Xbox Holiday Gift Guide 2016

This is our second year putting together a Xbox One Holiday Guide and we're excited to be doing so while also expanding on it. This guide is created in mind for those looking to get their first Xbox One or even buy another one going over the best bundles, games and accessories you will need to get a good start on Xbox One!

Xbox One Bundles

It seems Xbox went a bit back to basics with their bundle offerings this year aiming on the core shooters and of course the big one Minecraft. Quite honestly if you don't have Minecraft already I'm not sure what you're doing, but the bundle is lovely. The Xbox One S is the focus at this point since it's slimmer and the definitive version of the Xbox One for now. Before I begin going through bundles I will mention that they come in varying hard drive sizes including 500GB, 1TB & 2TB though you get a better value buying the base model and then grabbing an external hard drive.

Gears of War Bundle
Includes: Xbox One S LE Console; Gears of War 4 Ultimate Edition, Gears of War 1-3 & Judgment as Xbox Backwards Compatible titles and Limited Edition Controller.
Price: $399 USD, $489 CAD (starts at with 500GB, 1TB & 2TB options)

Why: Gears of War 4 is a beautiful return to form for the franchise, this digital version also gives you the game on Xbox or Windows 10 and the console is the best looking Xbox One ever created. There's also the full Gears 4 season pass and a sexy custom Gears controller included.
Check our Gears of War 4 Review
Click here for Bundle Store Page

Minecraft Favorites Bundle
Includes: Xbox One S Console; Minecraft Xbox One Favorite's Edition, Minecraft Builder's Pack and Minecraft Windows 10 Edition.
Price: $249 USD, $379 CAD (starts at with 500GB, 1TB & 2TB options)

Why: For the younger audience of Minecraft fans this bundle is perfect, it's cheap and packed full of great Minecraft content. You get the core game for Xbox and Windows 10 along with a pile of DLC packs that change up the game. The actual box the Xbox One S comes in is also a treat as well and this is an extra affordable bundle.

Click here for Bundle Store Page





Halo Collection Bundle
Includes: Xbox One S Console; Halo 5: Guardians and Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Price: $249 USD, $379 CAD (starts at with 500GB, 1TB & 2TB options)

Why: Halo is the flagship franchise for Xbox and content wise you can't beat this. You get the Halo 1-4 in one grand holy collection along with Halo 5 which is the most recent title in the franchise. This is collection is a great way to get caught up with the franchise that features some of the best shooters ever.

Click here for Bundle Store Page

Battlefield 1 Bundle
Includes: Xbox One S Console; Battlefield 1 and 1 Month EA Access code
Price: $249 USD, $379 CAD (starts at with 500GB, 1TB & 2TB options)

Why: This bundle is for the hardcore shooter offering Battlefield 1 and a taste of the EA Access vault that has dozens of titles available digitally for free. There's also another special colored version if you don't want plain white coloring.

Click here for Bundle Store Page

Xbox One Games

The games you can play on the consoles are possibly more important than the actual devices themselves. Luckily Xbox One has a wide range of titles that greatly vary for whatever you're looking for. In this part of the guide we've broken it down into general games for the regular gamers, family friendly titles and free to play games to check out once on Xbox Live! I'll also mention Xbox Play Anywhere titles work on both Xbox One and Windows 10 when bought digitally.

Best Holiday General Games
Gears of War 4 (Xbox Play Anywhere)
-A beautiful return of the franchise as you take on the role of Marcus Fenix's son and explore a now hostile world against new threats. There's a full campaign, exciting 60fps multiplayer and a cooperative Horde mode to play.
Dead Rising 4
-Frank West returns to bring festive joy in Dead Rising which is a gory and fun zombie survival game.
Quantum Break
-A campaign only title that features intense story based gameplay mixed with video elements to fill gaps featuring live performances. This was one of our favorite titles this year.
Forza Horizon 3 (Xbox Play Anywhere)
-The Forza Horizon series is always a blast and we found this latest to be the best racing game we've ever played. It's an open world, cooperative driving title where you build your own brand in lovely Australia.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
-A couple years old at this point, but still one of the best entry titles for those wanting to get into Xbox bringing Halo 1-4 in one glorious package along with all the multiplayer and cooperative play you could want.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition
-Packed with the additional DLC, The Witcher 3 complete is an amazing package and the game was our "Game of the Year" winner in 2015. It's a massive RPG title that you can get lost in featuring well over 50 hours of possible gameplay with the DLC.
Life is Strange
-An episodic adventure featuring a young girl that can manipulate time, one of the best games of 2015 and one of our favorites.
Rainbow Six: Siege
-A year later we're still loving Rainbow Six: Siege as it brings tactical gameplay to the front and with the free DLC packs and updates through the year this is a good bet. They also just announced a second season of content so there's great longevity with this one. It's also just an online multiplayer game only just so you know.
Kinect 4 in 1 Bundle
-This pack is great for those that have a Kinect featuring four lovely games from Virtual Air Guitar that are great for all ages. The included games are Boomball for Kinect; Kung-Fu for Kinect, Beatsplosion for Kinect and Squid Hero for Kinect.


