There’s a buzz in the air. That time of year is quickly approaching once more. The time when thousands of people descend upon America’s malls and department stores and consume, consume, consume.

But this year, many more of us are on a budget. It can be tough to get yourself to spend $60 on a game. But you know what? You don’t have to. Just wait six months, maybe a year, and that $60 game now costs $30. And while that doesn’t help those of us who want give Fable 2, Dead Space, or Wii Music as a Christmas present this year, there are other options.

Last year’s big budget games present opportunities. The games are no less good now than they were then. And downloadable titles can also be a lot of fun without breaking the bank. The Affordable Gaming Committee has come together at Lungfishopolis town hall and compiled a list of games that you can buy as gifts this holiday season, all for under $20. And these games aren’t Barbie Horse Adventures or Superman 64. They’re all solid games out of which you should get a lot of enjoyment.

Each week, we’ll be listing twenty games: ten each from two different platforms. This week, we’ll be looking at PC Games and Nintendo Wii games.

PC

The PC list reads like an advertisement for Steam, but I’m just a fan of downloadable games. To learn how to give a Steam game as a gift, follow this link. I’m listing the recommended system specs for each game, but you should note that the “required” system specs for each are lower. I just never trust the “required” numbers.

Far Cry
For a long time, I had a love/hate relationship with Far Cry. It was one of the first shooters I really got into, and it was very hard. Now, I’m not talking about that stupid XBox knockoff version that came along a year or so later – I’m talking about the original Far Cry. There were no freaky powers, just an island full of evil mad scientists, mutated soldiers, and more mercenaries than you can find in Iraq. To this day, it’s the most fun I’ve had as a sniper. Far Cry recommends a 1 GHz processor and 256 MB RAM. You can pick up Far Cry for $10 on Steam, or less than $5 on EBay if you don’t mind a used copy.

Thief: Deadly Shadows
As a huge fan of stealth games, I loved Thief: Deadly Shadows, and I place it in my top five stealth games of all time alongside such classics as Tenchu: Stealth Assassins and Metal Gear Solid. Most gamers I talk to prefer The Dark Project and Metal Age, but whether it was because the earlier games in the series were more difficult, or because the graphics weren’t as good, I just couldn’t get into them. So my recommendation is for Deadly Shadows. You can pick up a copy for $20 on Steam, or about $8 on EBay if you don’t mind a used copy. Thief: Deadly Shadows recommends a 1.5 GHz processor and 256 MB RAM.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
Well written shooters with RPG elements, stealth gameplay, and good acting are hard to come by. That’s why I absolutely loved Vin Diesel’s game. I’ve played through it twice. Once you get the eyeshine and can toggle your darkvision by removing the goggles, it starts to get really good. I may even go back to this one and replay it a third time some day. You can get yourself a copy on EBay for around $13. The box recommends a hefty 2.6 GHz processor and 512 MB RAM, but I played through it on a 2.4 GHz machine without issues. That said, it was unplayable on my older 1.4 GHz machine.

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
Oblivion is one of those games you can lose yourself in. Personally, I lost a great many hours to the game. The reason I’ll always recommend the PC version over a console version is because of the great wealth of game mods available for Oblivion. They make what was a good game into a truly great game. The BT mod and Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul alone make the PC version a superior product. Oblivion requires a 2 GHz processor and 512 MB RAM, but it’s a great game. You should be able to find it for somewhere between $10 and $20 on EBay.

Starcraft
Starcraft is a decade old now, but I still see the Battle Chest box on shelves everywhere games are sold. There’s a reason for that – Starcraft is a fantastic game. It’s the best real-time strategy game I’ve ever played. If you’ve never played it, now’s the chance to give it a go before Starcraft 2 comes out early next year. Decade-old games have another advantage too: the game requires only a 90MHz processor and 16 MB of memory – this one would run on a cell phone. The Starcraft Battle Chest is typically $20 in stores, but you can find it on EBay for $10.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness
I don’t recommend the Penny Arcade game to anyone who’s not familiar with the online comic, but if you’ve read and appreciate Penny Arcade’s sarcastic and crude style, much more of that type of humor awaits in the games, wherein you can battle hobos, mimes, and barbershop quartets, use fruit to distract depraved lustful robots, and encounter the world’s only urinologist. These games recommend a 1 GHz processor and 512 MB of memory. Episode 1 and 2 are already out, and can be found for $15 each at the Greenhouse Games site.

Audiosurf
Very few games today have the kind of simple addictive gameplay exhibited by Audiosurf. It’s a combination racing game/puzzle game/rhythm game. First point the game to your mp3 collection and select a song, then select one of the game’s many modes, which are categorized by difficulty level. Then the game uses the song you’ve picked to procedurally generate a racetrack. Slow songs, or slow portions of songs have mostly slower uphill tracks. Faster music, or more intense portions of a song, have steeper downhill slopes. My favorites are songs with slower and faster portions, which create more of a roller coaster type track. In enjoy playing Audiosurf to Where’s My Thing?, Sabotage, and Don’t Fear the Reaper. This game does have sufficient cowbell. It recommends a 1.6 GHz processor and 512 MB of memory, and can be found for $9.99 on Steam.

Psychonauts
I can’t say enough good things about Psychonauts. If you haven’t yet played this game, you may not know that this site got its name from Psychonaut’s comedy sequence, which may very well be the greatest single level in any video game, ever. An action/adventure platformer that strives for photorealism about as much as B.A. Baracus strives for a pilot’s license, Psychonauts is the only game to date that has made me laugh out loud, and it did so on numerous occasions. If you’ve never had the pleasure, you owe it to yourself to download a copy from Steam for $20. If you don’t mind a used disc, I’ve seen it selling on EBay for as little as $5. Psychonauts recommends a 1 GHz processor and 256 MB of memory.

