Holiday Gift Guide: For Teenage Boys

As a male in my late teens (19 to be exact), I am in tune with what my generation likes and dislikes. You may already know that we like video games and DVD's and gift certificates to cool stores, but I can say from experience that you still desperately need help. When buying gifts for my generation, it is best not to guess what they want exactly. So here are some specific suggestions for holiday gifts for teen males.

If you are generous and have a lot of money to buy love with, this is the perfect time to go all out with the next generation of gaming consoles. The Xbox 360 is already out and soon the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii will also be released. The Xbox 360 runs about $300, or $400 if you get the version with the awesome Hi-Def DVD player. The PS3 will likely cost between $500 and $600, but since most gamers don't have much faith in it, it will likely fail and not too many good games will be created for it in the years to come. The Nintendo Wii is far less expensive and is so far the most anticipated console of this next generation. Nintendo classics such as Super Mario will be available as well as more cutting edge games later on. The Xbox 360 already has some popular titles such as Dead Rising, a graphic zombie game and 3rd Street Saints, a gangland style game. There are many options if you are willing to shell out the cash.

If you are not willing to drop a bundle of cash to win over your son or nephew's affections, I suggest just buying the games. Here's a tip on how to get the best games for the least money. Playstation 2 has a series of greatest hits titles in which games that have been out for over 9 months and sold 250,000 copies are priced lower at $20 instead of the standard $50. Games such as the Grand Theft Auto Series, Ultimate Spider-Man, God of War, Mercenaries, and many others are all Greatest Hits titles now. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories was released at $20 from the beginning and it's a great game. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is coming out soon and it will also be priced at $20.

As for movies, every one has their own unique tastes, so don't try to guess what they want. Ask for a list of DVD's (No VHS tapes!) from the teen you're buying for and select a few from that list.

Another cool choice is tickets, whether it be a sports game, a concert, or some type of show. Be sure that the teen REALLY likes the team, band, etc. that you're buying the tickets for.

Don't try to make an assumption about buying clothes based on what you've seen the person wear. In fact, I don't know anyone who likes getting clothes as a gift. So just find out where they most frequently shop and buy them gift certificates. I am a wrestling fan so sometimes I ask for my family to go online and buy specific wrestling shirts or DVD's and stuff like that.

There are some unique choices that I think guys my age would appreciate. Subscriptions to their favorite magazines, gift certificates to fast food places, gift certificates to the movies, gift certificates for Pay-Per-View's (my aunt gave them to me and it was great), and even cool gadgets. Mp3 players are cool if you choose carefully. Get something not too cheap that can hold at least 500 Megabytes of music. CD players are almost non-existent these days so that might not be a good choice. It seems that a lot of teenagers always want the latest and coolest phone, so something like a Razor cell phone or a Blackberry might be a good choice.

The best thing to do when buying for a teen is to make sure that you get something they really want, not just something you want them to have or something you think is close to what they want. Older people don't have a clue what teens want, even when they think they do. Get gift receipts for everything you buy them so they can return or exchange it if it's not what they want. Ask them for a list of what they want and if you want to throw in something as a surprise that they wouldn't even think about, make sure it's really good and appealing to them, not you. Good luck shopping!