Capcom Classics Collection
From: Capcom
For: PlayStation2, Xbox
Price: $25 CDN or $20 USD
ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (Violence)

A compilation of 22 good-to-great arcade games from yesteryear, Capcom Classics Collection not only offers worthy leisure-time distraction, it serves as reminder of just how busy Capcom has been over the years, churning out one benchmark game after another. Ghosts n' Goblins? Still awesome. 1942? Still freakishly addictive. Final Fight? Still so clunky it's goofy. You used to pay a quarter for 15 minutes with these games. Now it's about a buck a piece and you play them forever.

Cabela's Outdoor Adventures
From: Activision Value
For: GameCube, PlayStation2, Xbox
Price: $35 CDN or $30 USD
ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (Blood, Violence)

Though you'd think a camping-with-guns game would just be Doom on quaaludes, Cabela's Outdoor Adventures is actually much more. The whole ball of woodsy wax, in fact. You're not just squatting in the woods patiently waiting for big game to stroll by so you can stalk it for the next 20 minutes, nor just sitting in a boat wishing you had a virtual beverage on hand to pass the time because the fish aren't biting, though there is that. The game also does a decent job of simulating the whole hunter/gatherer experience, or the cool modern bit with guns and ammo, anyway, from rifle shopping to chewing up the wilderness on your ATV, from picking off rodents to rescuing hapless outdoorsman. Lots to do, little to spend. Good deal. Bring your own beverages.

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan
From: Activision Value
For: GameCube, PlayStation2, Xbox
Price: $40 CDN or $30 USD
ESRB Rating: Everyone (10+) (Cartoon Violence)

Though a fairly formulaic game, Ty 3 stands out in a crowd first, by its kid-friendly (10+) flavoring and second, by otherwise not pretending to be anything more than it's value pricing suggests. What's more, the game and its character do have genuine personality while the sheer volume of things to do (running, shooting, fighting, driving, flying, berry-picking and puzzle solving), though derivative, would seem to show that Ty 3 is not a knock off not one particularly benchmark platform-hopping adventure, but all of them. The very definition of "bang for your buck."

Splat Magazine Renegade Paintball
From:GS Software
For: Windows PC, Xbox
Price: $20 - $43 CDN or $20 - $30 USD
ESRB Rating: Teen (Mild Violence, Suggestive Themes)

Check this out: A shooting game where nobody dies! Who knew? Renegade Paintball may look a little chunky by today's standards, but it's no worse than its budget pricing suggests. It plays as well as other first person shooters of its ilk, except less violently; more of a team-based sport simulation of actual paintball tournaments, less a rampaging rail-gun game, right down to the fact that you don't so much shoot paintballs as lob them on an arcing trajectory, so the whole things has a certain measured pacing to it all, which is nice an Unreal-respite sort of way.

America Army: Special Forces
From: The U.S. Army
For: Windows PC
Price: $Free
ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (Blood, Violence)

A military shooter for free? Yes. Though there are full priced versions from Ubisoft for PS2 and Xbox, America's Army: Special Forces is a free PC download at www.americasarmy.com, or you can order a DVD ROM stocking stuffer for about $5 or $6 (for shipping & handling). Regardless, "AA" should not be confused with other cheapies or freebies. This is as smokin' a soldiering simulator as you're going to find, running the gambit form realistic boot camp training, plausible real-world war scenarios and a few far fetched ones, with authentic weaponry and realistic rules of engagement. Thing is, it's an official recruiting tool for the US Army and like any good bait worth its salt, it's both very impressive and tantalizingly inexpensive.

Space Hack
From: Meridian 4
For: Windows PC
Price: $25 CDN or $20 USD
ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (Blood and Gore, Fantasy Violence, Language)

Think "Diablo in space" and you've got Space Hack, an effective, sci-fi dungeon-crawling hack n' slash game which neatly proves that if you're going to rip off someone else's game, might as well rip off the best and then cost less. It does.

Frogger: Ancient Shadow
From: Konami
For: GameCube, PlayStation2
Price: $33 CDN or $30 USD
ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+)

An old school franchise with a(nother) new-generation makeover, Frogger: Ancient Shadow is pretty much what you'd expect: traffic dodging with amphibians, but buffed up and supplemented with platform hopping, puzzle solving and berry picking elements as well as a cool multiplayer component that lets up to 4 players go at it co-operatively or competitively. Reliable fun no matter how you run it over.

Mall Tycoon 3
From: GS Software
For: Windows PC
US Price: $15 CDN or $20 USD
ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+) (Comic Mischief)

Seem everyone loves a good micro-management simulation, considering the glut of "Tycoon" this and "Sim" that games on the market. Vying for your holiday shopping dollar with a fire sale pricing is Mall Tycoon 3, a clever and engaging mall managing sim that may not look too pretty, but we're not shopping at Saks now, are we?

2K Sports Games
From: 2K Games
For: PlayStation2, Xbox
Price: $30 - $34 CDN or $20 - $40 USD
ESRB Rating: Everyone

For sport sim buffs, you really can't miss with 2K Sports games from 2K games. NHL 2K6, College Hoops 2K6 and NBA 2K6, all as good and often better than any other sports game on the market, but at a noticeably lower price, which doesn't make them cheap, just smartly competitive in a market otherwise dominated by EA Sports. You should pay $50 for games of this caliber, but you won't.

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