GamesRadar Holiday Buyer's Guide 2007

Believe it or not, we've also discovered certain items that gamers love, but that aren't
actual games. We know, it sounds weird to us too. But it's true. Check this stuff out. It's
fantastic.

Console skins that actually rock instead of suck
Console "skins" (read: stickers) are usually ugly, tacky, low-resolution crap. But Digital Camo
skins are beautiful. The images are vibrantly colored and super sharp, not blurry at all, and
they're printed on thick vinyl that doesn't fold or wrinkle as you apply it, but does have a nice,
classy matte finish. The selection is vast, too: you can find a ton of different styles and colors,
from skulls and flames to plaid, for everything from cell phones and MP3 players to consoles and
Guitar Hero controllers. The newest offering is a skin that covers every instrument in Rock Band -
including a plastic bass drum head that attaches onto the drum stand's legs. It's cheap too.

Nintendo Kicks
In today's modern society, it is generally considered to be required social etiquette that both men
and women of all ages wear shoes while in public. While we would suggest this to be snooty,
government-sanctioned (via the Food and Drug Administration) oppression, we also freely admit
that shoes emblazoned with Mario, or evenclassic games like Asteroids,Pac-Man, and Centipede(www.prokeds.com ) do make the pain just a little more bearable. And if you happen to meet some shoeless gamer thugs who want to beat you up and take your Mario shoes, we know from experience that they will give you better traction to outrun us. Them. We meant to say, "them".

Badass statues from First 4 Figures
Drool over these bad boys. Whether you're into The Legend of Zelda, Assassin's Creed, or
Metroid, these figures are larger scale and more detailed that pretty much anything else you're
likely to find. No, they don't come with a dino buddy or super karate punch action - they don't
even move - but they're a thing of beauty.

PixelBlocks
Back in the old days, game characters were made of 2D dots instead of 3D triangles. And
these handy little translucent LEGOs (more of less. In a non-trademark infringement kind
of way) are the perfect material with which to recreate your idols: Pac-Man, Mega Man,
classic Samus... you name it. Buy lots though - you'll probably get pretty hooked.

Game soundtracks from gamemusic.com
Face it: 90% of the stuff you hear on the radio today is crap. For the love of cats, they're
letting Brooke Hogan and Paris Hilton make albums now, and Hilary Duff has been
elevated to the title of serious recording artist. Put a stop to this madness buy purchasing
real music, like the soundtracks to Silent Hill 3 or Final Fantasy VII. In fact, lots of this
stuff is available as sheet music here as well. Perfect for you real life guitar heroes.