And buying guides for video games are stupider. But for utility's sake, here's a quickie rundown on what games are worth picking up in the sales rush of today and tomorrow—blurby, not nearly as well-written as I'd like, but I wanted to post this in the little free time I had while away from home. Maybe I'll pound out a more robust, less value-oriented guide before Christmas.

My lengthy guide is after the jump; in the meantime, here's the announcer dude from Mortal Kombat declaring Obama's Presidential victory. Sorry that it's from Maxim.

Virtual Rock: Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour are relatively the same game. Slight variations of menus and plastic instruments. Considerable differences in song lists (hit Wikipedia to compare). From my perspective, the edge goes to Rock Band 2, if ever so slightly (and mostly thanks to setlist bias).

The bigger issue is the high cost of a guitar/drums/mic fake-off these days. At least $150, or typically about $180, for the whole rig? If you and your friends are iffy on karaoke, save a bundle by choosing the older, guitar-only games—tonnns of deals on those year-old releases this week. And you'll probably feel pretty stupid if your friends bail on repeat full-"band" play sessions... and I've heard about your lame friends. Apologies in advance.

Only One Game: If you've come to your senses and have limited your X-mas spending to one retail game, your top two choices are on every console imaginable: Grand Theft Auto 4 and Fallout 3. They're the year's ultimate timesinks, and unlike a lot of ho-hum games, both take huge strides to feeling next-gen—storytelling, control, customization, and most importantly, heft. For comparison's sake, GTA 4 is stupider, yet more nimble, while Fallout 3 is thick, yet exhilarating (and betrothed to the olden days of RPGs). I dunno... if it's a tough choice, pick neither and go outside instead.

Best Deals: Bombast, innovation, and price? You want the consoles' downloadable shops. The Xbox 360's selection is mindfuckingly stupid—Braid, Geometry Wars 2, N+, and Rez are must-haves just off the top of my head, and that's only $40 for the four-pack. After nabbing those, try the free demos for Castle Crashers, Street Fighter II HD Remix, A Kingdom of Keflings, Pac-Man Championship Edition, and a zillion others.

For the parents on Slog tricked into buying the dud that is the Wii, do yourself a favor and get World of Goo. Don't look it up; don't read the babillions of positive reviews. Just get it for $15 (or on PC for $20). Cubello's a little wonky, but if you're a puzzle game freak, it's worth the cheap price of $6.

If you rolled PS3, a few quality games overlap with the Xbox (Street Fighter II HD, Bionic Commando Rearmed, Penny Arcade Adventures, Mega Man 9), while Sony's downloadable exclusives don't have the lasting charm of the other systems' best—and half of them don't have free demos to try (huh-wha??). Pixeljunk Eden is charming, though, and it's on sale for $5 right now. (And I still adore last year's Calling All Cars.)

Wii Fit: Sucks. If you're desperate for assisted home workouts, buy a generic step board and an exercise DVD for the exact same experience (if not superior—Wii Fit's lack of useful feedback is puzzling). Use the $50+ you save to buy Smash Bros. Brawl or Mario Kart Wii, two of the decade's best four-player games.

Other Random Gems: Burnout Paradise will be discounted almost everywhere this season, and EA's still pumping out free online upgrades for the thing. It's the best video game to ever reward the worst car driving. On Xbox 360, Lost Odyssey is a well-done timesink/RPG; if you have a soft spot for the well-written Final Fantasy games of old, you'll find a pleasant bargain-bin surprise in this early '08 sleeper. On Wii, see if you can't nab Boom Blox for less than $20; that's about the right price for its multiplayer bliss (since solo play sucks). Valkyria Chronicles for the PS3 reminds me of how much I loved Shining Force for the old Genesis—tactical fighting that doesn't feel slow or labored. It won't be cheap, but the PS3 has a quality shortage right now, so if you get desperate, direct your cash that-a-ways.

If You're Rich: Left 4 Dead—and three more copies for your friends, cuz its worth is directly proportional to your friends. Also, if you still have cash after of all the other recommendations, there's Gears of War 2, Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, yet another World of Warcraft expansion, Civilization Revolution, and Space Invaders Extreme (the only great DS game of the year).

New Games I'm Still Working On: If Mirror's Edge gets a sequel, it will be fantastic, but I think I said that about Assassin's Creed last year. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe has the power, whallop and intentional imbalance that recent Japanese fighting games have lacked, and it's a total blast to play at first. I'm not sold on its lasting power, sadly. And Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts showed up at the doorstep yesterday morning, and so far, I'm nowhere near hating it, so that's good.

(Yeah, I brought the Xbox on my trip. I'm with a Left 4 Dead freak who just about demanded it.)