For once, make the gamer in your life happy.

Yes, he might spend too much time playing, but who are you to judge? Then I think you should get off your high horse, throw away your iPhone and stop wasting time on Facebook.

Want to make him real happy?

This is what you should buy.

For the Sport-Game Aficionado

Sport gamers are a narrow-minded bunch. They find a game they like and stick to it (even though there have been some rare transitions like the shift from FIFA to Pro Evolution Soccer some years back)

“My boyfriend already has Madden Football so I can’t buy that” is the wrong approach.

“My boyfriend has most games in the Madden series but not the latest game – that’s what I’m buying” is how you should think.

Just make sure you look through his shelves. Chances are that the latest game sits there already.

Best Buy: The latest version of his favorite EA Sports game

Worst Buy: Unless he doesn’t really like sports games and just want to waste some time with his drunk, stupid mates (or is 11 years old and slightly retarded) Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

Could Work: SSX (Snowboard Super Cross.) The new version of this game is actually quite enjoyable, and if the person you’re buying it for likes men in skin-tight spandex, this is the best buy.

For the Role-Playing Geek

I know what you think. You just want to buy him a big, fat slap in the face and a note that says:

“THERE ARE PEOPLE IN REAL LIFE TOO. GO SEE SOME OF THEM YOU TWAT!”

But the thing is that you can’t change this person. In fact, people in real life are pretty overrated. Come back when you see someone with a burning sword in the local groceries. Then you’ll have my attention.

If you want his unconditional love, go get the best role-playing game around.

On Christmas day you’ll meet his eyes – for a fraction of a second – and somewhere in there you’ll see that this is his best Christmas ever. …then you won’t see him for a few weeks though.

Best Buy: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. When it comes to offline, single-player games, this might be the finest one ever made. You can easily kill 10 hours without knowing what happened.

Worst Buy: Bastion. I know quite a few people liked this game – the graphics look good, there’s a sense of humor in it and the soundtrack is sort of nice. But when you play a game for five hours and turn it off never to play it again, it’s simply not that good.

Could Work: Get off it already! World of Warcraft won’t make your kid bring a shotgun to school. It’ll only postpone his sex debut a couple of years, which is good huh? Buy that.

For the Blood-Thirsty First-Person Shooter

So the one you’re buying a present for is a fan of first-person shooting games. Congratulations!

This year has provided three excellent releases in this category.

• Battlefield 3
• Biochock Infinite
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

There’s not much to say. These are just great games.

Best Buy: Any of the above

Worst Buy: Prey 2. Don’t get me wrong. I like this game. Quite a lot to be honest. But if the one you’re buying a Xmas gift for isn’t into RPG elements and just want to get a gun and kill as many as possible, this might be a too much of a hassle.

Could Work: Any of the above

Ok. Now you know what to buy.

Go get it!

Do you want to be the one ruining this Christmas?