Let's cut the festive intro and get right to why we're really here -- saving max moolah on the games that matter. Along with the stuff in the headline, I'd score one (or many) of those $59 Xbox official controllers. Why? Because Xbox Game Pass pairs so well with PCs and TV boxes nowadays (and could be your cheapest, console-less way to play Indy: Great Circle).
In retro news, I'm celebrating the 25th birthday of SWAT 3, a cop-centric inspiration for the tactical CQC antics of your modern Rainbow: Six Siege. It sure had a strange path to becoming a shooter, however, as it's technically the seventh installment of Sierra's old as the hills (or mountain, as it were) Police Quest graphical adventures. From there, it morphed into an isometric SWAT tactics game, and then this -- a po-po RoE shooter where, ideally, you'll arrest perps instead of installing blowholes in them. While Sierra certainly wasn't the first to kick the door in on this sub-genre, the pretty peerless solo, co-op, and TDM on offer stacked up tighter than SWAT 3's more remembered rival of the day, Tom Clancy's Rogue Spear.
This holiday season, I'm doing something different with the LEGO section. In Mathew Manor, my sons and I are racing LEGO Advent Calendars -- we open our respective ones daily and compare the mini-prizes for "Coolness" and "Actual Xmas-ness". Winner gets extra eggnog.
If you're also feeling festive, here are the cheapest prices for the three calendars we're using. Or just live vicariously through us.