Holiday Gift Guide 2011: Video Games For Kids Gift Guide

Gift Price:  $20

Available On: Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3 and PC

Gift Description: If you know a kid that loves movies and adventure games, it's probably a good idea to pick up Back to the Future, the new adventure game on the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 (or you can download it on PC). This five-part adventure takes place six months after the events of the Back to the Future III movie and brings Marty McFly and Doc Brown back together on a new time-spanning adventure! When the time machine turns up without a driver, Marty must travel back to the Hill Valley of Doc Brown's youth and seek help from a teenage-version of Doc to restore time to its proper place. This adventure game should be under every Back to the Future and movie lover's tree this holiday.!

Who would love this gift? A movie lover, a Back to the Future fan or a kid that likes adventure games.

Gift Price:  $70 ($60 on PC)

Available On: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS, PC and Mac

Gift Description: Skylanders is this year's ultimate crossover between action figures and video games. The Starter Pack for the game gives you everything you need to play: a copy of the game, the Portal of Power peripheral and three Skylanders figures.

So what makes Skylanders awesome? You take your physical action figure, place them on the Portal of Power and they appear in the video game on the TV screen. Your data gets recorded, so you can take your action figures, bring them to a friends house and you can both put your Skylanders figures on a portal and play together. The action/adventure style of the game itself is great, but throwing in the real-world collectible action figures makes Skylanders more than just a video game.

If you're looking for extra presents you can buy additional packs of characters to use in the game. There are no additional things to buy to make the new action figures to work, you just open the package, put them on the Portal of Power and they are in your game!

Who would love this gift?  Kids that love action figures and video games.

Gift Price: $40 (on Xbox 360), $30 (on Nintendo Wii)

Available On: Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS

Gift Description: The wacky world of Nickelodeon's Nicktoons collides with the world of Major League Baseball in Nicktoons MLB! This isn't your super serious baseball simulator, but who cares when you can put all your favorite Nicktoons characters on the same teams with your favorite baseball players! Kids will love putting a team together that can include classic characters like Ren and Stimpy and Spongebob Squarepants and taking them to real and imaginary baseball parks.

The game supports two player local multiplayer and additional multiplayer modes. On the Xbox 360 version of the game, you can even use Kinect!

Who would love this gift?  The Nicktoons fanatic and the newfound baseball aficionado.

Gift Price:  $40

Available On: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and Mac

Gift Description: The adventure game experts at Telltale Games have brought the world of Jurassic Park back to life; good thing they didn't bring it back to life with frog DNA, or else, well... you know! Jurassic Park uses exploration and action sequences to tell a new story set around the time of the first film. Remember when Newman, I mean, Dennis Nedry got killed by the dilophosaurus and dropped the shaving cream can with the smuggled dinosaur embryos? You play Gerry Harding, Jurrassic Park's veternarian and you come across Nedry's smuggler contact and, well... chaos theory happens and it becomes an adventure to survive the out of control dinosaurs of Jurassic Park.

The game comes at a discount price, so it would be a great game to pick up if you're working with a limited gift budget this year. Also, who doesn't love dinosaurs and adventure games?

Who would love this gift?  Dinosaur nuts and Jurassic Park fans.

Gift Price: $49.99

Available On: Xbox 360

Gift Description: The jam-packed sequel to Kinect Sports. Using the Kinect accessory, kids can go wild and over exert themselves with tennis, golf, football and more games! This winter, when the snow and wind are howling outside and you want to do something with your kids, you can set up the Xbox 360, the Kinect and all compete together!

Who would love this gift?  A kid that likes to be physical and is comfortable with motion-based games.

Gift Price:  $40

Available On: Nintendo 3DS

Gift Description: The Mario Kart series makes its 3DS debut this winter, and we couldn't be more excited. With new weapons, an optional first-person mode and online play-Mario Kart 7 is shaping up to be the best game in the 3DS library. But that's not all. Mario Kart 7 provides a much deeper customization experience. Players can decide on the kart's weight, pick out its frame and choose its tires.

Mario Kart 7 marks the first time players can drive underwater. Combine this with gameplay-altering gadgets and wild new weapons, and you've got yourself the most fun (and most crazy) Mario Kart to date. 

Who would love this gift?  The Mario Kart wizard. The kid that has a brand new Nintendo 3DS.

Gift Price:  $50

Available On: Nintendo Wii

Gift Description: Nintendo took the formula of New Super Mario Bros. Wii and applied it to the Kirby universe in the form of four-player co-op gameplay. Now a house full of kids that fight about what games to play can take Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight and other Kirby characters on an adventure through Dream Land. Last year's Kirby Epic Yarn was a fun diversion, but Return to Dream Land takes Kirby back to his roots - namely sucking up dudes and stealing their powers! If you need a game to play with your kids, or a game for the kids to play together this is it.

Who would love this gift? A house full of kids! Families that want a game to play together.

Gift Price:  $20

Available On:  Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Sony PSP and PC

Gift Description: The third game in the fan and kid-favorite LEGO Star Wars series. After the prequels and the original films got their own LEGO games, it was time to go full LEGO on The Clone Wars. Your kids will take their favorite Star Wars characters over 20 story-based levels and 40 bonus levels as they explore the galaxy and reinact battles from the Star Wars movies and The Clone Wars TV show.

If you have a Star Wars fanatic in your house or someone that can barely be pulled away from the TV when The Clone Wars is on...this game will make you a gift giving hero.

Who would love this gift? The Star Wars fan that can't get enough games. Families with two or more Star Wars fanatics (it's co-op!) 

Gift Price: $50 (on Nintendo Wii) and $40 (on Nintendo 3DS)

Available On: Nintendo Wii and Nintendo 3DS

Gift Description: The next title in the Mario and Sonic sports competition series! This time Mario and Sonic and their friends take off for the London 2012 Summer Olympics to compete in a variety of events, like rowing, soccer, 100m sprint and a series of dream games based in the Nintendo and SEGA worlds.

You can't go wrong when you put Mario and Sonic together.

Who would love this gift?  Kids that love sports competition games or anything with Mario and Sonic on the cover.