Christmas 2009 is admittedly a little sparse in terms of new releases. Modern Warfare 2 scared most publishers into next year, leaving us without much to be playing.
Fear not, however. Your Christmas wish list need not be empty. There’s still plenty to be jolly about. Here’s a few games that you can start dropping hints around family members for.

Team Fortress 2
If you haven’t already experienced Valve’s incredible team-based multiplayer shooter, you haven’t yet had a fulfilled life. With gameplay dialed down to perfection, an art style that would make Mona Lisa smile, and an incredible development team pushing out new content on a regular basis, there’s nothing not to love about this game. Originally released as part of the (awesome) Orange Box, it’s now available on its own, via Steam or retail purchase.

Dragon Age: Origins
You know how I feel about this game. It’s incredible. Huge, sprawling fantasy role-playing at its best. Grab a sword and dive into a world so completely developed you’ll find yourself looking for it on the map. With over 100 hours of content and DLCs on the release horizon, this is one gift that keeps on giving.

The Telltale adventure games
Pick a series, any series. Sam & Max, Tales of Monkey Island, Wallace & Gromit – this studio has yet to swing and miss. Each game is a variation on the point and click adventure theme, but done with such panache that all the boring, stale clichés of that genre are nowhere to be found. And these games are funny. Several of gaming’s most brilliant minds are hard at work on the writing of these tales – and best of all, most of them can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Psychonauts
I’m gonna keep finding excuses to bring this game up. Psychonauts is a one-of-a-kind experience. It’s an excellent platformer. It’s an intriguing and entertaining story. It’s laugh out loud funny. It’s weird, touching, bizarre, uplifting, amusing, and intense. And since it’s been out for a while and because apparently only myself and six other people had the sense to buy it, it’s now dirt cheap. It’s a gift even your kid brother could afford – you are without excuse. Get it.

The Myst series
Admittedly, the Myst games fall squarely into the “love ‘em or hate ‘em” category, but if you haven’t had a chance to find out where you stand on the issue, it’s well worth the experience. Myst was the first real computer game I ever played, and you can figure out what’s happened since then. I would advise not bothering with Myst V or Myst Uru, but Myst I-IV are beautiful, engaging, incredible games. You can get the first three in a single box, and the fourth doesn’t cost much these days.

Tron 2.0
This one might be a bit hard to track down, as it was a bit of a cult hit even when it was released, which was a while ago. But trust me, it’s worth it. Even if you’ve never seen that crazy weird Disney movie from a million years ago, getting sucked into a computer and racing through cyberspace to save the world from a digital virus is an experience like none other. Besides, the new movie is coming out soon, so you might as well brush up on your Tronology.

Jerod Jarvis is an independent gaming journalist and founder of Duality Games. He maintains gaming columns for The Washington Times Communities and for The Outpost. When not blogging madly about games, he freelances for the Spokesman-Review in his hometown of Spokane, Washington and attends school at Whitworth University. Check out his presence on Facebook and Twitter to stay up on Duality Games updates and the inside scoop on the gaming news you care about.