Random question.....

[ace1224]

okay people i need your expert advice as it is not really a subject i know a lot about.  my family has "adopted" a local deployed marine and we are sending our first care package this weekend.  in the list of things most requested by the troops are video games, so we want to send one. 
i figured the mustachians would know the best bang for your buck game out there, i'm not worried about cost so much, but i don't want to get something that you beat in like 3 days.  and i would like one that isn't brand new, so i can obviously buy it used or at a pawn shop, but not one that is so ancient that the poor guys is like "wtf is this?" 
the people at best buy were useless.  thanks in advance!

[Banyan_FL]

Its kind of hard to buy games for someone as some people like fantasy, and some people like shooters. I would go with a multi-player game like Super Street fighter 4, or a sci-fi shooter like Halo series. I would think they would be burnt out on call of duty considering there job, but maybe not.  Left 4 Dead 2 is a good all around favorite, with a lot of replay value with multi-player.

[Reepekg]

I don't know enough about the military to judge whether first-person shooters are considered awesome or too close to the job, but you probably can't go wrong with something sports. A good example is Madden NFL. In mostly male environments (I'm thinking my college soccer team), it is the perfect mix of playing against your friends, trash talking, yelling excitedly, and terrible celebration dancing.

The bonus for you is that while Madden NFL 13 is $50 top price new on Amazon, the 2012 version is $33 and the 2011 version is only $7 (!) without being that much different. There are similar rapidly-depreciating "model year" franchises for baseball, basketball, etc. if you're worried they might have the most popular one (NFL).

[ace1224]

thanks! i appreciate the advice.  hopefully i can find those, for 7 bucks i'll send a few over so he can share with his friends.  he's a nice kid, cuts my grass for me when the man is working doubles,  and he doesn't have much family and no girlfriend so we wanted to send treats and stuff.