What to Get the PC Gamer for Christmas

Everyone has played a PC game at some point in their life, whether it's braving a perilous dungeon, fragging your friends in a first person shooter, or just playing some solitaire. Even if you've sold your soul to desktop 2D games, there are a handful of highly anticipated releases this year for the PC that are bound to bring joy to someone you love.

World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, the expansion pack to what may have been the best selling game in recent history! Playing upon the lore of Blizzard's extensive Warcraft game line, the launch of the Burning Crusade will find players strapped to their seats. A new level cap of 70 from the previous 60, along with two brand new races; the Bloodelves and the Draeni, will please even the most fickle gamer. Burning Crusade also offers new dungeons to explore, a new Player versus Player combat system for the casual gamer, and new professions for those looking to earn a living. Probably the most fun and appealing aspect to the expansion is the ability to obtain flying mounts, which may only be ridden when exploring the new continent known as the Outlands. The regular expansion pack starts at $39.99, with the Collector's Edition starting at $59.99, both off Amazon.com. World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade is expected to launch sometime in late November, just in time for the
Holiday
season, and is available for pre-order.

Next on the list is Neverwinter Nights 2, one of the most anticipated games of the year! The follow up to the original Neverwinter Nights, the developers from the Icewind Dale trilogy and Baldur's Gate have come together to output this explosive sequel. The NN2 crew put a strong focus to make the game extremely appealing to the eye through graphics and cinema effects. The developers also expect to attract a lot of new players to the game, as well as ones that have been playing the Baldur's Gate engines since the beginning. With this in mind they have created a very player friendly, although in-depth character creation system. Video tutorials were implemented to ease beginning gamers into the atmosphere, which is chock full of new features and even stronger game play and character control. Extensive multiplayer functions are expected to bring this newest release to a whole new level. One of the games most appealing aspects is the campaign functions. Players can quest on epic, game generated campaigns or make their own if they choose too. Neverwinter Nights 2 releases this October.

It's 2142…or at least the guys at EA seem to think so with their brand new holiday release. Battlefield 2142 is the talk of all things FPS (First Person Shooter). A follow up to the Battlefield 2 series and set in a post ice-age future, this up and coming release is sure to please gamers around the globe. New high-tech weaponry and awards are available from the real-time ranking system, which will be much needed as players face off against one another in massive 64 man battles. Players can now custom build their characters, asserting more strategy into the game for organized play. A new feature called Titan Mode will be implemented with this new release. Players will have to defend their Titan, an enormous battleship, while attempting to destroy the opposing teams Titan through extensive means; not limited to breaking the shields, infiltrating the Titan and blowing it up from the core using powerful explosives. Battlefield 2142 is going to be huge, and it comes out October 17^th of this year. Pre-ordering is available of course for those that want to secure their spot in the epic battles to come, starting at $49.99 this could be the ideal gift for that gamer you love this holiday season.