GameGrin's Guide To Christmas Shopping

‘Tis the season to be jolly, Fa la la la la, la la la la. What you don’t want this Christmas is to be completely perplexed by the ever-changing and increasingly confusing gaming industry. Because of this, we here at GameGrin have decided to create a simple guide to help you make some sense out of this madness.

The guide is split up into sections to help with the process: Research, Purchase and Once It’s Home. Feel free to skip parts that you already know about and if you have any questions left unanswered, feel free to drop them in the comments below and we’ll do our best to assist!

Research

If you haven’t ordered an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 by now, it might be too late for Christmas

This is the ‘must have’ console for a lot of people this Christmas and so, as you can imagine, it’s in very high demand. If you haven’t ordered one yet, have a look around and check to see when stores will be restocking. In cases like these, it’s best to check with your local stores rather than Amazon and the like as your locals are more likely to know and be able to give you a realistic answer.

Whatever you’re buying, look around

In this day and age, there are a lot of places that you can look. Local stores and online are your two biggest options and most of the time, you’re bound to find a better deal online than you are in a bricks and mortar shop. Before purchasing online though, remember these next two tips.

Think about delivery dates

If you’re shopping online, you may have just bagged yourself a bargain saving 20 or 30 percent off the Recommended Retail Price (RRP) however, if your package won’t be delivered before Christmas, you’re not going to be best pleased. A lot of stores will announce the latest date you can order from them and still receive it by Christmas. Keep an eye out for this sort of information as it could be much more beneficial to try and buy in-store than risk it not turning up.

If it’s too good to be true, it usually is

When you’re online, it can be like walking through the largest market you’ve ever been in. There’s people trying to sell you things left, right and center and a lot of the stuff here is incredibly cheap. Use your brain. If you see a brand new Xbox One for £250, it’s probably not a real offer or an incredibly damaged console. If you think it seems very cheap, it’s usually for a reason. Ballpark it at no more than 20% either way of the RRP.

If you’re buying an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 for your son or daughter, they probably want to play with friends

This is a brand new console and a lot of people are swayed by which console their friends are getting. Try talking to their friends parents, see if they know which one little Johnny has asked for. If this doesn’t match up with what your son or daughter has asked for, maybe make sure that they know their friends are getting a different console. This is a lot of money we’re talking about, you don’t want to make the wrong call.

Is your child under the age of 6 or 7?

If the answer is yes, at this point, you may not want to bother forking out huge amounts of money on the next-generation of consoles just yet. Maybe talk with your child and see if they might actually prefer a console with more games such as the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, 3DS, Wii or Wii U. Nintendo’s market is aimed a lot more at a younger audience so this might be a better choice to give them the most amount of games to play. This leads onto the next point.

Make sure that the games you are looking to purchase are age appropriate

If you have a 10 year old son, it is unlikely that you will want him to be playing a game with an age guideline of 18. It’s the exact same as if you were to show him an 18-rated film. There’s a reason why it has been given this rating and it is your responsibility to educate yourself on the games that he might be playing. You may think that you know why the game is rated so highly, but you could be missing another aspect of the game. For instance, you may be okay with the violence but didn’t know there was drug abuse. If you feel that you don’t want him exposed to this just yet, don’t purchase that game. Look around, or ask in the comments, for something a bit more age appropriate.

Neither the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 are ‘backward compatible’

Backward compatibility means that the console can play its previous generations’ games, for instance: An Xbox One playing Xbox 360 games. Neither of the two next-generation consoles can play Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 games. Make sure to remember this and not stack up on cheap games for your new consoles. The Wii U and 3DS are both backward compatible and can play Wii and DS games respectively.

Purchase

You’ve now made your choice of what you’re going to buy and where but now, it’s a whole new game once you’ve got to the store or made your purchase online.

The Wii Mini is not the Wii U

The latest non-handheld console out from Nintendo is the Wii Mini, not the Wii U. You can see the differences in packaging below from the pictures. They do, however, look very similar so make sure what it is that you want. If you want a Wii U, make sure that’s what you’re purchasing.

Sometimes, there are two of the same game

These days, a lot of games are released with two, if not more, editions. There will usually be a ‘Standard’ and ‘Limited Edition/Deluxe/Special’ edition. The standard edition will be the base game and, for a new game, cost around £50/60. The special editions will come with the game and then a few extras such as in-game content and cost anywhere from £70 upwards. Make sure you know which one you are after and pay close attention to the package of the game and the price.

