Tis the season, once again, to brave icy roads and crowded super-stores to find just the right gift for your loved ones.
Or to sit back and order said gifts from the comfort of your internet connection, drinking hot cocoa and peppermint schnapps and pitying those poor fools out in the snow.
And what better way to share in this holiday spirit than with video games the whole family can enjoy?
So, as we do every year, here's our Ultimate Family Gamer Holiday Gift Guide, 2015 Edition.
Skylanders SuperChargers
You can't go wrong with Skylanders games when it comes to great Christmas presents for kids---and often, for grown-ups, too. The first "toys-to-life" game is still the best of the bunch.
Better yet, this year's installment, Skylanders: SuperChargers, is quite possibly the best game yet in the imaginative franchise.
Instead of just playing with the adorable action figures, this time around you also have access to a suite of vehicles.
Flying, driving, and jetting across (and below) the water makes SuperChargers one of the most varied, replayable, and enjoyable Skylanders games we've played.
There's a ton of buying options, too. The game is available on lots of platforms, from PS4 to your iPad. And if your kid, grandkid, nephew (dad, mom, etc.) already has the game, there's tons of figures, packs, and vehicles to choose from as well.
Right now at Amazon, you can get the Starter Pack for just $34.99. That's a great deal---less than half the sticker price of $74.99.
Nintendo Games (Wii U)
If you're a Wii U owner---and every gamer family should own a Wii U---there's plenty to grab this holiday season, including a number of bundle deals.
Our favorite Wii U game of 2015 was Super Mario Maker ($50,) a game that lets you and your kids create your very own Super Mario levels. It's not only incredibly fun and addictive, it taps into kids' imaginations. It's the perfect Nintendo gift for kids and adults alike. For those of us who grew up on the original Mario games, it's a dream come true.
But there have been plenty of others.
Yoshi's Whooly World ($45) and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse ($40) are two charming platformers for the whole family.
We had a terrific time playing doubles tennis on the couch with Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash ($50) as well. Not to mention the ink-shooter Splatoon ($50,) which gives younger players a chance to shoot it out with friends online without all the blood and gore of adult shooters.
And for the Wii U grown-ups in your family, the sprawling, epic JRPG Xenoblade Chronicles X ($60) is the must-have Nintendo title of the year.
You can get the Wii U Splatoon/Super Smash Bros. bundle for $299.99 right now at Best Buy.
Nintendo Games (3DS)
On the 3DS side of things, handheld gaming in 2015 has given us lots of gifting opportunities.
Some of the best and biggest? Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon ($40,) The Legend of Zelda: Tri-Force Heroes ($40,) and Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer ($39.) That last one has been a huge hit with my eight-year-old daughter. If your kid likes home-designing apps on your tablets, they'll love Happy Home Designer.
And of course, all the major kid game brands listed in this gift guide are available on the Wii U.
Amiibo
Nintendo's own toys-to-life figurines are absolutely terrific, even if many are hard to come by. They're also not quite as fun in the actual video games as Skylanders. But as toys with little video game perks, you can't go wrong with amiibo. The new yarn amiibo are particularly adorable, but there are tons to choose from, with each character hailing from one beloved Nintendo franchise or another. The Splatoon 3-pack is pretty great.
And if you get the Wii U version of Skylanders: SuperChargers, it comes with a Donkey Kong Skylander (or Dark Bowser in the special Dark Edition.)
Disney Infinity 3.0
Disney's crack at the toys-to-life genre is better than ever this year. That's largely because it brings the Star Wars universe to life.
Three game packs cover all three trilogies of Star Wars films. Twilight of the Republic tackles the prequel trilogy and Clone Wars; Rise Against the Empire is the original trilogy; and---releasing the same time as the film---The Force Awakens will cover Episode VII.
If that sounds like a fun gift, The Force Awakens playset is currently available for pre-order at Amazon for just $35.
If you just want the action figures, there's plenty to choose from, including pre-orders for The Force Awakens characters, like Kylo Ren.
And the game isn't bound to just Star Wars either. Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, and more all feature adventures and characters this year.
LEGO: Dimensions
A little pricier than the competition, LEGO: Dimensions does offer something the other "toys-to-life" games do not: Bricks! You build your own pieces, and then they zap into the game itself. This makes it even more interactive than Skylanders or Disney Infinity. On the other hand, it means it's less appropriate for younger players unless they have a little help from family.
Still, this is LEGO's biggest and best foray into the world of video games, and does a remarkable job blending the experience of actually building with LEGO bricks and playing the charming games.
Right now Amazon has the game for just $79.99, $20 off its normal sticker-price.
View-Master Virtual Reality
Virtual reality is about to get very real, very soon. But if you've got a smartphone, you can do some pretty cool VR stuff already using Google Cardboard, an app that turns your phone into a virtual reality screen.
While you can do all this by building your own cardboard headset, a much easier (and still super cheap) way to do it is with the new View-Master, which uses Google Cardboard to turn your phone into a high-tech version of the View-Master we all remember from being kids.
You can go to outer space, see crazy destinations, and even use non-View-Master VR apps from the Play Store. This is all a blast for kids, and a cheap way to get a taste of the virtual reality video game world that's just around the corner.
You can get the starter pack at Amazon for $25.
Rock Band 4 / Guitar Hero Live
Both music games made the leap to PS4 and Xbox One this year, and both faired about evenly with the critics.
Our own Jason Evangelho argues in favor of Rock Band 4, while Polygon's Ben Kuchera argues just the opposite.
Either way, here are two new games in long-running franchises that kids and parents can enjoy together, especially if you're not just a gamer family, but a musical one.
And there's nothing quite like opening a new guitar at Christmas, let alone an entire rock band set.
That's pretty much it for 2015. If you know of a great gift idea or a good deal on any of these, shout out in the comments.
And have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!
