SSX 3 for Xbox ($12)

Chez Shoppista recently acquired an Xbox 360, and lo and behold, it plays old Xbox games as well, including this masterpiece, which she missed the first time around. Shoppista is not a big video game person, but playing SSX gives you an idea what snowboarding might be like if it were a) easy, b) provided with a great soundtrack, and c) on a planet with no gravity. Which is to say, awesome. Also? You can dress up your snowboarders in different outfits and style their hair, which strongly suggests that the game designers at some point spoke to a real live woman and asked her, "what would make a sports title more entertaining?" (Also also, the snow is really pretty.)

From Amazon

PopCap Games 50% Off

PopCap is responsible for delicious time-wasters like Bejeweled, Bookworm, Peggle, Typer Shark, and Zuma—games that will draw you in with their cute graphics and noises, then gradually become fiendishly difficult and addictive. For who knows how long, they're down from their usual $20 prices to just about $10 a game (a few are even less).

They download and install instantly (you don't even have to restart your computer), proving that, as usual, PopCap understands how to keep us at our computer screens all too well.

Rock Band Special Edition For Playstation 3 ($130)

Great for teens (if they can wrest it out of the hands of their parents, that is), and the Special Edition boxes come with the game and all the instruments. This and many other things can be ordered until 3:30 p.m. today with one-day shipping, and they'll show up in time for Christmas. From Amazon.

Zuma ($20)

Like all Popcap games, Zuma is free to play online (how do you like them apples?), and you can also download a free ad-supported version with lots of levels. To get the full version, you pay twenty bucks, but since you'll be doing nothing but playing Zuma every free second (and many seconds when you should be doing other things, too), it'll be well worth it. There's something so satisfying about shooting those ceramic balls out of a frog. Please don't tell me what that means psychoanalytically. From Popcap Games.

Friday Freebie

Every now and then, something free just drops in our laps. Like these adorable flash games from Orisinal. Try the bells game first -- it's my favorite.