Best Holiday Family Games
LEGO Dimensions
-We absolutely love LEGO Dimensions here finding it to provide countless hours of gameplay and a healty amount of additional sets to play on throughout the year. I'll briefly touch on some favorites, but be sure to check out our full LEGO Dimensions holiday guide 2016 for a breakdown on all the sets we've been lucky to try out.

LEGO Dimensions Holiday 2016 Guide (click here)

Notable sets: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Story Pack; Mission Impossible Level Pack, Adventure Time Level Pack & Team Pack, Sonic the Hedgehog Level Pack and the ET Fun Pack.
Minecraft: Xbox One
-While not being new, it's a must have for the family audience since it's essentially a staple at this point. It's the ultimate sandbox for creativity and interactions with others as you quest these beautiful randomly generated worlds together. One of the biggest games of all time and a huge draw for all ages.
Minecraft: Story Mode
-This game attempts to give Minecraft a story and does this in an interactive movie style that is definitely geared towards the younger audience. It's got great family friendly humor with a great supporting cast and you can play as either gender with your character. This also has eight total episodes now with an expansion over 2016 which is quite long for a Telltale series.
Goat Simulator
-A wacky game where you play as a goat and go around destroying things. There are two versions of the game with differing goat options and it all can be played in goat coop, it's also hilarious.



Free to Play Games
This is easier if I just list a selection of them, they're all free so it doesn't hurt to check out any of them. Will also link our Top 10 Free to Play Xbox One games that bottom too if you're looking at the best of the games.

Smite; Killer Instinct, Warframe, World of Tanks, Neverwinter, Roblox, Hakwen, Gems of War, Frozen, Project Spark, Happy Wars, Air Mech Arena, Pinball Arcade and Pinball FX2

Top 10 Xbox One Free to Play Games

Other Information
You will also need a Xbox Live subscription in order to play online, get free games and benefits of the membership. These run for about $60 a year though there are deals all the time and most consoles come with trials to check it out. It's well worth the money for the experiences. You also get four free games a month, two for Xbox One and two Backwards Compatible Xbox 360 titles.

There are now a few controller options available depending on what sort of gamer you are. There's the standard controllers that come with the consoles that now have Bluetooth and support for any aux headset. The next step up would be design lab where you can choose all the colors and engrave it if you'd like for a bit extra and the Xbox Elite. The Elite controller really is for more professional players and after a year with it I can't use anything else.

Additionally, you may need a headset depending on the bundle which are usually $30 and definitely a bunch of batteries for the controller! Re-charging batteries are the best and what I use. I also really suggest getting a Kinect as it makes the console much better and plugging in your TV to the console so you can use it instead of having to switch inputs. I also need to mention that the Xbox One S doesn't natively support Kinect (boo), but they offer a free adapter on Xbox.com for those that own it which is cool. The Xbox One is the ultimate media console so it really does become your TV after awhile.

EA Access
This is the best deal available on Xbox One, for $30 a year you get dozens of EA titles to download and play. These include big titles on Xbox One and Backwards Compatible Xbox 360 games. This includes games such as Mass Effect, Titanfall, Sports games and more!

The Xbox One has really picked up steam recently with the new S models selling well and the growing Xbox Backwards Compatibility that now has over 280 Xbox 360 titles.

Top 10 Xbox One Games Year Two (2015)