OMG Nintendo

We're now looking at just a little under a week until Christmas, people. Not even a week left for listening to Christmas songs, drinking eggnog without people looking at you funny, and stressing out over how to give someone a gift that won't make you look like a cheap jerk. May we here at OMG Nintendo humbly suggest the gift of a Wii game?

Wii software drops in price rapidly, and you'll find a lot of the best games released for the system in 2008 now in the $20-$40 range regardless of the MSRP listed. Given how well the Wii is selling right now, there's a fair chance that almost anyone you're buying for might be a Wii owner or have one in the household.

As with the DS list of top gift games, each entry on this list is tagged for one of the three major types of Nintendo gamer. You can check this breakdown of the omgNintendo Universal Theory of Gamer Types for more info if you like. Of course, the tags are just suggestions, and Wii games in particular tend to have a lot of appeal that crosses boundaries to different types of gamer.

10. Madden '09 All-Play Edition

• MSRP: $49.99
• Genre: Sports
• Type: Casual
• Why: The latest Madden title for Wii emphasizes accessibility more than ever, with All-Play mode controls designed to be manageable for even the most Casual or any Kids who take an interest. Serious gamers may find some depth here, too, but are likely to prefer playing Madden on 360 or PS3.

The Madden series is, arguably, the single most popular video game franchise in America, and one of the first to prove that there was plenty of money to be made by catering to audiences beyond the traditional gamer demographic. In the case of Madden, it was a game not just for tech-loving guys who knew their way around a controller, but for any guy (or the odd gal) who loved American professional football. The Wii SKU of Madden '09 is designed from the ground up to be especially friendly to casual players, without sacrificing important features like online play and roster updates. It's the perfect gift for a new Wii owner who loves football.

9. de Blob

• MSRP: $49.99
• Genre: Puzzle Action
• Type: Kids
• Why: de Blob offers Kids the chance to make a virtual mess in the name of heroic ideals, thus making it a perfect deterrent to the actual kid practice of drawing on the walls with crayon. Serious and Casual gamers will appreciate the innovative gameplay and sharp controls, though adults are probably going to find de Blob's levels too repetitive.

For hardcore Wii fans my age, THQ's de Blob was a sort of magnificent disappointment. Fantastic visuals, perfect controls, really wonderful music... but unfortunately, the way levels were designed forced a lot of annoyingly repetitive goals on you. For younger gamers, this is not going to be off-putting at all. Kids love repetition in basically engaging entertainment, and de Blob's bright graphics and silly fun is going to be irresistible to most Kids. The game also becomes quite a bit more appealing to adults once you're watching a little person handle the Remote and sling paint all over a (blessedly) virtual cityscape, too.

8. Mario Kart Wii

• MSRP: $59.99
• Genre: Arcade Racing
• Type: Kids
• Why: Serious gamers found the Wii Mario Kart a crashing disappointment when compared to other recent entries in the series, but for Kids who are likely seeing it as their first Mario Kart, it's invariably a huge success. Kids love the Wii Wheel gimmick and the multiplayer options can keep the little ones from fighting over the remote, and Casual players are likely to find the tilt controls pleasantly intuitive.

Mario Kart Wii snuck out onto the market earlier this year with remarkably little fanfare from Nintendo, and then immediately became one of the system's perennial best-sellers, alongside the lines of Wii Play. Serious critics like me didn't take a shine to its loose interpretation of Mario Kart physics or tracks that just felt too big, but this is another game that hit its target audience of Kids square between the eyes. They love the bright colors and silly physics with no exception, and the grind of unlocking new courses, characters, and vehicles just keeps a Kid coming back for more. Mario Kart Wii also features online play, which is sure to please Kids old enough to want to compete and not old enough to get bored easily.

7. Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection

• MSRP: $29.99
• Genre: Pinball Simulation
• Type: Casual
• Why: All potential Wii gamers of a certain age or older were likely huge fans of Pinball back in the day. The intuitive controls and authentic recreations of classic Williams board are going to make this an appealing game for Casual gamers, while Serious players are going to enjoy the excellent physics and numerous extras to unlock. Kids may like it as a button-pushing experience, but probably won't entirely understand the game's appeal.

A lot of people probably though Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection was some sort of lame shovelware when it quietly snuck into stores earlier this year. The game received no hype, very little advertising, and can be easily found for $20 or less in a lot of big box retail stores already. It's a shame, because this is a truly wonderful game and one of the Wii's stand-outs this year. Creating a good video pinball game is not easy, and faithfully reproducing the authentic physics of classic pinball boards has been nearly impossible for most of the history of video games. The Williams Collection achieves both, marrying fantastic controls anyone can understand to a near-perfect reproduction of the ten classic pinball boards included in the game. Any gamer over, say, roughly the age of 25 who misses the heyday of arcade pinball is going to adore this title in both concept and execution, and your average Casual gamer is going to love it for being very simple, accessible, and delightfully challenging.

6. Bully: Scholarship Edition

• MSRP: $29.99
• Genre: Sandbox
• Type: Serious
• Why: Bully's cruel depiction of school life is probably going to be outright off-putting to Casual players, but it's a wonderland of fun stuff to do for a Serious gamer. It's one of the few GTA-style games that Kids have any business playing, though you'll probably want to restrict it to the older ones.

Rockstar's games are hard for me to write about, because I'm tempted to type It's really good!, call it a day, and go enjoy an alcoholic beverage in an adult, responsible fashion. It's because the best Rockstar titles aren't good at any one particular thing, instead focusing on giving players a wide variety of different interesting things to do within the confines of a single overarching narrative. This is a pretentious way of stating that Bully offers not only excellent classroom mini-games and engaging social climbing, but also the chance to both shoot bottle rockets AND ride a bicycle at your discretion. Who can say no to that? Scholarship Edition on Wii even offers polished-up graphics (from the PS2 original), and a story full of the wickedly funny dialog that's made Rockstar famous.

5. No More Heroes

• MSRP: $19.99
• Genre: Action
• Type: Serious
• Why: This is the brutally violent sword-fighting action game Serious gamers have been dying to see on Wii since the console's launch. Designed by Suda 51, it's the first attempt at such a game to successfully blend action staples like gore and massive boss fights with an engaging story and sharp graphics. Casual gamers don't even know who Suda 51 is, and Kids have no business touching this one.

As you look over the rest of this list, you'll see one type of game largely missing from the ranks. It's conspicuous by its absence, because it's the type of game that traditionally sells the most. Heck, the Xbox 360 seems to have a major new one out on a monthly basis. It's the testosterone game, usually some sort of manly shooting or melee-bashing game that is at heart about going to, beating the crap out of some guys, and asserting your dominance over their territory. This can be played out in a story mode, or in every multiplayer match that happens online. Wii attempts at this kind of chest-beating game fail entirely... except for No More Heroes. It pairs up the territorial instinct to find and defeat bosses with a lot of enjoyable humor that makes the game into a manic, satirical romp. Most Wii games are about wholesome fun; No More Heroes at its best is pure but blackly humorous fun with heaping doses of artfully shocking sex and violence on the side.

4. Boom Blox

• MSRP: $49.99
• Genre: Puzzle Action
• Type: Kids
• Why: Steven Spielberg designed this game with Electronic Arts specifically so he'd have something to play with his kids. It's full of the bright colors and imaginative characters that kids love, though its excellent controls and level builder possibilities offer plenty for Casual and Serious players, too.

