Playstation Holiday Gift Guide 2020

December 18, 2020 at 9:58pm
By Jason Stettner

This is our third 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 2020 opening segment. Hopefully you find something interesting, or different.

Playstation 5
Two options are present for the next generation console, that includes digital and disc based. The pricing is $399 USD/$499 CAD for the digital and $499 USD/$629 CAD. This is the way to get into the latest gaming on the platform and ecosystem. Matched with the powerful new DualSense controller too.

Playstation 4 Bundles
The PS4 continues to deliver with high sales and some distinct models available at the current time. Keep in mind that these will start to become less available due to the next generation consoles available and selections below are based on existing pricing details at the 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 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
Marvel’s Iron Man Bundle
Price: $349 USD, $449 CAD

Includes: PS VR headset, PS VR cables, PlayStation Camera, (2) Move Controllers, Marvel’s Iron Man and Demo Collection 3 Digital Codes.

Playstation 4 Games

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
Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Seasonally well setup step into the shoes and suit of Miles Morales in this smaller approach to the open world style of the previous entry that setup this fresh gaming world to explore.

Demon’s Souls
The game is back and looking like a true next generation entry within the series, get ready for quite a challenge and a handful of death.

The Last of Us Part II
The emotionally and intense mature follow-up to the original game provides a lengthy narrative following multiple perspectives in a world where things have completely broken down.

Ghost of Tsushima
You could describe this as being an Assassin’s Creed game with a focus on being a Samurai, but it’s much more than that. Explore a gorgeous world with a gripping story and many free elements to explore as you go about enjoy the large scale open world.

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. Updated for the next generation too.

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
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
-This is a really charming and delightful sort of family based platformer. Great for some cooperative times and wild wacky action the whole way through. 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 now supports cross-play with other platforms and even Realms for unlimited play online with others.

Minecraft Dungeons
-The world of Minecraft has been expanded upon with this great coop effort. Raid dungeons for loot together in a world designed after the style of Minecraft. It features crossplay across platforms and continues to be expanded upon with fresh content all the time.

Bugsnax
-An incredibly amazing time where you catch Bugsnax, wow.

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.

Free to Play Games
A simple selection of titles will be presented below as it’s easier than breaking each of them down.

Fortnite
Call of Duty: Warzone
Rogue Company
World of Tanks
Destiny 2
Spellbreak
Apex Legends
Trove
Pinball FX3
Dauntless
Paladins

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.

Gaming Headsets
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. We’ve reviewed headsets from both groups and highly recommend them.

EA Play
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.

Watching Streaming Video Content on Playstation
The Playstation consoles can all download great apps for watching regular video content. I’d like to highlight some that are definitely worth grabbing since they’re free outside of their own separate subscriptions for said services.

Netflix
Access to thousands of movies, and shows among so much original content.

Disney+
Access to the past library of movies and shows from Disney alongside new original content. There will be Star in Canada too that expands the service to include adult content from say 20th Century.

BritBox
Access to a wonderful selection of delightfully British content including that of BBC, a grand offering of movies and shows. In Canada the service is available for $8.99 a month or $89.99 a year, there's even a free trial available.

HBO Max (United States) / Crave (Canada)
Similar yet different these offer the HBO content and depending on region some Warner Brothers content across shows and films.

Check out our review of their latest big first party game or the general hub for additional coverage of what they have out there. Merry Christmas, and be sure to check back next year for another one!

Read our The Last of Us Part II Review
View our Playstation Hub