Written by Matt Swider  on December 02, 2008

Holiday Buyer's Guide 2008: Nintendo Wii has a lot of shovelware, so we sort through the seemingly millions of motion-controlled games to determine the few good holds-outs for your holiday gift giving.

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Mario Kart Wii (Wii Exclusive)
Mario Kart Wii is like a lot of games on this list; it released in early 2008. We refuse to put games on the list that don't merit your hard-earned dollar (Animal Crossing: City Folk and Wii Music, to name two), and because Nintendo doesn't have a strong fall lineup for core gamers, this is what we're leading with. That said, Mario Kart Wii is worth every penny of its $50 price tag. That includes the plastic Wii Wheel, too, which takes motion-controlled kart steering to the next level. There is double the normal amount of race courses thanks to nostalgic remakes from earlier Mario Karts plus one addictive online mode. It's the best online game for the system and, if you don't already own Mario Kart Wii, it should top your holiday wish list this season.


Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii Exclusive)
Do you remember all of the hype that went into Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Nintendo's Smash Bros. Dojo website unveiled a new surprise about the game every day for several weeks leading up to its release. It's hard to imagine that after all of our expections were fulfilled (and in some cases exceeded) that some people still don't have this game. But, we have to put it on the list for the few who overlooked Nintendo's mascot fighting masterpiece. The extensive single-player mode and the infinitely fun multiplayer mode (though online is hampered by Nintendo's Wii friend code system) will have you playing until Smash Bros. Dojo starts updating the next brawler a console generation from now.


Wii Fit (Wii Exclusive)
Recommending Wii Fit was a tough decision. It's probably something you're going to invest a lot of money into and not use after a month. But, people are fat these days, according to the news reports we hear almost weekly. Wii Fit isn't the answer to everyone's weight problem, but it's a step in the right direction because it'll burn more calories compared to the rest of the games on list this. With a BMI calculator, fitness trainer and a couple of mini-games, a Wii Fit is a recommended gift if you're feeling a wee fat these days. Just try to avoid gifting it to someone else unless that's the message you're prepared to send.


Battle of the Bands (Wii Exclusive)
Although we reviewed Battle of the Bands as slightly above average, it's a $20 music game that doesn't require expensive guitars or a drum set or a microphone. Previously, it didn't carry that budget price even though it's clearly a budget kind of game, so we couldn't have recommended it upon release. Now, though, it can serve as a cheap hold-over until you can afford Guitar Hero World Tour or Rock Band 2 bundle. Here's to hoping for some post-holiday price cuts on those bundles.




Guitar Hero World Tour
Rock Band's drums and microphone addition really spiced up the Guitar Hero formula last year, and this year, it's Guitar Hero that's one-upping Rock Band. World Tour adds a raked drum set (meaning the triangle cymbals hang above the three drum pads), which makes playing the virtual drums feel more like playing a real electronic set. The drums are also wireless and have softer pads to reduce noise. While the microphone is wired, the option to have static lyrics on the screen instead of constantly scrolling words makes singing ten times easier (note: we didn't say this would make you sound ten times better). The wireless guitar has an interesting touch-sensitive slider bar for playing specific semi-transparent notes, making the only places in which Rock Band 2 outperforms World Tour is in the combined song list and career mode.


Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2 doesn't change up the hardware too much, so if you already have Rock Band 1 instruments, you may want to just buy the $60 game disc. The only hardware investment worth making if you have an extra $300 is the super-sweet electronic ION premium drum set. But for most shoppers, money is tight and rebuying drums and guitars (even with slight enhancements like the ability to add cymbals later) isn't an option this holiday season. So, what makes Rock Band 2 worth $60? The addictive career mode, the daily challenges and the combined playlist. For $5, you can import your Rock Band 1 songs and downloaded tracks for the ultimate music-game playlist. While Guitar Hero has the newer hardware, Rock Band 2 has the more complete soundtrack.


Call of Duty: World at War
Call of Duty is the revered World War II series (except for Call of Duty 4, which took place during modern times). So, owning World at War this holiday season is a no brainer. While people loved the terror-themed CoD4 and are hesitant to step back into yet another WWII game, this version takes on the much ignored Pacific and Eastern fronts (Уmuch ignoredФ compared to all of the games that have you relive D-Day, at least). Plus, it'll go nicely with The Pacific, upcoming HBO TV mini-series set to debut next year as a follow-up to Band of Brothers.



LEGO Batman: The Video Game
If you just finished this summer's LEGO Indiana Jones game, your love for LEGOs is going to be fulfilled through the holiday season with LEGO Batman, which released this fall. Fighting crime as a block-styled Batman and Robin (among other unlockable characters) makes for an eye-catching adventure compared to the desert sands of Indiana Jones. Additionally, Danny Elfman's classic Batman soundtrack makes this LEGO game complete and better than any Dark Knight game that could've released alongside the film.



Okami
Okami isn't a Wii exclusive, but it's close. This brilliantly designed adventure game released on PS2 in 2006, and if you were already into this new generation of consoles, you might've missed it. Thankfully, Capcom released a Wii port that's pretty much on par with the PS2 version. There are some motion-controlled enhancements that make it slightly more challenging to control, but the colorful graphics and 50 hours it'll take to complete the game make it worth checking out.