The S3F Holiday Hot-List

[missionhockey21]

This thread is about 96% guys, at least, and often the stereotype is true... we can be iffy with our gift purchases. This thread is to help everyone out with gift ideas for themselves, siblings, girlfriends/wives, family, friends or whomever.

Playstation 3

Price: $500/$600
Availablity: Extremely Limited
Summary: People often want what they can't have, thus enter the hype machine known as the PS3. I am not ignoring the other competitor to the game which is the Nintendo Wii (who probably has better launch games to be honest), but this is the hot item. The most powerful system on the market with a built-in Blue Ray player (which on their own run for about $1000) and supposedly only 150-200,000 units that came to America for the launch. And to note something, if you do see the lower model, don't let that scare you away. Unless you find WiFi essential, there really isn't a whole lot that seperates the $500 (20 gigabyte hard drive) and the $600 unit (60 gigabyte) as for about $100, you could manually switch out the hard drive for a much larger capacity one.

Guitar Hero II

Price: $80 (With Guitar)/$50 (Without Guitar); Currently only for PS2
Availablity: Readily Available At Most Stores
Summary: Possibly one of the greatest party games to have as it's easy to play, but difficult to master (I am speaking strictly off GH1 experience though), everyone it bound to have fun playing it though. With 55 songs (15 of those are bonus songs from smaller artists) with the selection ranging from Iggy Pop to Lynyrd Skynyrd to Black Sabbath with about everything you could think of (in terms of a style) in between. There's a long term appeal and a big fun factor that few can argue with.
(Note: For 360 users, this does come out in 2007, with extended content as in songs that can be purchased via XBOX Live.)

The Numbers Game: Baseball's Lifelong Fascination with Statistics
by Alan Schwarz

Price: 11.86 at Amazon for the paperback.
Availability: Easy to find
Summary: A terrific history of the game's love for statistics and the men who pioneered their usage back in the early days. More than just numbers, it looks at the people involved and is truly a fantastic read. Likely many here already read it as it's been out for awhile, but I just recently got it.

The Lords of the Realm (Paperback)
By John Heylar

Price: $29 (on Amazon)
Availability: Limited on Amazon (I had to purchase my copy in the past from a local chain.)

Summary: Another history of the game, but more so a look at the finances of baseball leading up to the current times. It might be a slow read or a bit boring for some, but if you're interested in finding out how baseball has become the big business that it is today it's very interesting. There are so many books about players and coaches, but few that focus on the owners through out baseball's colorful history.

The Pitch That Killed
By Mike Sowell

Price: $15.95 (On Amazon)
Availability: Amazon and B&N (two of the local ones had it around me, so I imagine others would have it.)
The only fatality to ever happen in a Major League Baseball game, retold with terrific detail and obvious research into the issue. One of the best stories you could ever read about the game from the human element I believe. The players personas are fully realized and from start to finish, you'll be left wanting more. 1920 was such a noteworthy time for the game, and this is a story that doesn't get close to the attention it deserves.

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I have some others (a few games, cd's and DVD's), but I'll hold off on them for now since this first post is going to be a bit long with all the images.

[redsfan28]

I was on EBay earlier today and most PS3's were selling around $1,500-$2,000. Most of them included either a second controller and/or games. There are a few idiots that are trying to sell theirs for anywhere between $500,000 to $1 million. I say good luck to those poor ignorant fools.

BTW, the majority of the PS3's on EBay are of the 60GB variety.

A couple other notes on the PS3:

1) They currently have a software glitch that prevents them from playing the old PS1 games properly. Sony will release a software update that will correct these problems.

2) According to Sony of America, 400,000 units were shipped to the United States in this first batch. More than likely, they will send more sometime near Christmas or shortly thereafter.

[Molina00]

Not a big PS man. I'm more of a Nintedo follower so I'll be getting a Wii eventually. It's amazing how much people will pay for these things to have them by Christmas when they could just wait a month or 2 and buy one when the stores are restocked for a few hundred.

[redsfan28]

And, to be totally honest, the PS3 isn't worth $600. Other than its BluRay system, its essentially a wireless PS2 with a little better graphics. I have a strong feeling that the Nintendo Wii might be the best system of the big 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii). Its controls are goofy, but its motion system will, IMHO, be far superior to PS3's SIXAXIS motion system. Plus, you can buy a classic controller for the Wii that is more conventional than the nunchuk controller.

[777rak]

Not a big PS man. I'm more of a Nintedo follower so I'll be getting a Wii eventually. It's amazing how much people will pay for these things to have them by Christmas when they could just wait a month or 2 and buy one when the stores are restocked for a few hundred.

Same here, at least I hope I am getting one lol

You forgot to the Wii Mission, other then that nice write and list Mission, also good idea for a topic

[Dry1313]

You also forgot DirtyKash's mother, who tops my list every year.

[DravenX]

I will get a X360, PS3, DS and Wii eventually. I'm looking to get a Wii first, DS second, 360 third and finally the PS3.

[Halladay_is_God]

I already got my Wii and Zelda so I got everything I wanted so far

[DravenX]

How do you like the Wii? Does the Wii have regular controllers or is it only with that new crappy thing?

[rockin500]

How do you like the Wii? Does the Wii have regular controllers or is it only with that new crappy thing?

its backwards compatible with the previous generation of controller. at least thats what I think is the case, at any rate.

not sure if i could ever get used to a nunchuck as a controller. i have trouble with the xbox controller at times, let alone something that compelx.

[777rak]

I already got my Wii and Zelda so I got everything I wanted so far

Lucky, tell us how the Wii is?

[DravenX]

Wiitastic!



I love my Wii.

Let me address some questions:

It takes Gamecube games. It has four ports for Gamecube controllers. I own a game cube. This kicks ass. It has two ports for Gamecube memory cards. Again, ass kicking.

Componant is half/half.



Tennis is surprisingly fun.

Bowling is surprisingly fun.

Baseball is surprisingly fun.

Golf is surprisingly fun.

Haven't tried boxing.

Spare controllers were sold out everywhere. Sirus told me where to go to get some so I'm going tomorrow.

I got Excite Truck and Madden at the launch... Got Rampage and Red Steel at Best Buy today and managed to find a copy of Zelda at another store.

You don't have to stand if you don't want to. Gogo uninformed opinions. Second, the Wii has a normal controller as well (Sold Seperately), Get a ps3 for $600 if you want to push X. I thought I was going to hate the Wiimote. Now I'm hooked. This is truly a next Gen Console.

I bought Mario 64 on Wiishop!

Here is what one of my friends from another forum said about the Wii.

[Molina00]

I already got my Wii and Zelda so I got everything I wanted so far

Ahh, good man. That could be my situation come Christmas as well.
Nice to see some love for the Wii around here.

[DiamondDave]

I'll be getting a PS3 for me and my kids... but NO WAY I pay the inflated price of a re-seller... if all else fails, my kids get a card with the picture of a PS3 in there, and I get one for them in JAN or FEB

[Fishercat]

I'll wait until next Christmas to search around. I think it'll be the Wii or XBox 360, at least until the PS3's price decreases