Authored by Ron Lloyd with props to the winners of the Atari Age "Ye Olde Adventure II" sprite design contest, Adventure II is not only the first ever sequel to the 2600 classic, it's also the first ever Atari 5200 game to come in a Limited Edition box set loaded with extras. For $50 you get the amazing professionally printed and gold-foiled number box, the fully-functional cartridge, a full-color manual, parchment maps, some magnets, and a brass plated skeleton key.

The box set is limited to only 250...so limited that I bought mine before posting this, just in case. Now that that's over with, click here to go buy, or hit the jump for a gallery of screenies and product shots, courtesy of Atari Age. Michael Fahey

Adventure II: the homebrew sequel to the Atari classic [the bits, bytes, pixels & sprites]

San Francisco Chronicle writer Peter Hautlaub makes an excellent suggestion for those too poor or too unlucky to acquire a shiny new next-gen system for the gamer in your life. Go retro. The article lists several financial situations, and the perfect classic gaming system to satisfy both wallets and game cravings.

Scenario 1: I'm poorer than Joey on the first season of "Friends" but not quite as poor as Gary Coleman when he got that job as a security guard:

The Nintendo 64 and Super NES are both great systems from the 1990s, when video game development was arguably at an artistic peak. You can buy either system with extra controllers and a shoe box full of games on eBay for about $60.

PS3 too pricey? For video game gifts, go retro. Sega Dreamcast, underrated and underpriced — and under your tree [SFGate.com]