The gift of games

Video games are a hot seller this holiday season, for a lot of reasons. The price of video game systems has gone down, so more people are buying them and looking for that perfect game. That's even true of personal computers and the games made for them.

Besides that, there's never been more variety. Just trying to narrow the field is tough because there are, literally, thousands of video games.

This year, we have looked over a variety of games and come up with a few suggestions to narrow the gift-giving choices. We've included favorites for various systems and a couple of hardware choices that tie in and are simply too fun to ignore. Here are a few we (mostly) liked:

One of the most unusual — and genuinely hilarious — offering this season is "EyeToy," for PlayStation 2 by Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. It's a USB camera that uses motion-tracking technology to throw you and your buddies right into the middle of the action. It projects your image onto the television screen, where you can play 12 mini-games of various types, including music, puzzles and sports.

We also found it to be strangely aerobic as we jumped and jabbed, swatted and rolled our way through, using our hands, feet, knees, even our heads. What a hoot! The device, which sells for under $50, is even more fun when you get a bunch of people acting silly at once onscreen.

You can also record up to 60 seconds of personal video messages, though that was the least of its considerable charms.

Another hit for the whole gang, regardless of age, is "Karaoke Revolution" ($59.99) for PS2. It's a contest that lets one to many players complete in a singing contest. The microphone is included with the game and you get points if you sing well, hisses if you don't.

Little gamers

The very youngest players, those 3-6, are going to love some of the games put out by Atari for use on the personal computer. At my house, "Putt-Putt: Pep's Birthday Surprise!" ($19.99) was a joy for the kids, who figured it all out by themselves and a chance for the adults to get other things done, like wrapping gifts without worrying about prying eyes and little people.

Pep's a puppy who has never had a birthday party, and Putt-Putt, the friendly little car, thinks that's a shame. He works his way through various puzzles and tasks (like moving cows to get the milk to make a cake) to gather all the party supples. And, boy, is Pep a pleased pup.