If I Had $500 For Xmas

We're putting the question to the NZGamer.com staff.

In what will be a regular feature leading up to the big day itself, we're posing the $500 question to the NZGamer.com staff. First up, Angus!

Ah, Christmas. It really can be a love / hate relationship. On one side you get free stuff, get to eat masses of life-threatening but delicious food and it’s a holiday for most people. But then on the flip-side you have to buy people stuff, you get fat and never want to see a roast potato again, and usually end up with third degree burns from being at the beach all Summer.

At first, when NZGamer asked me to write an article about what I would spend $500 on at Xmas, I thought the answer was easy. Dozens of awesome titles all leapt into my fizzing little brain and I started drooling excessively. But after I recovered and put pen to paper, I realised that there was so much more potential. I decided that I would build myself a Tekken 6 arcade cabinet.

Tekken 6 Arcade Cabinet ingredients:

1x Xbox 360 console (already owned)
1x Tekken 6 Limited Edition Arcade Stick with game ($320)
1x 17” CRT Monitor ($25 from TradeMe)
MDF or particle board (around $160 worth)
A pinch of swearing and angry hammering
Mix well and combine with 8-10 hours of hard labour and alcohol to suit


Which comes to just over $500 (but only because I’m using an Xbox 360 that I already own). The only problem is – I’m not very handy. I can pull apart a computer with my trusty screwdriver and put it back together in minutes. But give me a hammer, nails and a saw and I would emerge from the garage with a few less fingers and flames erupting from behind me. So a more realistic Xmas Wish List would have to be:


Tekken 6 Limited Edition Arcade stick with Game ($320)

Yes I would still get this but I’d have to make do without a stylish cabinet to play it on. I’ve always been a huge fan of the Tekken games. No irritating fireball spam, a great storyline and a well-balanced roster of fighters. The sixth instalment due out in November marks the return for Jin (a personal favourite), Heihachi and Kazuya but also introduces six new characters to the cast. Of course, no fighting game is ever complete without an arcade stick to truly show off your skills. Using a standard controller just doesn’t cut it these days and luckily Namco Bandai are releasing a killer pack that includes the game and a limited edition arcade controller early November.

Extra accessories: Arm bands for excessive sweat caused by trying to take out Yoshimitsu: $8 at Rebel Sport.


Left 4 Dead 2 ($119)

What better way to spend Xmas than to be killing zombies all day? In fact, every holiday should be celebrated this way. With single player, co-op system link and online multiplayer combined I must have racked up around 40+ hours with the first Left 4 Dead. Now with melee combat (smashing zombies with baseball bats), four new survivors and extra co-operative modes all added, the sequel looks set to drain even more of my time when it arrives late in November. My only fear, apart from having my brains chomped on, is that we might suffer the same fate as Australia with a potential ban on the game. But at this stage, NZ looks sweet to receive Left 4 Dead 2 on the 20th November. Fingers crossed for a small price drop in time for Xmas stocking fillers!

Extra accessories: Automatic cat-feeder so I don’t have to worry about Saffron-Yoda. (yes, this is the name of my cat): $70 at K-mart.