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The International Arcade Museum's Top 10 Non-Game Gifts for Gamers 2008

1. The Art of the Video Game This book by Josh Jenisch tops the International Arcade Museum's "Top 10 Non-Game Gifts for Gamers 2008." An art book hiding in a video game book's body, this stunning review of the design work that went into 26 modern videogames is a "must have" for active gamers, anyone that enjoyed videogames in their youth, and art enthusiasts. The images are amazing and the print quality good. The text, while sparse, adds meaningful insight to the art and to how the gaming experience is developed and delivered. Exclusive interviews provide insight into the development process and the artists' intent to imbibe emotion into their creations. For an in-depth review of this just-released gem, visit The International Arcade Museum's Art Of The Game Review.
List: $40 Online: about $32.
2. The SurfShelf This really great idea (for yourself or for others) is new, fun, useful. When I first saw one in person I was quite impressed by how attractive it is due to its design and clear polycarb. The surf shelf is great not only for watching video on your laptop, but also for playing online games too. While I wouldn't use it for highly action oriented first-person-shooter games, it's fabulous for games like online scrabble or chess. It's also great for intermittent tasks such as waiting for incoming e-mail, or for mostly passive activities like watching stock quotes, movies, or news. I just found a few videos about it on YouTube, including one in which they pile over 50 pounds of exercise weights on the shelf to show how strong it is (impressive). The SurfShelf just came out, so if you give one as a gift it is likely the recipient would be seeing one for the first time. It's nice when gifts are fun, useful, and built from high quality materials.
List: $60 Online: about $60
3. 3D Action Figure Made From Your Online Game Avatar Create a completely unique one-of-a-kind action figure of your World of Warcraft online role-playing character. FigurePrints downloads the avatar your gamer spent a lot of time developing and playing with and turn it into a unique, personalized 3D trophy. It's only a matter of time before 'printed' 3D figures are available for characters from other online games. Only available online of course.
List: $129 Online: $129.
4. Canon 5D Mark II - 21MP camera The hottest gadget this holiday seen started showing up in Shanghai on December 2, 2008 and should start showing up in the US any moment now. If 21.1 mega-pixels isn't enough for you, how is state of the art battery management, sensoring, and other features. Oh, we almost forgot to mention that the 5D Mark II doubles as a HighDef 1920x1080 video camera. Check out the amazing Bourne Identity style video one guy created with this camera already!
List: $1599 plus lenses and accessories. Online: Count yourself lucky if you can find one before Christmas.
5. Ring Bootle Opener There is something fun about opening a bottle with your finger. In another year these things are going to be 'so 2008 or 2009'. Until then, enjoy!

List: $10 Online: about $2 to $4
6. The Complete Pinball Book Over 1000 photos and tons of text provide a fun look at pinball throughout the years. A great gift for a pinball enthusiast it might be a little much for the typical xbox 360 or ps3 gamer.
List: $60 Online: about $38
7. Tron - 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition DVD Amazing when it came out, this visually impressive 1982 computer-game fantasy is still impressive, and led to the arcade videogames: Tron (1982) and Discs of Tron (1983) [see KLOV.com]. Until the Blu-Ray version comes out (listening Disney?) this is the version to have. [IMDB 6.5/10] Additionally, check out how much trouble (apparently a lot) a videogame can cause in the 1983 classic War Games [IMDB 7.0/10]. Looking for more? I liked Mortal Combat [5.3] & Lara Croft: Tomb Raider [5.3]. Final Fantasy: Spirits Within [6.4] got decent reviews, & the Resident Evil series is engaging: Resident Evil [6.3], Resident Evil: Apocalypse [5.8], and Resident Evil: Extinction [6.2]. Avoid most other videogame movies.
List: $15 Online: about $13
8. Wicked Lasers Torch FlashLight A normal 4 D-cell maglite puts out 122 lumens of light. This baby puts out four thousand lumens and can be used to burn paper and fry eggs. It can only be used for 2 minutes at a time since it heats up, but what do you expect--we all know power can be fleeting. Gamers are geeks, and what geek can resist a personal light saber? If Santa leaves one under the Christmas tree we would recommend wrapping the battery separately. At least they are safer than their designed-for-law-enforcement Photonic Disrputor and Sonar II Burner real 'light saber' units.
List: $300 Online: do you really want to buy something this novel and potentially dangerous?
9. Equus 3320 Multimeter Gamers, particularly collectors of coin-operated videogame and pinball machines, can always use more tools. If they don't have a multimeter yet, maybe its time they get one. This one is inexpensive, but not too cheap, and most buyers have been quite happy with it.
List: $35 Online: about $19
10. Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1971-1984 This work by Van Burnham is another fun book. Go back in time from the era of Computer Space to the Atari and Pac-man years. Life was simpler then somehow, wasn't it?
List: $35 Online: about $26

Other great gift ideas include whatever the neighborhood gadget geek already has. Chances are the early adopter already has quite a few toys your gift recipient covets.

  • The famous 'Tivo has changed my life' god is now available in HighDef (Tivo HD XL, List: $300 Online: $250, plus monthly or lifetime membership fee).
  • A good GPS is also game-changing. The Garmin Nuvi 350 (List: $330 Online: about $160) is pretty good, as is the Tom Tom, though there are several models that promise to be even more exciting in exchange for a few more dollars. Skip the top models with traffic alerts unless you really do a lot of driving (my traffic radio works fine) and MP3 players built in (give me an iPod or an iPhone instead).
  • Speaking of which, who doesn't want an iPhone 3G?
  • Blu-Ray Players have been coming down in price, though if your gamer has a Playstation 3 he or she already has this covered.
  • Less is more with Flip Video (60 minutes: List: $180, Online: about $160), a very portable video camera (also available in HD) so easy to operate it actually does get pulled out and used all the time.

Our members have made additional gift suggestions for collectors of large coin-operated videogames and pinball machines:

  • tools
  • ratcheting furniture moving straps (Amazon, eBay, Harbor Freight, Sears, etc.)
  • a 4-wheel professional appliance hand truck ($220 from Global Industrial, #WG168031) is a huge step over a 2-wheel dolly
  • arcade technical training books and DVDs (http://randyfromm.com/shopping/)
  • neon signs
  • Crayola Color Explosion Glow Board (a "poor-man's neon sign")
  • Visa/MC/AmExp gift cards
  • and there are always more tools...

The International Arcade Museum (http://www.arcade-museum.com/ ) is the world's largest museum of the art, inventions, and history of the amusement and coin-operated machine industries. It operates several web sites, including the popular "Killer List of Videogames," an extensive online encyclopedia of coin-operated videogames (http://www.klov.com/ ) and the "Video Arcade Preservation Society," a census of coin-operated videogame collectors (http://www.vaps.org/).

December 4, 2008