Xbox 360 owners often overlook the wealth of great games available for download on the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA). From this marketplace of mostly indie developers you can find some really fun gameplay for far less than the typical $50-$60 of a new release disc.

Many of the best XBLA games are on sale now through Dec. 31. These bargain prices are a great way to burn those Microsoft Point cards you got in your Christmas stocking. Here are the games available during the year-end sale. [800 Microsoft Points are $10.00, 600 equals $7.50, and 400 is $5.00.]

• Super Meat Boy (800 Microsoft Points, normally 1,200)
• Comic Jumper (800 MSP, normally 1,200)
• Toy Soldiers (800 MSP, normally 1,200)
• Banjo Tooie (600 MSP, normally 1,200)
• Castle Crashers (600 MSP, normally 1,200)
• The UnderGarden (400 MSP, normally 800)
• Risk Factions (400 MSP, normally 800)
• After Burner Climax (400 MSP, normally 800)
• Borderlands: Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution (400 MSP, normally 800)
• Carcassonne (400 MSP, normally 800)

I highly recommend the funny and stylistic Castle Crashers. It’s pure awesomeness. So too is Toy Soliders. I know Tommy is a fan of this one as well. I’ll probably pick up Risk Factions during the event.

In addition, there are a bunch of other on-demand games and add-ons available at discounted prices. Check out the special savings detailed by Xbox’s Major Nelson.

Looking for a last minute gift or stocking stuffer for someone? Get them a game. While board and card games might not top many wish lists; excellent games can be found for recipients of all ages and price ranges. Find the right one and it just might be your recipient’s unexpected favorite.

Picking out a game that does more than collect dust on a shelf can be difficult. Don’t assume any game will do. With so many games out there, it can be difficult to tell the good from the bad. On top of that, some people can be turned off from an otherwise good game if they feel production value is too low, the rules appear too complex, or the genre is not to their liking.

To match the right game to the right gamer, resist the urge to immediately look for the right title. Instead think in broad categories. What situations do you see them using the game? Do they enjoy complex problems? Are they visual thinker? Maybe they are obsessed with a particular genre. Use the categories below as a starting point. Once you have a category or two in mind start looking at titles; we have seeded a few of those too.

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I love gifting apps to friends and family. Give someone an iTunes gift card and they could blow it on Neil Diamond albums or TV episodes, but gift them an app and chances are they’ll at least give it a try. It helps that they’re super cheap and have enormous value (Angry Birds updates, anyone?), so think of them as digital stocking stuffers. I’m addicted to quite a few iPhone apps at the moment, so here are some of my recommendations that would make great gifts for other iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch owners.

Angry Birds Seasons

Angry Birds is the biggest iPhone addiction of me and a whole lot of other people, and for good reason. The gameplay is easy to pick up on, but the endless levels can be very tough and take you quite a few tries to master. Angry Birds is the original classic, but Angry Birds Seasons might make a little more sense to gift. It’s like an advent calendar, and each day until Christmas a new level unlocks. Both are 99¢.

The Incident

My second favorite iPhone game (at the moment) is The Incident by Neven Morgan and Matt Comi, an 8-bit styled game where you try to dodge an endless array of falling objects. You control the main character by tilting your iPhone, and the combination of the gameplay, graphics, and music makes it one of my top picks. It’s $1.99.

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Marty! The first trailer for Telltale Games’ Back to the Future is out and burning up the intewebs, and rightly so. It looks awesome. Granted, there’s no gameplay footage yet, but the art direction and voice acting looks great.

Christopher Lloyd is revisiting his Doc Brown character, and although Michael J. Fox isn’t joining in, it sounds like the actor they got to play his part is a pretty good choice. If the gameplay is enjoyable this game could be a great example of nostalgic properties being put to good use rather than exploited.

What do you think?

Dear Warren Spector,

Please accept my $50 for Epic Mickey, even though I never play the Wii anymore. Your game looks awesome, and I think you should keep trying to convince Disney to make a DuckTales game.

kthanx,

Tommy