In case you hadn't noticed, you only have a few more days to round up Christmas presents for the people you love.
If you're anything like me, that statement just inspired a moment of gut-wrenching panic — a moment in which you just realized that your procrastination problem has reared its ugly head at yet another inopportune time.
Take a deep breath. I understand and I'm here to help.
If you plan on giving the gift of play time to the gamer in your life, I've compiled a handy-dandy set of links to our gaming gift guides right here in one place for you. These guides are a great place to get ideas if you're...
...shopping for a gift for a PlayStation 3 owner,
...shopping for a gift for an Xbox 360 owner,
...shopping for a gift for a Wii owner,
...shopping for a gift for a Nintendo DS owner,
...shopping for a gift for a PlayStation Portable owner.
Meanwhile, if you have a music fan on your list, consider picking up one of the dance or music games we recommend here. They are a lot of fun and also a great way to game with the entire family this holiday.
If you know someone who might be hoping to shed some of those holiday pounds, check out our list of top-notch fitness games here. Warning: We DO NOT suggest you buy one of these weight-loss games as a not-so-subtle hint to someone. That won't go over well on Christmas morning.
Also, since motion controls for video game machines are a hot gift item this year, we've compiled this look at the pros and cons of the Kinect motion sensor for Xbox 360, Move controls for the PS3 and the MotionPlus controls for the Wii.
And if buying a specific game sounds too risky because you're not sure what kind of games your giftee likes to play or which games they already own, then check out this list of cool game-related gadgets and trinkets.
And don't forget, game-related gift cards are always an excellent option. At just about any drug or grocery store you'll find cards for Xbox Live points, Nintendo points and PlayStation Network points. These cards let gamers buy whatever downloadable games, services and add-ons they'd like right through their own game console. You can also e-mail digital copies of these cards to your giftee using Amazon.com. Yeah, they may seem like a boring gifts to give, but they will get used and will be appreciated — and that's what really matters.
And finally, if the days and hours continue to tick away and you find that you still haven't found quite the right gift ... check out our story here featuring game and tech-related gifts that you can send in seconds flat.
For more on this topic, check out:
Last-minute gifts that take seconds to deliver
How much would you pay for five great games?
Msnbc's 2010 video game awards
Festival celebrates experimental and unconventional games
Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter.
