2004 Holiday Gift Guide /

After Hours


Spider-Man 2
Activision

Coolness Rating:        

Most video games based on movies are dreadfully awful, as the designers have to meet a deadline that coincides with the relea ... Read more.
$49.99
X-Men Legends
Activision

Coolness Rating:      

If you are an X-Men fan from the comic books or the movies, you'll enjoy this game for a while, as it gives you the ability t ... Read more.
$47
Doom 3
Activision

Coolness Rating:          

The graphics and opening storyline on Doom 3 are so good that you'll almost forget that you're playing a first-person shooter ... Read more.
$45.99
Comcast Games on Demand
Comcast

Coolness Rating:        

With the amount of computer games that come out on a monthly basis, it's very hard to try all of them and still have a life t ... Read more.
$14.95/month
ESPN NFL 2K5
ESPN Videogames

Coolness Rating:        

In the world of video game football, Madden is the 300-lb. gorilla. Every other football game that comes out has to compete a ... Read more.
$19.99
ESPN NHL 2K5
ESPN Videogames

Coolness Rating:        

If you are longing for any kind of hockey during this lockout season (as of Nov. 7 there still wasn't a season), then this ga ... Read more.
$19.95
Alida
Got Game Entertainment

Coolness Rating:  

If you are a big fan of the Myst or Riven adventures, where you have beautiful graphically rendered landscapes and puzzles th ... Read more.
$19.99
Star Wars Battlefront
LucasArts

Coolness Rating:        

Star Wars Battlefront lets you take on the role of a front-line soldier in the great battles of the Star Wars universe. Much ... Read more.
$49.99
Sudeki
Microsoft

Coolness Rating:      

Sudeki is a role-playing game for the Xbox that lets you take on the roles of four friends, who band together to fight the ev ... Read more.
$45
RalliSport Challenge 2
Microsoft

Coolness Rating:        

This Xbox-only game delivers great racing action, including multiplayer online play through the Xbox Live service. The game o ... Read more.
$17.95
Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy
Midway

Coolness Rating:          

As I get older, my aiming ability in first-person shooter games get slowly worse, so it's good to experience a game that give ... Read more.
$20
Midway Arcade Treasures 2
Midway

Coolness Rating:    

We're big fans of classic arcade games from the '80s and '90s, especially when they come bundled in a big box and cost only $ ... Read more.
$19.99
The Suffering
Midway Games

Coolness Rating:        

Take the grittiness of the prison drama "Oz," add in some "Doom"-like monsters and a mystery, and you've got this game, "The ... Read more.
$30
Mortal Kombat Deception
Midway Games

Coolness Rating:          

Mortal Kombat continues its fighting game tradition of interesting characters, new fighting moves, and of course, the requisi ... Read more.
$46
NBA Ballers
Midway Games

Coolness Rating:    

NBA Ballers will remind you of a lot of games, especially the NBA Street and NBA Street 2 games from EA Sports. The game is b ... Read more.
$27.95
MLB SlugFest Loaded
Midway Games

Coolness Rating:    

Other than the early baseball video games on the Nintendo Entertainment System, I've avoided baseball video games. Whether it ... Read more.
$29.88
PistolMouse FPS
MonsterGecko

Coolness Rating:        

This device is a mouse, but you don't want to take it traveling with you (just try and get a gun-shaped device through securi ... Read more.
$39.95
City of Heroes
NCsoft

Coolness Rating:          

With the success of the Pixar movie 'The Incredibles' recently, it's never been a better time for super-heroes. If you've eve ... Read more.
$40, plus fees
Donkey Konga
Nintendo

Coolness Rating:          

We usually don't get too excited about Nintendo Gamecube games, as they tend to be geared towards the kids. However, this is ... Read more.
$49.99
Pikmin 2
Nintendo

Coolness Rating:        

The Pikmin and Captain Olimar are back. Pikmin 2, the sequel to the popular game of the same name, is as addicting as it's pr ... Read more.
$49.99
N-Gage QD Gaming Phone
Nokia

Coolness Rating:      

The new version of the Nokia N-Gage gaming phone is smaller, less expensive and missing its MP3 player. The device basically ... Read more.
$150, plus fees
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Rockstar Games

Coolness Rating:          

The great thing about the Grand Theft Auto series of video games isn't the violence, it's the sheer amount of different thing ... Read more.
48
P880 Dual Analog Pad
Saitek

Coolness Rating:        

This is a good choice for the PC gamer who is used to the game console game pad, such as one from an Xbox or Playstation 2. I ... Read more.
$16.99
Texas Hold 'Em TV Poker
Senario.com

Coolness Rating:      

The popularity of TV poker and the game Texas Hold 'Em made it inevitable that a company would produce a game where you can t ... Read more.
$69.95
The Journey to Wild Divine
The Wild Divine Project

Coolness Rating:      

When we were pitched this computer game, we were told that it was an adventure game that used biofeedback methods as part of ... Read more.
$160
The Political Machine
Ubisoft

Coolness Rating:      

If you're looking at this past November's election and saying to yourself, "I could have done a better job than John Kerry," ... Read more.
$20
Secret of the Silver Earring
Ubisoft

Coolness Rating:        

The Secret of the Silver Earring is a mystery adventure game where you take on the role of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and ... Read more.
$19.99
Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow
Ubisoft

Coolness Rating:    

This is another sequel in the Rainbow Six series of team-based first-person shooters. You basically lead a team of anti-terro ... Read more.
$39.99