The holiday season is upon us, and 'tis the season of Xbox.
Microsoft's latest console, the Xbox One X, has reinvigorated the brand, putting it in pole position for the most powerful console, and the most stunning games. It has never been a more exciting time to jump into the Xbox One ecosystem, with tons of great plans, features, and gameson the horizon.
If you're looking to buy gifts for an Xbox owner, or perhaps looking to pick up an Xbox for a friend or family member for the first time, here are some great gift ideas we think gamers of all types will adore.
Xbox consoles
There are tons of great bundles for Xbox One consoles on the market now, including both the base Xbox One S and the super powerful Xbox One X.
The Xbox One S targets 1080p HD gaming, but can also support 4K streaming media for Netflix, Amazon Video, and more, complete with UHD Blu-ray support. The Xbox One S comes in at around $250 usually, with some of the best bundles listed below.
The Xbox One X on the other hand targets 4K for gaming, providing an unrivaled console experience for your living room. There is no video game console on the market that's as powerful, as sleek, or as silent as the Xbox One X right now, making it the perfect purchase for those with 4K TVs, or who intend to get 4K TVs in the future. The X starts at $499.
Xbox One S Minecraft Edition
The Minecraft Xbox One S is a great gift for youngsters and Minecraft fans of all ages.
Sporting vibrant Minecraft-colors inspired by the textures from the game, this console also packs tons of nifty additional features that fans of the explorative craft 'em up will adore.
It also comes with Minecraft-style controllers, a copy of the game, and unique sound cues based on the game. It's a limited edition, priced at $400, so don't sleep on this one.
Xbox One S Assassin's Creed Origins Bundle
There are various Xbox One S bundles available on both Amazon and the Microsoft Store, often providing better value for the money than buying a standalone console.
You can grab the Assassin's Creed Origins bundle, with a 1TB console, the latest Assassin's Creed game set in Egypt, and a copy of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, which is one of the most popular tactical shooters available right now. This one comes in at $349.
Xbox One S Starter Bundle
If you're looking for the ultimate value, look no further than this starter bundle deal. For just $250, you can get a 500GB Xbox One S, and a three-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass, which provides access to hundreds of games, Netflix-style.
Xbox Game Pass is a monthly subscription service providing access to a huge library of great games, including Halo and Gears of War. If you're looking to spread out the cost of your gaming and save cash, this is probably the best way to go.
Xbox One X for 4K enthusiasts
If you're looking to pick up a bigger gift for a loved one with a 4K television, you have to consider the Xbox One X.
Once you've experienced 4K games on the Xbox One X, there's simply no going back. Details pop thanks to millions of extra pixels, HDR lighting creates some vivid, next-level immersion, and the performance you get is leaps and bounds ahead of the previous Xbox One S.
It's not cheap, at $499, but this is simply the best living room gaming experience on the market. If you really love someone, get them this box.
See at Microsoft StoreSee at Amazon
Xbox accessories
There are dozens of great Xbox One accessories out there, and thankfully, they work across all Xbox One consoles, whether it's the 2013 model, the S, or the X.
From headsets, to charging docks and media remotes, these are our picks for the best Xbox accessories this holiday season.
Turtle Beach Elite Pro Tournament headset bundle
This is one of the best headset combos out there, giving you unprecedented control over every aspect of the sound experience.
The 7.1 surround sound gives you a spacious sound experience, giving you constant tactical feedback of enemy positions. SuperHuman hearing sound modes accentuate audio cues like footsteps and movement, giving you an edge on creeping threats.
The generous cushioning, audio clarity, and supreme comfort will also see gaming across day-long sessions. The headset combined with the tactical audio controller isn't cheap, at around $300, and the amount of cables and settings can be cumbersome to set up and tweak, but this is still the best gaming audio experience you can get on console.
Razer Thresher Ultimate headset
If you want great audio and comfort, but don't want to deal with the mass of wires and settings that comes with the Elite Pro Tournament headset, the Razer Thresher Ultimate is a far friendlier option.
