Top Five Playstation 3 Gifts for 2009

As a lifelong video-game player that started out with some of the initial video game systems like Atari, Intellivision and later, the very first Nintendo system, I have had a long relationship with video game playing that exists to this very day.

Now as a married 40-something year-old father of two that still loves his video games, I feel as qualified to comment on the state of today's video games as any professional video game writer in the country.

With that long-winded spiel out of the way, let me get down to the business at hand - breaking down the top five video game gifts for the best video game system on the market in my estimation - the Playstation 3.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

With a family of exactly four members, I am always looking for four-player games that my family and I can play simultaneously together, so I recently purchased Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 after playing the original Marvel Ultimate Alliance to no end.

Needless to say, Ultimate Alliance 2 is 'da bomb' as the young people say. I've been playing it with my family since it was released on September 15th and we absolutely love it.

The graphics are phenomenal, the game-play is spectacular and the characters are plentiful. In my estimation, this is the No.1 'multiple-player' PS 3 game on the market right now.

Kevin Nakamura, a game adviser at one of the national the GameStop video game chains, located at 6018 Fm 3009 in Schertz, Texas, and one of the most knowledgeable video game advisers I have ever met, had this to say about Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.

"Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is really - the Marvel Universe. With a ton of great characters from Storm and Iron Man to the Hulk and Venom' along with the incredible game-play, you're actually in the Marvel Universe," he said.

Nakamura is dead-on with his evaluation of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. It is arguably the best multi-player PS3 game on the market today.

Nakamura also lists Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which is being released on October 13, as one of the top PS3 gifts of 2009. Nakamura says the action-adventure game, developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, "Is going to be absolutely phenomenal," he said. "The online game play is going to be absolutely revolutionary. There are huge maps and incredible graphics. This game is going to be absolutely incredible." Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, features both, competitive and co-operative multiplayer modes.

Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2

Next up on the top five PS3 gifts list for 2009 is Modern Warfare 2, an epic single-player campaign that picks up where Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare left off and will be released on November 10. Of course, Modern Warfare 2 also features a multiplayer mode that features a host of new enhancements.

"It's going to be great across the board," Nakamura said. "It's going to be, probably the biggest game of all-time up to this point. It has everything everything from the original and then some."

Ratchet and Clank - A Crack in Time

While I am a firm believer that Marvel Ultimate Alliance is the best multiplayer 'family' game on the market, Nakamura went on record to say that Ratchet and Clank: A Crack In Time, scheduled for release on October 27, is "The best family game on Playstation 3. Everyone can play it and find some thing they like," Nakamura said.

The latest Ratchet and Clank will feature new game-play mechanics, such as time manipulation and time travel - and after viewing some of the latest game trailers, I agree with Nakamura that Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time, is going to be an outright winner.

Last but certainly not least, Nakamura puts the latest Official DualShock 3 PS3 controllers on the list of must-haves for 2009.

While the controllers are the same as the current DualShock 3 PS3 controllers on the market, Sony has created their new controllers with absolutely stunning Red and Blue colors that Nakamura say "are so vibrant, that I had to go out and buy one for myself."

So there you have it video game lovers, the top five PS 3 must-have gifts for 2009.