollar eighty gigabyte version. >> So if they have a huge collection of PS two games that they think they're gonna throw into this, and you get them the one that's only four hundred, they're gonna be a little mad. >> Yeah, you, in that case you might want to get - >> Splurge. >> Get them another PS two, that's only a hundred and twenty nine dollars now. >> Okay, and this is the gaming system that I still want, the Wii. Two hundred and fifty dollars since day one, still tough to get. >> Yeah. >> Why is it so popular? >> It's popular because it has a really broad audience, everybody loves to play it especially in groups. It has these motion controllers that you can really get into the game, and it includes a [inaudible] Wii sports with, it's kind of five games in one, you plan tennis, boxing, baseball, a lot of fun stuff like that, and really get your full body into the game. Really fun to play again, with large groups, and some unique games on tap coming soon that take better advantage of the motion controllers. >> But you might have to camp outside your local retailer to find this thing. >> It's the one that's still really hard to get. >> And one thing to remember, keep in mind that not all these consoles come with a game, except really the Wii. >> Right. >> So of course the person you're giving these to wants to tear right into them, make sure you pick up a game. >> Absolutely. >> So they can go along with it. All right, John Falcone, thanks so much for your picks. Hopefully we've made your shopping a little bit easier. [ background music ] I'm Rich Demero with CNET TV, this has been your Holiday Gift Guide. ^M00:04:41 [ music ]