Gamers are sure to find all kinds of gaming goods under the tree this holiday season. But some, however, may only find a bunch of plastic gift cards.
I stumbled across this article the other day about how gift cards can be a thoughtful and acceptable and not just "last minute gift" ideas. This applied specifically to gamers, as the writer claims it can be difficult to shop for someone who wants video games.
"Gamers can be one of the toughest groups of people to buy for; you may not know exactly what types of games a person likes, and if you do know that you might not know what games they already own. It makes it tough to give. If you've been looking for just the perfect gift for a special gamer its time to stop putting it off and just buy a gift card."
As Bill Lumbergh would say, "I'm gonna have to go ahead and sort of disagree with you there."
I think gift cards are possibly the worst gift idea for gamers, simply because there's no way for you to enjoy playing your new games on Christmas morning. You have to wait until the next day and who knows if the store your gift card(s) are good for even have the game(s) you want! You may end up waiting weeks — like I did for a DS — before shelves are restocked.
Yeah, PSN/XBLA/Wii points cards are fine because I can buy those online at any time, but for retail packaged games, either just give me money (so I can buy the games anywhere), or simply ask me what I want beforehand. Hell, I'll even accept lesser, crappier games than no games at all, like when Bart received Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge instead of Bonestorm in episode 139 of the Simpsons.
So do you guys hope to find many gift cards this holiday?
Gift Cards - Not Just 'Last Minute Gifts' for Gamers