Sequels and what to look for

A lot of games that have come out this year have been sequels to previous games (Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed etc.). Make sure that you’re purchasing the latest game (if that’s the one that has been requested) and not a predecessor. Some stores have been known to put old iterations of games in the spotlight of their store and cover up bits of information that may be misleading for unknowing buyers. The latest sequels that have been released are: Call of Duty: Ghosts, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Need for Speed Rivals, Forza 5, Dead Rising 3, FIFA 14, Killzone Shadowfall, Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Super Mario 3D Land, NBA 2K14, Bioshock Infinite, Batman: Arkham Origins, Total War: Rome II, Dead Space 3, GTA V, Pokemon X/Y, LEGO Marvel Heroes, Saint’s Row IV.

Season Passes

A Season Pass is not the full game, do not buy it as a cheap alternative. If you are buying it hoping to get a game, you won’t. All you’ll get is tears. It is just an addon pack for the base game; a key to all the extra content that will be released for the game in the coming months. They are sometimes a great option if you’re a big fan of the game and know that your giftee will be buying the extra Downloadable Content (DLC) that is coming out for the game.

Cameras

The Xbox One comes with a Kinect (camera) but the PlayStation 4 does not. If you are wanting to purchase any PlayStation 4 Camera-enabled games, you will need to pick up the Camera itself as well. Both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 do not come with the cameras either and will need to be purchased separately.

Controllers

In most console packages, you will get one controller included. If the person you’re purchasing for will want another one, make sure to pick one up.

Headsets

In the Xbox 360, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One packages, there is a headset included for voice chat online. You will not have to pick up an extra one for £40 and it’s not a requirement to pick up the really expensive Turtle Beach ones either.

Batteries

If you are planning on picking up an Xbox 360, Wii, Wii Mini or Wii U, you will want to pick up some extra batteries. The controllers are very battery hungry and only sometimes come with a pair in the box. The PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, DS, 2DS and 3DS all have rechargeable batteries.

Online Play

All consoles these days will connect to the internet in one way or another. Some consoles, like the Wii U or 3DS connect for free but others require subscriptions. The Xbox 360 and Xbox One require a subscription to Xbox Live to use the “Gold” features on the console such as watching Netflix or playing games online. The PlayStation 4 also needs a subscription to PlayStation Plus to play games online. The PlayStation 3, on the other hand, can play games online for free, but you can purchase a subscription to PlayStation Plus to give you access to more features like discounts and free games. It might be worth picking up these subscriptions if you know that’s what the console will be used for.

HDMI Cables

These are not always included within the box of the console, especially not if they are second hand. Make sure to pick them up and, under no circumstances, pay more than £5 for them. No matter what the salesperson says, they do not cost £40 and the ones in GAME or Walmart are no better than the ones from Amazon. Do not pick ones from Poundland or anything like that though, those are terrible.

Staff

The staff in shops are about 60% hired in purely for the Christmas period. They do not have your best interest in heart most of the time as they have been told to try and get as much profit and push specific products. No, you do not want the extra fantastical £100 package, nor do you want an extra six controllers or a copy of the latest game you’ve not got in your hand. There is one thing you may want to get though.

Disk/Console Protection

A lot of brick and mortar stores offer fairly cheap disk and console insurance which can be a very good idea, especially when the disk protection is about £1 and means you get a free copy of the £50 game, should the disk be broken or scratched. Please note, if your console is defective when you get it home, you don’t need console protection for this. Simply take it back to the store, tell them that it is defective and they should replace it, if stock allows.

When It’s Home

Now that you’ve purchased your new console (and games but this section is primarily for the consoles), you’re home free!... Almost. There’s a few measures that you might want to take once you’ve got it in your hands.

Test the console before Christmas!

This is one of the most important things you can possibly do. We’re sure your giftee won’t be too annoyed that you’ve opened their new console to test to see if it works. If it does work, fantastic! Pack it back up, wrap and be ready for their glee. If it doesn’t work, take it back to the place of purchase ASAP and attempt to swap it out.

If you haven’t ever set up a console before, head over to YouTube and search for a video showing you how.

Charge the controllers

Another nice thing to do might be to charge the controller before the big day. Although you can use the Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and Wii U controllers without them being charged, it means that you have to sit a few feet away from the console with a wire hanging down. It’s not the most pleasant experience so giving them a quick charge is a great idea.

One thing to note about the PlayStation 3 controllers however, is that they have to be plugged into a PlayStation 3 whilst the console is on to charge.

Review the Parental Controls

A games console is a very high tech piece of equipment and you can do a lot on them including surfing the web, watching videos as well as playing games. Because of this, it is your responsibility as the gifter that, if appropriate, you should review the parental controls on the console before handing it over. Options such as when the console can be played and which age rated games can be played are available in here.

Do you still have any questions about the confusing world that is the gaming industry? Do you think we've missed out some top tips for shoppers? Let us know in the comments below and we'll be happy to either add in your suggestion or answer your question!