Brutal Gamer’s last minute gift guide: 2024 edition

It’s seriously time to stop procrastinating, and we’ve got a little selection of some of our favorite stuff for you to gift (and get).

What’s the date? Oh boy…

Yeah, so we’re coming up on Christmas pretty darn fast at this point. The biggest holiday of the season is this coming week, and those who’ve got some gifts to give will want to stop putting that big shopping day off, and get ‘er done.

Fortunately, in this day and age that’s a pretty easy task, with the proliferation of online shopping. Not that you can’t, but there’s little need to head out and into a crowded (?) store in the year of our Lord 2024. Unfortunately, if you already have no idea what to buy for that buddy or significant other, online shopping isn’t going to help any.

And if you fit that mold, then maybe some of our picks for the coolest stuff of the Holiday Season might help out. At the very least, it couldn’t hurt.

Big Games

Well of course we’re starting off with a few video game recommendations. This is a mainly gaming-centric website after all.

This past year was a pretty great one for fans, with plenty of terrific games arriving for all three big platforms. Yes, three. Since the PC doesn’t get boxed games, it’s a little tough for us to recommend something to pick up for the Holidays (though we’ve still got one recommendation included).

Below is a bite-sized sampling of the games that hit in the last 12 months, but we think it’s a pretty solid highlight reel, and includes a title for each of the biggies. Let’s kick it off with…

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 | PS5, Xbox Sereis X|S, PC

Focus Entertainment and Saber Interactive’s long-awaited sequel to the original, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is an action gem. If you’ve got a fan of the genre on your list who somehow doesn’t have this already, Space Marine 2 includes a kick-butt campaign, plus co-op and standard multiplayer modes. It’s also one of the best-looking titles of the year, and has loads of Warhammer lore built right in.

That’s not to say that it wouldn’t work just fine for someone with no history with the property too, but for those who appreciate it, it’s just that much better. You can check out our full review here for more info.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | Xbox Series X|S, PC

Exclusive to the Xbox Series X|S and PC until some time next year, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle might be the best extension of the film series since The Fate of Atlantis. The first-person adventure title from Bethesda and MachineGames of course casts players as the titular hero, and sends them on a journey across the globe to uncover a linked series of ancient sites.

Along the way he’ll sneak around dig sites, take down Nazi’s (when necessary), and solve a heaping host of puzzles. Actor Troy Baker provides the voice for Indy, in a game that should please any gaming fan of the character.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom | Switch

And now for something completely different. Well, kinda. For the first time, The Legend of Zelda has a sequel that doesn’t star Link, but features the title princess in the role of the hero. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom sees Zelda take up a magical wand and set out to save Link, who’s been pulled into a mystical rift, as well as the kingdom itself.

While the gameplay is largely new for the series, and has Zelda crating ‘echoes’ of enemies and objects to help her make her way, it also still retain that classic Zelda charm, complete with the cartoon looks of Nintendo’s recent remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Ubisoft quietly crafted a gem with this latest Prince of Persia title, The Lost Crown. Released just after the New Year in 2024, this latest revision of the long-lived series placed players in the role of Sargon, a warrior who starts out to save the Prince of the realm. While that’s how his adventure begins, it rolls through several twists and turns from there, thanks to a time-bending place that’s cursed by a bloody betrayal.

With top notch (and deep) controls, great cartoony graphics, and old-school Metroidvania themes, it’s tough to do much better than Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

Helldivers 2 | PS5, PC

While it wasn’t the PS5 that recently won Game of the Year, Helldivers 2 nonetheless captured the attention of seemingly the entire player-base when it arrived earlier this year. The multiplayer, online action title tells the story of Super Earth, a hard Democratic state in the far future. It’s there that encroaching alien foes are threatening humanity’s existence, and that just can’t be stood for. Cue the Helldivers, and get ready to drop onto alien worlds to defend Super Earth, and lay waste to everything in your path.

While the base game was a big enough hit, the latest addition of another front to the war (with a new enemy to battle) seems to have heated things up once again. Though there was a campaign to get the game onto the Xbox, for now Helldivers 2 remains a PlayStation console exclusive.

Xbox, Playstation, Switch, Steam gift cards

We mentioned above that we had a suggestion for those who have a PC fan on their list, though it’s kind of an ‘across the board’ kinda recommendation. And yes, we’re talking about gift/wallet cards, or whatever you want to call them.

Available in differing denominations and at a stunning number of places, these little cards are an easy way of buying digital product for someone. Just purchase the amount that you want to gift, and your giftee can use it to grab whatever they like. Just make sure to get the right platform, you don’t want to get a PC player a PlayStation store card.

Cool stuff

While games might be our bread ‘n’ butter here at BG, regular readers know that we like to dabble in… well pretty much everything. So to that end we picked out a few of our favorite toys, gadgets, and books and slapped ’em all into a catch all “Cool Stuff” section for you to sift through.

Here you’ll find everything from new retro consoles, to some of the coolest action figures out there. Most of what you’ll find should still be ‘getable’ too, Evan at this late hour, as we’re not talking about ultra limited items here. They’re cool, not rare.

Duracell M100

Okay, so it’s not the sexist of gifts, but a good power bank can be a boon to mobile players, or just someone who likes to keep their phone/tablet/whatever fully charged and ready to go. And if you’re going to get something like that, why not have it look awesome? The Duracell M100 portable hub is every bit of that we reckon.

