PC Holiday Buyer's Guide

Well, it's that time of year again, kids. The yearly holiday rush is upon us and there's no better time to start planning out the titles that you, the intrepid PC gamer, want to play this season. With so many great titles available, both in traditional retail establishments and the increasingly popular digital download sites, it can be hard to know what to put at the top of your Christmahannakwanzaa lists. That's where your old pals at IGN come in. Today we're kicking off our annual holiday buyer's guide to tell you, the gamer (or the gaming gift-giver), just what titles to look for.

When contemplating the latest and greatest of 2009, we've certainly had a lot of great titles to choose from and we've got representatives for every taste. Whether you like epic roleplaying games, light-hearted adventure classics, world-shattering strategy games or quirky puzzle games, there's something on this list for you.

But we didn't just stop there. With PC gaming having such a large and impressive catalog of games, we also wanted to reach back to some of the not-so-late, but-still-quite-great titles of the past few years. So if you or the PC gamer in your life is just getting into gaming, there are plenty of essential games from the last five years that you won't want to miss.

For those of you who like to enjoy your gaming on the go, we've even included a couple of recommendations for the best gaming laptops around. Sure, it may not be considered particularly charitable to spend a lot of money on yourself this holiday season, but we're betting you've been extra good this year and, even if you haven't, well, what's one more uncharitable, selfish act going to do to you?

So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and check out IGN's 2009 Holiday Buyer's Guide. And if you're tastes run beyond the boundaries of the desktop, you'll also want to browse through our other gaming and entertainment selections.

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