This is our second year of putting together a Playstation Gift guide for the holiday season. I've worked on compiling what I believe is a solid list of the bundles that will be available, which are the best and a wide range of games along with some other things that might be great for that gamer in your life.
Perhaps you're just looking to treat yourself over the holidays, that is of course entirely up to you if that’s the situation. This guide is mostly focused on US/CAD options and that's about it for my Playstation Holiday Gift Guide 2019 opening segment. Hopefully you find something interesting, or different.
Playstation 4 Bundles
The PS4 continues to deliver with high sales and three distinct models available at the current time. The base model is of course a solid model, but the Pro offers some improved visual options. It really depends on how hardcore you are and what you need gaming wise. The Slim is an alright third option.
The PSVR is also another addition to your gaming which offers a virtual reality experience. It is the only console on the market that provides this sort of extra gaming option. Keep in mind sales may be present in local stores or online.
Playstation 4 Pro
Includes: PS4 Pro Console.
Price: $399 USD | $499 CAD (1TB)
Why: A push towards 4k presents the Pro as a stable way to enjoy the wide range of exclusives and third party content at a better resolution than what the base model brings. This continues to get support from the top tier titles from first to third party titles.
Playstation 4 (500GB)
Price: $262 USD, $349 CAD
Why: The base model brings excellent performance and a large player base for which many games are targeted during development. It has a wide range of exclusives and third party deals that help round out the offerings.
There are other bundles available with games and I suggest looking at your various local markets to see what they're paired with. For this guide we were given basic details to go from in regards to showcasing what's present and expect better pricing points depending on the local markets and possible sales that happen prior to the Christmas season.
PSVR
Blood & Truth & Everybody’s Golf Bundle
Price: $349 USD, $449 CAD
Includes: PS VR headset, PS VR cables, PlayStation Camera, (2) Move Controllers, Blood & Truth, Everybody’s Golf Digital Code.
In this part of the guide we've broken it down into general games for the regular gamers and family friendly games to check out once on PSN!
Best Holiday General Games
Marvel's Spider-Man
-A brand new take on the iconic character provides a massive world to explore, an emotional and intense campaign to play and of course many exciting extra missions to take part in that are expanded with DLC.
God of War
-Kratos returns with his son to pay respect to his fallen wife and does so within a brand new landscape. This is one incredible narrative and a lengthy experience across gorgeous landscapes.
Horizon Zero Dawn
-One remarkable release, this large scale RPG brings a stunning world where nature has taken back old structures. Machines in the shape of animals now reign supreme and you're trying to discover dark secrets.
Control
-An engaging narrative driven adventure from Remedy brings intense world breaking mechanics as you gain powers and understand the mystery of the building you’ve entered.
The Outer Worlds
-It’s basically Fallout in space, do whatever you want in this wacky and bizarre RPG experience set in a colony within the wonders of space.
Borderlands 3
-The well loved shooter looter returns while sending players out into space and beyond the perils of Pandora’s wasteland environments.
Red Dead Redemption 2
-This is one wild world that presents the ultimate Western adventure. Play by yourself through an intense campaign or ride with others in multiple online modes. Content is timed and tied to Playstation.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
-The final chapter in Lara Croft's origin trilogy sends her to the jungle for an epic adventure where her very skills are pushed to the absolute limit with a villain leads Trinity. There’s a definitive version with all of the DLC included which tells a full story of this venture.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
-The series heads back to Modern Warfare with expanded multiplayer, a gripping current campaign and an expansive cooperative spec ops experience. Some content comes early to this platform.
Best Holiday Family Games
Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville
-The wacky plants and zombies shooter is a blast for all ages bringing a wide range of customizable creatures for either team. There’s expanded cooperative modes, and even more multiplayer action than ever before.
Minecraft
-It's a must have for the family audience since it's essentially a staple at this point. It's the ultimate sandbox for creativity and interactions with others as you quest these beautiful randomly generated worlds together. One of the biggest games of all time and a huge draw for all ages. It also might be getting Bedrock with cross-play and more before the holiday season kicks off.
Slime Rancher
-This is an adorable and addictive farming type game. You run a space farm sucking slimes and feeding them food in order to get items to sell for money. This allows farm expansion, there's a whole story it as well. It's very appropriate for all ages as I'm sure anyone can get charmed by the smiling slimes.
Other Information
You will also need a PSN subscription in order to play online, get free games and benefits of the membership. These run for about $60 or $70 a year though there are deals all the time and most consoles come with trials to check it out. It's well worth the money for the experiences. You also get some free games each month.
I also suggest checking out the LucidSound or Turtle Beach line of headsets, they some affordable models if you're looking at getting a more professional and much better quality device.
EA Access
Finally available for PS4 gamers this is definitely one of the best deals available for gaming, for $30 a year you get dozens of EA titles to download and play. There are a wide range of titles from the latest shooters to the best sports titles out there.
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