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| Games and toys for girls and boys | Games and toys for girls and boys |
| (about 6 hours later) | |
| By Daniel Emery and Andrew Webb BBC News Advertisement | By Daniel Emery and Andrew Webb BBC News Advertisement |
| John and Zara run through their video game picks for 2008 | John and Zara run through their video game picks for 2008 |
| With Christmas just around the corner and a veritable plethora of games on offer, you are almost spoilt for choice. | With Christmas just around the corner and a veritable plethora of games on offer, you are almost spoilt for choice. |
| But that in itself creates a problem. Just what game should you buy? And even if it is a good game, will it have the same appeal to men and women (or boys and girls)? | But that in itself creates a problem. Just what game should you buy? And even if it is a good game, will it have the same appeal to men and women (or boys and girls)? |
| With this in mind, we asked John Houlihan, from Computer and Video Games, and Zara Rabinowicz, technology writer for Shiny Media, for their gaming choices for 2008. | |
| Zara Rabinowicz | Zara Rabinowicz |
| You need to get a game that lasts more than an hour. With the credit crunch, people are going out less, so you need to get a decent bang for your buck. Platform or fighting games are good; just make sure it's properly interactive. | You need to get a game that lasts more than an hour. With the credit crunch, people are going out less, so you need to get a decent bang for your buck. Platform or fighting games are good; just make sure it's properly interactive. |
| Younger gamers might like Nintendogs - a real time pet simulation - or Wii Music. Although it must be said that good games in this category are rather limited. | Younger gamers might like Nintendogs - a real time pet simulation - or Wii Music. Although it must be said that good games in this category are rather limited. |
| Guitar Hero is, of course, a great choice for the boys of all ages. | Guitar Hero is, of course, a great choice for the boys of all ages. |
| If you don't want to buy a game, you could pick up an MP3 player - with the new Truphone software you can turn your iPod touch into a psudo-iPhone. Wii Music is suitable for ages 4+ | If you don't want to buy a game, you could pick up an MP3 player - with the new Truphone software you can turn your iPod touch into a psudo-iPhone. Wii Music is suitable for ages 4+ |
| If you're buying for someone very techy, the Tokyoflash watches are always highly desirable, they tell the time in binary; an unusual twist. | If you're buying for someone very techy, the Tokyoflash watches are always highly desirable, they tell the time in binary; an unusual twist. |
| Or, at the other end of the scale, you could always pick up a remote-controlled helicopter, or a pair of good headphones to plug into your iPod or whatever, so the sound is far better than you'll get with the headphones that came with it. | Or, at the other end of the scale, you could always pick up a remote-controlled helicopter, or a pair of good headphones to plug into your iPod or whatever, so the sound is far better than you'll get with the headphones that came with it. |
| If you're feeling the credit crunch pinch, you can go for geeky jewellery. Junkie Lovers do geeky necklaces from £12, for example a game controller necklace or space invader brooch. | If you're feeling the credit crunch pinch, you can go for geeky jewellery. Junkie Lovers do geeky necklaces from £12, for example a game controller necklace or space invader brooch. |
| And if you're still awash with cash, you could get a Phillips-Swarovski USB stick, a memory stick with people's faces embossed in crystal. Or you could pick up a OnTrend laptop bag, a rather stylish way of carrying round your kit. | And if you're still awash with cash, you could get a Phillips-Swarovski USB stick, a memory stick with people's faces embossed in crystal. Or you could pick up a OnTrend laptop bag, a rather stylish way of carrying round your kit. |
| John Houlihan | John Houlihan |
| If you're looking for some family fun, I would recommend you get the karaoke classic Lips or Microsoft's You're In The Movies, both of which are on the Xbox 360. They are also good value: Lips will let you convert your existing MP3s into karaoke classics and Movies comes with a free camera. | If you're looking for some family fun, I would recommend you get the karaoke classic Lips or Microsoft's You're In The Movies, both of which are on the Xbox 360. They are also good value: Lips will let you convert your existing MP3s into karaoke classics and Movies comes with a free camera. |
| For PlayStation 3 owners, it has to be Little Big Planet. It's a great game in its own right, but the real value is the community added content - there are literally hundreds of free levels you can go out and grab. Or you can always design your own.Games like World of Warcraft never actually have an end point | For PlayStation 3 owners, it has to be Little Big Planet. It's a great game in its own right, but the real value is the community added content - there are literally hundreds of free levels you can go out and grab. Or you can always design your own.Games like World of Warcraft never actually have an end point |
| Sean White Snowboarding on a Wii is great fun - assuming you've got a balance board. | Sean White Snowboarding on a Wii is great fun - assuming you've got a balance board. |
| And for PC owners there's only one choice: World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. There are months, if not years, of play here and they have now made playing a low-level character much easier, so if you've never played WoW before, now's your chance. | And for PC owners there's only one choice: World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. There are months, if not years, of play here and they have now made playing a low-level character much easier, so if you've never played WoW before, now's your chance. |
| For non-gamers, a really cool cheap alternative to an iPod is the Samsung WPQ1. It's an all-in-one media player: it does music, pictures, and video; it also comes with a built-in FM radio. Easy to set up, beautiful to look at, and compatible with the BBC iPlayer. | For non-gamers, a really cool cheap alternative to an iPod is the Samsung WPQ1. It's an all-in-one media player: it does music, pictures, and video; it also comes with a built-in FM radio. Easy to set up, beautiful to look at, and compatible with the BBC iPlayer. |