The lower end hub offered by the company serves up enough power to power up all of the above, plus give a decent charge to a lappy, all while looking like a Duracell battery, copper top and all.

Even better, it lives on a contact-charging base that makes it a great desktop hub option. Check out our review here for more.

Nacelleverse action figures

Got a retro fan on your list? We’re just going to assume you do, and if that’s the case, then what The Nacelle Company has been producing recently might hit the spot for ’em. If you don’t know the name off the top of your head, Nacelle has been putting together a shared universe of ‘lost’ 80s properties. While the action figures for the Nacelleverse are just kind of getting going, new versions of Sectaurs and Robo Force are available right now, and are pretty great.

These are modern figures, not remakes, and feature solid articulation and some slick sculpts. Check out our review of the Sectaurs here.

Note – Oni Press has a lineup of comics to go along with these and Nacelleverse’s eventual animated movies. Some of those are available now, and might make a great accompaniment to the toys.

Atari 7800+

Retro consoles might be few and far between these days, but the Atari 7800+ could probably standout even if they weren’t. Atari’s latest in what seems to have become a series, the 7800+ is basically a straight up remake of the console that hit retail shelves back in the 80s.

The new version runs both new and most original 7800 carts, as well as 2600 games, plus includes modern niceties like wireless controllers. The Atari 7800+ includes one pack-in title to get things rolling, and if you’re looking for a gift to harken back to gaming’s halcyon days, it might first the bill nicely.

Seinfeld: The Complete Series

Is there a more widely loved TV sitcom than Seinfeld? The famed show about nothing is available on streaming, but we always think it’s better to own your favorite stuff on physical media than to rely on the whims of those platforms. Fortunately, 90s television fans have a brand new complete set of Seinfeld to add to their libraries, with Seinfeld: The Complete Series. The new collection brings the series into 4K Ultra HD format, and if their hardware supports it, this seems the set to own for Sein-fans.

Jada Toys Ultra Street Fighter II and Mega Man figures

Some of Capcom’s greatest video game series’ have gotten what might be the best adaption to action figures ever this past year. Those arrived from Jada Toys, a company that has formerly been best known for die-cast cars. Talk about unexpected, yet here we are.

Jada is deep into Ultra Street Fighter II at this point, having just released Cammy, Guile, and DeeJay, and has wave two of its Mega Man figures shipping now with Cut Man, Hyper Bomb Mega Man, and Elec Man. Both series of toys feature game accurate sculpts, appropriate accessories, and universally solid articulation.

Evercade Alpha

Have you picked up any of Evercade‘s hardware offerings? From Blaze Entertainment, Evercade is a retro ecosystem, which counts handhelds, home consoles, and bartop arcade units under its umbrella. The latter is the latest addition, in the form of the just-launched Evercade Alpha, and comes in two flavors.

Each one of those is loaded with a differing set of built-in Capcom games, to get things started, but those are just the beginning. The Alpha units are also compatible with almost all of Evercade‘s cartridge-based titles. Adding in that already existing library makes for a nicely expandable game set, for those who want to dip their toes into the home arcade pool.

HeroQuest

On the flip side of things from what we usually cover, HeroQuest is essentially a tabletop board-gaming system. It’s been around for decades, though was just recently revived, and has been supported with numerous expansions since that re-debut.

The game casts players as a member of an iconic fantasy fellowship that includes barbarians, dwarves, elves, and wizards. Players can raid dungeons, loot their depths, and naturally take out anything and everything standing in their way. Included with the base game is the actual board, setting-related decor, and both character and enemy models. Naturally those can be left as-is or painted to whatever detail you might want. It could be just the thing for a little unplugged gaming night.

Energon Universe Transformers graphic novels

Skybound and Image Comics has been busy. The companies have brought a series of titles to shelves in the last year or so that effectively merged the Transformers and GI Joe universes into one amalgamation called the Energon Universe. This effort has seen a number of pretty terrific titles hit stores, but the Transformers ongoing has been far and away our favorite.

The comic is a more mature take on Optimus Prime and company, and one that presents wholly new ideas, shying away from straightforward retellings of what’s come before. While single issues (one of which can be seen here) can be had relatively easy, the graphic novelizations have started to arrive as well, and might pack a neat little gifty punch for those looking for a new take on the Cybertronians.

Warhammer 40,000: The Ultimate Guide

Have someone on your gift list who’s just getting into Warhammer 40K? That could easily be the case since Games Workshop’s grim and gritty universe is getting plenty of big-time play as of late, with the aforementioned Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 game and its celebrated turn in Amazon’s Secret Level animated anthology. Thing is, the lore behind 40K is as deep as anything out there, maybe deeper, and it could be daunting for those who’ve just started getting into it.

If that’s the case, then Warhammer 40,000: The Ultimate Guide by Guy Haley and Gavin Thorpe might be a good fit. The title gets into both the general lore of the universe and the models used to play the tabletop version. Now that we think about it, it might make a nice gift for those already well versed in the fiction, just as much as newbies.

So there you have it, just a few little last minute recommends from your pals at BG. We hope you enjoyed reading through the list, and maybe found something to brighten up someone’s holiday.

From all of us here at BG, a very Happy Holidays and an extra cool Merry Christmas to all.