Kotaku's Best Gaming Gifts Under $100

Price: $70-$210

Why be ordinary when you can be extraordinary? Instead of just a plain black or white controller, you could opt for personalizing one with the Xbox controller Design Lab. This gives you three options for gamepads—the regular Wireless controller, the Series 2 revamp of it, and the more expensive Elite controller—that you can totally customize to your liking. I’m talking the color schemes, patterns, rubberized grips, engravings, and other aspects of the controller. It can get a little pricey depending on your customization preferences, but putting some thought into a unique controller will make it feel all the more special.

Price: $49-$249

Legendary Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano has partnered with developer Naughty Dog to release a limited edition art print and poster of the post-apocalyptic action-adventure game The Last of Us. Depicting a serene scene of Ellie and Joel in pencil and watercolor, the collab comes in a couple of different sizes with a couple of different features. The budget-friendly premium poster, for example, has Amano’s signature printed on it. Meanwhile, the more expensive premium art print is a screen printing on 100 percent cotton paper. Both items are hand-numbered and limited in stock, so get it while quantities last. But if you manage to snag one, that TLOU fan in your life will get to see these characters reimagined.

Price: $45-$65

Maybe you and your loved ones are growing tired of looking at a white PS5 and don’t want to spend another several hundred dollars just to get an alternate-colored one like the limited-edition Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 bundle. Thankfully, Sony has made it easy with replaceable console covers, meaning you can change those plastic plates to whatever color you choose. Feeling chilly? Go for blue. Wanna show off a spicy side? Pick up the red. Or maybe you’re just sick of it all and prefer the pitch black of midnight? Just me? Either way, you’re no longer bound to the blinding white of the standard PS5 cover. It’s time to bring in some color. Or take it all away with black. Your choice.

Price: $30-$80

Much like the Xbox Design Lab, Nintendo lets you mix and match Joy-Con colors to create your own controller combo. Some of the individual Joy-Cons that sell for $30 used (or “refurbished,” as Nintendo puts it) are currently sold out on the company’s official website, but packs of the two in a variety of colorways—from neon blues and reds to pastel greens and pinks—as well as brand-new single Joy-Cons that run $40 are available for purchase. It’s probably a good time to stock up on these drift-prone controllers, just in case things get tense during holiday gaming sessions.

Price: $35-$70

Physical game distributor Limited Run Games has launched a print label called Press Run, and its offerings include this book (available in paperback or hardcover), which details the endings of every NES game released from 1985 to 1989. A perfect gift for that retro gamer in your life, the book is presented in a style reminiscent of early issues of Nintendo Power (Wow, remember that magazine?), and offers far more than just a rote collection of screenshots showing the cutscenes that accompany your victory in games like Castlevania and Contra. Author Rey Esteban also details the often fascinating region differences in these games, showing how American players sometimes got a far different conclusion than their Japanese counterparts. It’s an excellent way to look back on games past that’s sure to contain a few surprises for even the most devoted NES fan.

Price: $65

With the temperatures dropping, everyone needs to bundle up. But maybe this year, you could swap out the traditional ugly sweater for something with a bit of a hellish touch. Blizzard’s got you covered with a 100 percent cotton, knitted sweater emblazoned with a design of Diablo IV’s Queen of Hell, Lilith. It’s available for pre-order right now, with packages scheduled to ship this month.

Price: $80

What gamer wouldn’t want a new headset for Christmas? (I know I do. Mine just broke.) There are plenty of options, but the Razer BlackShark V2 is an affordable one that’s as capable as it is durable. Sporting excellent materials, like titanium drivers for better sound and gel-infused cushions for a cooling effect, these headphones will give you a more detailed and nuanced soundscape for long gaming sessions. The microphone is also detachable, so you can use them as headphones if you’d prefer not to talk in the multiplayer lobby.

Price: $45

If your special someone is gaming, chances are they’re probably drinking something at the same time. Whether that’s water, Gatorade, or Monster Energy, there’s likely a cold beverage beside them as they’re playing. So, to protect those custom controllers you just bought, and that expensive furniture, might I suggest some hand-made gaming and pop culture-themed coasters? Made by a husband-and-wife duo using a precision cutter and a photo printer, these hand-painted, epoxy-sealed coasters are impressive. The available themes include Batman, Final Fantasy, Ghostbusters, The Legend of Zelda, Mario, and so many more. It might seem simple, but sometimes, simple is perfect.

Price: $85

There was a lot of neat merch at this year’s New York Comic Con, so much so that Kotaku staff writer Claire Jackson made a massive post of the coolest stuff we saw while ambling around the convention floor. That said, there was one booth and one booth only that made me do a double-take and that was where Video Game Shadow Box had set up shop. The work of artist Anthony DePalma, these stunning 8- and 16-bit dioramas recreate a variety of iconic video game locales like the Angel Island Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and—the one I sprung for—the Big Apple stage from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. Needless to say, my turtle power is at an all-time high with this piece. Now the only question is where to hang it up? — Eric Schulkin, Video Lead

Price: $97.06

In 2019, Sega released a smol version of its 1989 Genesis console. It was fine, but needed work. Sega listened and dropped a revamped version of the smol system in 2022, the Genesis Mini 2, and it’s a perfect Christmas gift. Packed with 60 classic Sega games like Fatal Fury 2, Golden Axe II, Phantasy Star II, Streets of Rage 3, and many others, the Genesis Mini 2 makes for a solid nostalgia trip, especially for folks too young to remember this era of gaming. It’s essentially a history museum in digital form, taking you through what video games were like in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Who doesn’t love a time capsule moment?

Price: $60-$80

God of War Ragnarök isn’t necessarily a piece of Christmas entertainment, but the mountains of snow and the narrative’s themes around winter approaching fit well enough to recommend it as a festive gift. The holidays are the perfect season for cozying up with something cinematic on the screen, and God of War Ragnarök is definitely a cinematic marvel of a game. It tells a gut-wrenching story about a dad learning to be a dad and a boy learning to be an adult, while touching on the consequences of anger and the healing power of acceptance. It’s a very good game, one that will undoubtedly leave a lasting impression.

Price: $60-$85

Nintendo’s popular multiplayer racer is perfect for the holidays. Not only does it contain a number of tracks that will transport you to past Mario Karts, especially with its most recent—and final—DLC bundle, but it also encourages family get-togethers by letting up to four players try to race and red-shell their way to victory. Nothing brings people together around the holidays quite like antagonizing and smoking your loved ones for the coveted first-place trophy. Emotions are bound to get heated while playing, particularly when racing through Rainbow Road, so be sure to practice up. If you’re not first, you’re last.

Price: Varies

Subscription services are increasing in price every few weeks it seems, but the gamer in your life will probably get more value from a membership to Nintendo Switch Online (NSO), PlayStation Plus, or Xbox Game Pass (XGP) than, say, a subscription to Disney Plus or Max. One year of NSO costs just $20. 12 months of PS Plus runs $80, while a full year of XGP can go for $60. All three come with a variety of benefits, from the ability to play games online to sales discounts and free games, making a yearly subscription to any of them quite worth it.

There you have it. A smorgasbord of gift ideas for around the $100 price point to stuff those stockings and surprise that special gamer in your life. Christmas is steadily approaching, so the time for shopping is now, especially with Black Friday right around the corner. Good luck out there, intrepid shopper.