Half-Life 2
If you’ve never played Half-Life 2, I can only assume that it’s because you A) Don’t like shooters, or B) Got motion sickness when you tried to play. But now that Steam allows you to adjust the viewable angle, you may no longer need to worry about the motion sickness. They haven’t released a patch to cure the don’t-like-shooters problem.

Half-Life 2 is not only my favorite shooter, it’s one of my favorite games of all time. It takes a “show, don’t tell” approach to storytelling that’s been often imitated, but never done quite as well. And it runs smoothly and looks beautiful on older hardware. They recommend a 1.2 GHz processor and 256 MB of memory, although it scales very well for newer systems. If you don’t get it as part of the beautiful Orange Box compilation, your best bet is the Steam version for $20. You can get a used copy at Gamestop for $10, and it’s even less than that on EBay, but the Steam version comes with Lost Coast, and includes achievements, which are always nice.

Beyond Good and Evil
I think Beyond Good and Evil has been at the top of most lists I’ve created. If you haven’t yet guessed, I’m a bit partial to the game. Stealth gameplay, fighting, vehicle driving, puzzles, collection, mini-games – this game has got serious variety. The characters are lovable, and the story is well-written. For the record, I’ve bought four copies of this game over the years. most recently, I bought it on Steam for $5. Normally, it’s ten, but when I saw it on sale one weekend, I couldn’t resist. Beyond Good and Evil recommends a 1 GHz processor and 256 MB of RAM.

Nintendo Wii

Sadly, many of the Wii games I’d wanted to recommend just aren’t available for under $20 – even older games. So my list won’t include Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, Twilight Princess, Boom Blox, Warioware: Smooth Moves, or Super Smash Brothers Brawl. But there are still a number of good games you can get on the Wii without buying garbage like Carnival Games or Red Steel. If you want to buy a Wiiware downloadable game as a gift, you can do it right through the Wii interface.

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure
I’ll admit that I’ve never played Zack & Wiki. That’s because I’d heard so much about how frustrating certain parts were. And like that horrible Kevin Costner movie which I will not name, in Zack & Wiki, there is only one penalty: death! If only this were the Thunderdome, I could spin “Gulag”. The game did get high praise despite the difficulty, and since it’s available on EBay for $10, I’m going to recommend it.

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
I haven’t played many games in the Fire Emblem series, but the two I played on handhelds were a lot of fun. The RPG/Turn-based strategy gameplay leaves a lot of room for strategic battles, and in these games, if a companion dies, he’s gone for good. You can find Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn for $10 on EBay.

Lostwinds
One of the original Wiiware titles, Lostwinds is probably still Wiiware’s highest-profile game. Lostwinds is essentially a platformer with an interesting new mechanic that draws from Okami and Super Mario Galaxy: the player can use the Wii remote to draw paths on-screen that control the winds. These winds can be used to enhance jumps, defeat enemies, and solve puzzles. A second player can join in to add a second wind cursor, allowing for more windiness. For $10, you can download Lostwinds from the Wii store.

World of Goo
A physics-based puzzler with some similarities to Fantastic Contraption, World of Goo challenges you to use your goo balls to  build various structures and reach a goal point. It begins simply, but quickly grows in complexity. World of Goo is a relatively new WiiWare title that you can pick up for $15.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
I’ve never been into the Metroid games, but given this game’s popularity and following, I’d sure like to pick it up when I get some time. The game is currently going for $12.50 on EBay, which seems like a steal.

Dr. Mario Online Rx
I first played Dr. Mario on the old NES system, and later on a NES emulator. But it wasn’t until I started playing the Virus Buster version included with Brain Age 2 on the Nintendo DS that I really got addicted. So when I saw the new Dr. Mario Online Rx being offered on Wiiware for $10, I jumped on it. Not only does it include the original Dr. Mario and the newer Virus Buster version, it also allows you to play against other people online.

Eternal Darkness
Okay, okay. I know that Eternal Darkness isn’t really a Wii game. But for someone like me who never had a Gamecube, the Wii is my first chance to try Eternal Darkness, and this is a game you really should not miss. Primarily a survival horror game, this game’s true beauty is in its insanity effects. Some games might mess with you a little bit, but Eternal Darkness screws with your head in ways that will leave you stunned and chuckling at yourself. I can’t ruin the surprises by going into details, but trust me – the game is awesome. And it’s begininng to get harder to find. It’s currently selling for $18 on EBay, but games like this soon go up over $100, so grab your copy now. I’m not letting go of mine.

No More Heroes
What can I say about No More Heroes? Travis Touchdown is my hero. The game is so outrageously over-the-top that you can’t help but laugh. I’d never play this game in front of kids, but I was super-excited at the announcement of a sequel. There’s tons of violence, as much cleavage as you’ll ever see in a game, and you save the game by sitting on a toilet! If you like totally off-the-wall humor and don’t mind a game that’s most definitely rated M for mature, go buy this game now. You can get it on EBay for $20.

Resident Evil 4
The fact that I found this game to be (in its own way) as good as Resident Evil 2 is really saying something. I played the Playstation 2 version, which was excellent. I can only imagine that the Wii version, using the Wii remote as a light gun, is even better. Even years later, this is a first-class game that you won’t be able to put down. I’m amazed that you can get it for only $10 on EBay.

Okami
I picked up my Wii copy of Okami on a whim, and it sat on my shelf for many moons before I fired it up and realized what an amazing game it is. It shares a lot of the gameplay with Zelda: Twilight Princess, but I think it’s a much better game visually. For $10 on EBay, this one’s a no-brainer.

So there’s your first list, folks! The Affordable Gaming Committee hopes that you find it useful this holiday season.