Boom Blox was by far the hardest game on this list for me to describe. I sat down and spent several hours playing it, and still was at a loss for exactly what to say about it. Boom Blox is at heart a puzzle game, but it has a lot of action elements. Unlike most puzzle games, it isn't focused on solving just one kind of problem. Boom Blox is about building things up with various types of blocks so you can then knock them down with massive kid-pleasing explosions. The game's different modes apply this basic mechanic in all sorts of different ways, giving Boom Blox amazing flexibility and longevity for a game with such a simple basis. Pretty much anyone can not just play it, but has a good chance at being able to play it well regardless of age or skill level. Despite this, it's not shallow and has plenty to offer for even the most hardcore Serious gamer. A lot of people missed out on Boom Blox when it launched earlier this year, which makes it an especially good gift idea.

3. Guitar Hero World Tour

• MSRP: $189.99 (Band Kit); $99.99 (Guitar Kit); $49.99 (Disc Only)
• Genre: Rhythm
• Type: Casual
• Why: The simple hit notes on the beat gameplay of Guitar Hero is absolutely universal, and World Tour's addition of vocals just makes the game more accessible to non-gamers. Kids can have fun with this, too, though it may seem a bit hard. Serious gamers can really get into it, and may prefer playing as a drummer.

I wish I could write a recommendation like this about Rock Band 2, but chances are it won't be for sale in stores until a week or so for now. This makes it totally irrelevant as a holiday purchase for anyone, but doesn't even give it the benefit of being an official 2009 release. Way to fail, Harmonix. Anyway, Guitar Hero World Tour is certainly good enough to tide over a Wii-loving fan of rhythm games who wants the multiplayer experience until Harmonix gets off its metaphorical butt and makes a decent Wii Rock Band that can ship on time. The Wii SKU of World Tour was lovingly crafted by Vicarious Visions to get the most out of the Wii, and offers all the features the 360 and PS3 versions get along with some fun Wii-specific features like Freestyle Mode. DLC can be a pain in the butt to manage on the Wii, but the fun of rocking out with three friends in your own living room is worth it.

2. Okami

• MSRP: $49.99
• Genre: Adventure
• Type: Serious
• Why: Okami is gorgeous but, much like other adventure titles, calls for dedication, planning, and forethought if a player wants to see the game through to the end. Serious gamers have loved this one since it hit for the PS2, and Kids may enjoy the game's unusual look and occasionally scatological sense of humor. Casuals are going to be bored to tears long before they get anywhere interest, and it's their loss.

There's a lot of games that get ported to the Wii in hopes that a niche gem from years past may suddenly find mainstream success once it's retooled to support the popular Wii Remote. Most of these efforts haven't panned out as well as publishers would hope, but the net benefit for Wii owners is a game library suddenly packed with easy-to-buy copies of gaming classics. Okami is only a year old, but its PS2 version was so excellent that it released to nearly universal acclaim, and perfectly awful sales. Wii Okami's port faced a lot of difficulties that arguably make it much less awesome than the PS2 version, notably it not being ported by the original developer, but the Wii port is also frankly a lot easier to find right now. It's still an eminently playable and thoroughly enjoyable version of the game, too, so don't hesitate to snag a copy for the hardcore gamer in your life who may have missed it the first time around.

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl

• MSRP: $49.99
• Genre: Party Fighter
• Type: Serious
• Why: Playing Brawl long enough to unlock everything master every challenge involves acquiring positively ludicrous skills within the game engine, a feat that only the most Serious of gamers will manage. Still, the silly premise and party fun the game offers is quite appealing to Kids, and some Casual players may find the simple controls inviting.

It seems unlikely, but it is probably possible that Wii owners still exist who might enjoy Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but haven't yet obtained a copy of it. At the very least, this is a great first game to give some unsuspecting family that's getting a new Wii for Christmas. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the latest iteration of Nintendo's simple, four-player fighting game that happily makes mockery of the technical nature of more serious fighters with broken items, wacky stages, and even a new stage builder. The best online multiplayer support yet on the Wii keeps up a steady stream of competition, or you can just save it to bust out when you've got friends over. Unlocking things is a pain in the butt, especially if you arne't a fan of the single-player Subspace Emissary mode, but ultimately Brawl's a rewarding game that's perfect for many different types of players.