Got a teenage gamer on your shopping list this Christmas? The choice of video games -- and even platforms -- can be overwhelming.
We recruited Victor Lucas, host and executive producer of The Electric Playground, to help find the best Teen-rated and Mature-rated games.
Victor picked the Metroid Prime trilogy as the best teen rated game on the Nintendo WII.
"Anybody that gets that for the holidays is going to have a big smile on their face. That's a pretty cool gift," he said.
Lucas also recommends Deadly Creatures, where you play as a spider or scorpion. Also on his list is Muramasa: The Demon Blade, which has an outstanding art style and great music.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is Victor's game of the year for the PS3. It's merged with amazing cinematic action sequences, lots of cool single player objectives and multi-player options.
"I totally recommend anyone who has the PS3 to get that game immediately," he said.
Other titles to look for include Infamous and Ratchet and Clanks Future: A Crack in Time.
Among music games, Victor calls DJ Hero "a revelation." While it's only a two player game, he says it's very original, addictive and "the music is so fun."
If you are looking for an older game that's a bargain, Skate 2 is it. Victor calls it the best skateboarding game ever.
"Once you get that groove you feel like a superstar and that's what video games are supposed to do," he said.
Used games are another way to give more for less.
Streetfighter IV is an old franchise beautifully recreated with 3D camera moves and cool visual effects.
"For Streetfighter fans I think that's the best fighting game of 2009," he said.
Batman Arkham Asylum is the game Victor has been waiting decades for. The game blends action with intellect, like the Batman comic books.
"There is a lot of psychological terror going on in the game and that's really what drove this character to become this really weird creature and kind of twisted Bruce Wayne up and made him kind of a psycho," he said.
For mature-rated games, Victor selected Halo 3 ODST, Left for Dead 2, and Assassin's Creed 2, which Victor gives a ten out of ten.
"I'm still playing it," he said.
"It is a massive massive experience with lots of different layers of collectability and objectives that you have to deal with all taking place in renaissance Italy."
Three other "M rated games" he says are tops are Dragon Age Origins, Borderlands and Modern Warfare 2.
Some games are still being published for the Playstation 2. So if you have one of the older systems you can still get some new games.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen
