Engaged Family Gaming Holiday Engaged Family Gaming Holiday

Microsoft had a rough year this year with the Xbox One. They had to delay and/or cancel a bunch of games. Fortunately, families have several great options for games to play. Take a look below for our recommendations.

Star Wars Battlefront II


Star Wars is on everyone’s mind right now. How can it not be with Episode 8 looming this holiday season?

Star Wars fans will want to take a look at Star Wars Battlefront II this holiday. It isn’t available for purchase yet as of the time that I published our gift guide, but most early indications from a public beta have been positive. There have been some concerns raised by critics about the micro-transactions that are available in the game, but we don’t have all of the details from the final version of the game yet. We’ll need to wait and see if they end up being a true problem.

Forza Motorsport 7


Another year passes; another Forza game is released for the Xbox One. Last year we were able to race around the Australian Outback in Forza Horizons 3 (which is still a great gift idea in its own right if you have a racing fan in the house). This year we have Forza Motorsports 7. The biggest difference between these two games is where they place their focus on the driving.

Forza Motorsports 7 is a simulation racer so the developer’s attention is focused on crafting as realistic of a racing experience as possible. Forza 7 is also one of a handful of games that is being optimized for play on the Xbox One X so it will be a great way to showcase that new 4K TV Santa brought you!

 

Destiny 2


Destiny 2 is an amazing multiplayer shooter experience set in a cool sci-fi universe. It is also a great compromise for parents looking to find a shooter for their kids to play that isn’t as grim as Call of Duty: WW2 or Battlefield 1.

Cuphead



Ok. This one might be divisive. Cuphead is one of the coolest looking games to be released in years. With that said, it is also incredibly difficult so it will be difficult for inexperienced gamers to fully enjoy.

 

I am putting this game on the list because it is inexpensive, gorgeous, and will definitely appeal to families with kids who LOVE a challenge. Cuphead will push them to the limit, but you’ll love watching it while it happens!

Minecraft


I know I sound like a broken record, but Minecraft should be on top of everyone’s shopping list. It may be one of the best selling games of all time, but there are plenty of kids who don’t have it.

Rocket League



If I told you a few years ago that millions of players would be playing digital soccer using rocket powered cars you’d has told me I was crazy. But, here we are! Rocket League is a game that you will LOVE to watch your kids play. The colors are bright. The action is wild. And the game is just absurd enough that you’ll be laughing the whole time. Don’t sleep on this one. Its great.


Make sure to look at all of our other Holiday Gift Guides for 2017!

By Stephen Duetzmann

Editor in Chief Founder/EiC EngagedFamilyGaming.com Blogger, Podcaster, Video Host RE: games that families can play together. Editor@engagedfamilygaming.com

2 thoughts on “The 2017 Holiday Gift Guide – Xbox One Games”
  1. Improved Graphics
    The XBOX seems to be all about the graphics and resolution, boasting 6 teraflops of power, almost 2 more than the PS4 pro. The flop in teraflop stands for floating point operation, and tera means trillion. To put it bluntly, the XOX apparently can process graphics much faster than any console that comes before it, increasing the resolution and load times by quite a bit. The full specs seem to be 1172 Mhz, 12GB of GDDR5 memory and a 2.3 Ghz CPU. If you’re a computer geek, you’ll realize this is quite impressive. It also supports HDR lighting effects and Dolby Atmos surround sound. The goal of these upgrades seems to want to rush gaming into the 4K world. The previous generation of consoles did a good job being HD compatible at a time when HDTVs were still not common, but now, 4K TVs are becoming affordable and the new generation still hasn’t caught up. The XOX also boasts another feature to help propel us into the 4K world, and that’s…
    A UHD Blu-Ray Player
    UHD stands for Ultra-High Definition, so the XOX can play Blu-Rays that have 4K, and even higher, resolution. The PS4 Pro doesn’t have this feature, which is a bit ironic, considering the PlayStation was the console that helped propel Blu-Rays into the mainstream. If you’re a movie collector and want to watch your films in the best resolution possible, the XOX has you covered.
    Graphical Upgrades For Some Games
    The XOX can also improve the graphics of games you already own, upgrading them into a 4K resolution. Resident Evil 7, Gears of War 4, just to name a few, will receive upgrades. And if your TV is just a vanilla HDTV, it’ll still have improved graphics.
    Yet No Exclusive Games
    Perhaps the biggest reason to upgrade form a vanilla Xbox One to an XOX is the possibility of upcoming games were only playable on the XOX. However, the plan so far is to have all games be compatible with every version of Xbox One.
    Storage Capabilities
    The XOX will have 1TB worth of storage. For me, that’s not too bad, but I do feel like they could have thrown in an extra TB, or at least half of one, to make up for…

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