Boasting incredible surround sound and thick memory-foam cushioning, the Thresher Ultimate is also wireless, coming with its own dock to keep your playspace supremely tidy.
This is a great wireless option for fans of convenience and big sound, priced at around $250.
Turtle Beach Stealth 600
If you're looking for a great headset without breaking the bank, the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 recently exploded onto the market as the best option out there.
At just $100, the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 is one of the first completely wireless Xbox headsets, connecting without a dock, or a dongle. You simply pair your headset directly to your console, exactly the same as your Xbox controller.
While it doesn't support virtual surround natively, software solutions like Dolby Atmos and Windows Sonic, available on Xbox One, help this headset punch far above its price point. It also has a sleek design, comforting materials, and loud mic monitoring to help you maintain your voice levels during chat. This is the most impressive $100 headset out there.
Related: Best Xbox One Headsets
Secretlab Titan gaming chair
There are hundreds of gaming chairs out there, but our current favorite is the Secretlab Titan chair, recently launched across the world.
This is a heavy duty chair designed for maximum durability, longevity, and comfort. Using premium materials, complete with various dimensions of tilt and customization, this chair is simply in a league of its own.
It's not cheap at $490 RRP, but if you were in the market to grab a "chair for life" for an avid gaming loved one, this is probably the best you can get.
Eneloop battery charger
This might seem a little odd for an Xbox gift guide, but honestly, the Panasonic Eneloop battery charger is a favorite for us, keeping those Xbox controller batteries fully charged.
Eneloop batteries retain their charge far better than standard batteries, and they charge much faster. Plug this baby into a wall socket, and the pulsating lights let you know when your batteries are ready to go. Typically, I've found the batteries can recharge to full in around 15 minutes, which is great.
This Eneloop battery charge dock costs around $25 and makes a great stocking filler.
Xbox Chatpad
More and more games are picking up support for text typing, so why not gift an Xbox QWERTY chatpad?
The chatpad features a full keyboard, along with additional configurable buttons, and a 3.5-mm jack for headphones and audio.
Games like Rocket League, Fortnite, and more support text input, but this can also be useful for searching through apps like YouTube and sending Xbox Live messages. It also comes bundled with a basic monopiece headset, which can prove itself useful as a backup voice solution. The set costs just $30 from Amazon.
See at AmazonSee at Microsoft Store
Xbox Elite Controller
The Xbox Elite Controller is arguably the best controller ever made, and it's a great gift option for any gamer.
The Elite Controller comes with a sleek carrying case, complete with tons of interchangeable parts to fully customize and control your gaming experience. Longer joysticks give you greater precision control even after turning up your sensitivity to take advantage of faster turning. The paddles on the reverse side give you four additional configurable buttons. And hair trigger locks give you much more control over the speed of your shooting.
The Elite Controller is available for about $150, and won't disappoint.
Xbox Design Lab Controller
This is another great option for a personalized gift for a loved one.
Using the Xbox Design Lab, you can customize the colors of your controller and even include a personalized engraving.
The controllers include Bluetooth, making them a good option for PC gamers, too. At $80, this is a gift that your loved one won't soon forget!
Xbox vouchers
If you're not quite sure what games to get, there are plenty of digital voucher options to help your loved ones figure out what to buy for themselves.
Xbox gift credit
You can buy Xbox gift credit digital keys from Amazon and Microsoft at various monetary increments. Most AAA "headline" games are typically $50 or $60 at launch, so bear that in mind if you plan to pick up a digital gift card.
These cards also work for the Microsoft Store, for movies, PC games, and more.
See at AmazonSee at Microsoft Store
Xbox Live time
To play games online with Xbox, you need Xbox Live Gold. Thankfully, it's not particularly expensive and also nets you up to four free games per month for Xbox One.
Xbox Live Gold costs around $60 per year, and since the vast majority of Xbox owners want this, it's well worth considering.
See at AmazonSee at Microsoft Store
Xbox Game Pass
Xbox Game Pass is a new service from Microsoft, providing Netflix-like access to dozens and dozens of premium titles.
