The Only Three Gaming Consoles You Should Gift This Year

Gamers, like most humans, tend to be partisans. They take sides when console wars erupt, choosing systems from Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony based on a vague sense of corporate identity, or an abiding love of a specific franchise (think Zelda, Halo, or the more recent Uncharted series). A smaller faction of gamers rally against consoles altogether, choosing the pricier, but usually more jaw-dropping capabilities of PC gaming. We're not here to address them — this a buyer's guide for gaming's mainstream, and specifically for anyone deciding on which system to give as a gift. Luckily, there are fewer choices today than there were even a year ago. Luckier still, we've laid out to whom the current gaming consoles are best suited, and what's in it for the gift-giver well past the holiday season.