There’s exciting new software, hardware and tech toys to choose from this Holiday season, here’s what we hope Santa will leave under our tree.
When I was a kid I never knew what I wanted for Christmas, all I knew is I wanted something – and that something should be stupendous and extraordinary in a tonne of spectacular ways. So, as you may have guessed, I was often left disappointed as no gift (no matter how thoughtful and wonderful) could live up to my ridiculous expectations.
Fast forward about 25 years and I find myself lifted from my self-imposed curse of Christmas, as there is such an extraordinary amount of giddifyingly-good gaming gifts on offer (assuming you can actually get your hands on some of them) that I couldn’t possibly de disappointed. Hallelujah!
So, without further daft preamble, here are our picks for the best game, piece of hardware and type of tech anyone could hope to receive from our favourite fat bastard in red this December 25th.
1. SOFTWARE: Cyberpunk 2077 (just not on console)
UPDATE: We wrote this before the shit show that was the Cyberpunk launch – we still stand by the recommendation to buy it, however, as long as you get it on PC.
It feels like we’ve been waiting forever for this game (the first teaser did show up in 2013 after all which, as far as gaming is concerned, WAS forever ago) but now the time has finally arrived.
For those unfamiliar (seriously, where have you been??) Cyberpunk 2077 is the latest game from awesome Polish games studio CD Projekt Red, the very talented developers behind one of my favourite games of all time, and one of the very best of the last generation, the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
It’s 80s inspired, neon futuristic cyber world showcases an incredibly dense urban dystopia, Night City, which promises just as much immersion and attention to detail that the aforementioned Witcher 3 was famed for.
What is it like? Well, reviews are now trickling in, and despite some random complaints about a lack of diversity here or under-representation there, as well as a crazy number of bugs, the consensus is very positive, with an average 91 rating on Metacritic.
IMHO, if there’s one game you should play this Holiday, it’s Cyberpunk. No contest.
2. HARDWARE: A PlayStation 5 (if you can find one)
You may have read our thoughts on the various merits of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, as well of course just sticking with your trusty PC, but we’re here to tell you that if we had to choose a console this Christmas, it would be Sony’s new machine. Here’s why.
The DualSense controller is the real deal when it comes to a ‘next-gen’ experience, we’re not kidding. The haptic feedback is so much more sophisticated than your average rumble, and the adaptive triggers lend a whole new level of realism to shooters and racing games, as the dynamic tension can far better simulate a trigger and pedals respectively. Sadly, not every PS5 game uses it properly yet, but we hope in time that will change.
As well as the super-fast SSD there are awesome new UI features, such as game cards (for game tips and trophy tracking) and PiP (watch your friend play while you play). When you throw in a great library of exclusive games, such as the epic Demon’s Souls and the surprisingly wonderful Astro’s Playroom, and you have a great new gaming ecosystem that has something for everyone right from the get-go.
That is, assuming you can find one this Holiday season, as Sony is boasting that every single unit they’ve manufactured to date has been sold – I’m sure some execs will be getting some pretty hefty Christmas bonuses this year at that news!
3. TECH TOY: A 2020 GPU (without paying a fortune for one on eBay)
Who knows what Santa’s annual budget is for gift-giving, but I’m guessing even he will struggle to balance the books this year at the sheer cost of some of the new PC tech that is currently on offer – and none more so than with graphics cards. Namely, the RTX 3000 series from Nvidia and the just-released Radeon 6000 series GPUs from AMD.
From a power and feature perspective, 2020 has been positively bountiful, with both Nvidia and AMD stepping up to offer excellent cards capable of crazy frame rates and ever more impressive ray-tracing (especially on the Nvidia side). Where things aren’t so bountiful is with availability, as both companies have been battling to produce enough cards to meet demand.
Scalpers, bots and yes, our personal favourites, the data miners, have been snapping up GPUs quicker than a Biggest Loser contestant decimates the cakes at a free buffet. All this has resulted in some truly ridiculous entrepreneurship when it comes to markups on eBay. £1200 is the average cost of an RTX 3080 right now, about double the RRP.
If our Xmas fantasy was straight outta the movies then yes, a happy ending would ensue where against all the odds, Santa would procure a GPU to fire our framerates to new heights come December 25th. In reality, we’re all going to have to make do with something more ancient technologically. Shame.
Our Christmas Conclusion
Whatever we find (or don’t find) under the tree, we can at least be certain that we’ll still be able to play Cyberpunk as, even if these was a disc version shortage, we could always buy the digital version. And let’s face it, Cyberpunk is all that really matters right now.
What’s your number 1 gaming wish this Xmas? Is there something glaring we’ve missed? Are we talking utter bollocks?? Leave your comments below.