It costs around $10 per month, and features huge blockbuster games from franchises like Halo and Gears of War. An Xbox Game Pass is a great way to try out titles before picking them up permanently, particularly since Game Pass subscribers get exclusive discounts, with new titles added all the time.
Xbox games
Whether you're new to the ecosystem or a veteran, the Xbox One has piles, and piles of great games to choose from, from value stocking fillers to big blockbusters. We rounded up some of the games we regard as the best of the best right over here. In addition to those, here are some more suggestions for various types of gamers.
For kids: Minecraft
If you're buying new games for kids, it's hard to not recommend Minecraft, which remains a staple for many youngsters. Minecraft lets gamers of all ages explore their creativity, wrapped in a charming procedurally-generated adventure world.
Minecraft is also great value for the money, delivering tons of free updates, as well as allowing players to buy dedicated servers where friends and family can connect and play together across mobile phones, tablets, iPads, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One consoles, and PCs.
You can grab Minecraft for around $20 for Xbox One and Windows 10, both on Amazon and the Microsoft Store.
For kids: Super Lucky's Tale
Super Lucky's Tale is a bright and colorful Xbox adventure featuring Lucky, an inquisitive fox in a magical world.
Lucky is on a quest to rescue his sister and the mystical Book of Ages from the evil Jinx. Super Lucky's Tale is a fun and (mostly) easy adventure for youngsters to play with parents or older siblings, and it's quite cheap at $30.
For teens: Overwatch
Overwatch remains a hugely popular shooter on Xbox One, for its relatively well-balanced team-based gameplay, its bright and colorful heroes, and its live service updates.
Overwatch is funded with cosmetic microtransactions that allow you to purchase skins, sprays, and other visuals for your characters. The money is used to add new heroes, maps, and annual events to the game. Overwatch maintains a vibrant community with competitive options, and should last fans of shooters a really long time. You can grab it for around $60.
For teens: Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins is a vast open-world experience that tells the origin story of this world famous franchise.
Follow Bayek in one of the most stunning and faithful open-world creations ever put in a video game. Taking place in Ancient Egypt, Bayek is on a mission to avenge the death of his son, at the hands of a nefarious sect that threatens the stability of Egypt, and maybe, the entire world.
Assassin's Creed Origins is a return to form for the series, taking a step into deep RPG gameplay crammed with opportunities for exploration. This is a title that will last gamers dozens and dozens of hours, and it looks absolutely stunning on the Xbox One X. You can grab it for about $60.
For adults: Wolfenstein II - The New Colossus
If you're picking up games for an older teen or adult, look no further than Wolfenstein II.
Wolfenstein II takes place in an alternate reality where the Nazis won WW2. You take control of B.J. Blazkowicz as he cuts a bloody path across an occupied U.S., caught in the clutches of a Nazi-inspired dystopia.
Wolfenstein II is an ultra-violent shooter at heart, but its story is surprisingly human, full of emotion and dark humor. Wolfenstein II is one of the best games of 2017 and well worth your attention. You can grab it for $60.
For adults: The Evil Within 2
The Evil Within 2 isn't the most Christmassy game out there ... but for fans of horror games, there are few better options this year.
The Evil Within 2 follows the events of the previous game, following Detective Castellanos as he fights for answers from Mobius, the heartless corporation at the center of all the mysterious happenings in the series.
The Evil Within 2 takes place in much larger, open-world areas, ripe for exploration, stealth, and horrific scenes. Enhanced for the Xbox One X, The Evil Within 2 features some of the most gorgeous art work on the console right now, and it's well worth the attention of any horror fan. The Evil Within 2 costs around $60, and will last many hours of gameplay.
Happy holidays!
It was a great year to be a gamer, with tons of awesome games, a new super console in the form of the Xbox One X, and a promotion for Xbox head Phil Spencer to the senior leadership team at Microsoft. With Xbox now firmly entrenched in the Microsoft ecosystem, the future is bright for gamers, and there hasn't been a better time to jump in.
From all of us at Windows Central, have a relaxing, game-filled holiday season!