7 Great Sports Video Game Gift Ideas for the 2015 Holiday Season

Gamers are easy people to buy gifts for. If they're a sports gamer, it's even easier. There's a seemingly endless amount of primary and companion gifts to help sports gamers better enjoy their favorite titles.

Perhaps you're just getting someone a new gaming console and have no idea which games to get them to start off. This slideshow is designed to hit you off with the basic essentials, some less than obvious options and some of the extras.

Sounds a lot like Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, doesn't it? Let's take a look.

The Essential Games

If he or she loves sports and video games, and you're buying them a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One for the holidays, there's one questions you need to answer before you know which games are an absolute must buy.

What's their favorite sport?

If the answer is baseball, then hopefully you're buying them a PS4. There is no simulation baseball game available for the Xbox One. Super Mega Baseball is a fun, arcade-style game with cartoonish graphics, and RBI Baseball 15 is an ode to the old school gamer, but both pale in comparison to the Sony's MLB 15: The Show.

The latter is a PlayStation exclusive, so it makes the decision a little easier if you were having trouble deciding on a console.

If they love football, then either console will work out. But there's only one choice for football these days. It's EA Sports' juggernaut Madden series. Thankfully, this year's version (Madden 16) is one of the best in years, so everyone should be happy.

When it comes to basketball, there's technically two choices, but there's really only one. NBA 2K16 is vastly superior to NBA Live 16. Graphically, visually and from a feature standpoint, 2K's game is superior. If you're looking for a hoops game, that's the one to get.

Hockey lover? NHL 16 is the only choice, but it's really good. The missing features from NHL 15 have been restored, and it's loads of fun to play alone or with friends.

Virtual soccer fans have the toughest choice of all. FIFA 16 has all the licenses and shine, but Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 might have it beaten slightly in the gameplay department. If your sports gamer is a stickler for real clubs and leagues, you'll probably want to go with FIFA.

It also has 12 women's national teams. If they're a veteran of video game soccer and can appreciate the nuances of the game, PES 2016 might be the best choice. Truth be told, you really can't go wrong with either one.

Golf fans have Rory McIlroy PGA Tour or The Golf Club. The latter has an excellent course designer feature, but not everyone will be in to that. For gamers who are just looking for fun and competitive rounds of golf, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour is the safe choice.

Combat sports fans got the short end of the stick this year. No boxing game has been released in more than five years, and the last MMA game came out in June 2014. It was called EA Sports UFC, and it's still among the best looking games available.

There's still full server support, so it wouldn't be a bad buy for a gamer who also loves mixed martial arts.

Under the Radar Games

A strict retail, disc format sports gamer might not be familiar with Rocket League. If that's the case, they will probably thank you for introducing them to the game. It's only available for PS4, Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux via download. PlayStation 4 owners can check the PlayStation Store for availability.

The game combines soccer with Destruction Derby. It's totally implausible, but loads of fun and ridiculously competitive. The video above is actually coverage from Major League Gaming's grand finals of the game featuring Cosmic Aftershock and the Kings of Urban.

This is obviously expert-level gameplay, but you can get a good idea of how the game is played. 

There's another title that should be on sports gamers' radar that released in 2015. Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 actually rated higher than FIFA 16 on Metacritic. The gameplay is stellar, the graphics are solid and there are some very comparable modes to EA Sports' virtual soccer title.

The reason the PES series isn't as popular is primarily because it lacks some of the key club and league licenses. For instance, Manchester City is known as Manchester Blue. The Barclays Premier League is simply known as the English League.

The players are there, but that lack of authenticity is a turn-off for some. Nonetheless, the game is fun to play and in many ways more realistic than FIFA 16 on the virtual pitch.

Astro A50: Halo Edition (Gen 2)

Whether you're a hardcore online gamer who likes to talk trash to their opponents, a YouTuber, or someone contemplating getting into competitive gaming, a high-quality headset is something to consider adding to your pile of video game accessories.

The Astro A50 is a wireless headset that will allow you to do any of those three things. I've been in online games of Madden that got so intense that I felt like Bill Belichick on the sidelines talking to my offensive coordinator through my headset.

With the full game sound patched in, and your opponent's audio coming through the headset, the level of immersion is at its peak. Check out the product review from YouTuber Drift0r.

X-Rocker Spider

Is your sports gamer sitting on an old box, a crate, a dining room chair or lawn furniture while playing intense games of NBA 2K16? If so, you might want to think about grabbing them a gaming chair.

Aside from looking really cool, the best of the lot offer excellent sound, comfort and, did I mention it looks really cool? 

There's a ton of them out there, but if you're looking for a great balance between looks and functionality, you might want to look at the X-Rocker Spider. It looks like something a Klingon would sit at in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Check out the video review from Hayneedle.com.

DLC and Season Passes

Stuart Ramson/Associated Press

These days, all of the content isn't included on the disc the way it used to be back in the day. That "extra" stuff is now included in what the industry knows as downloadable content, or DLC. 

The WWE 2K series has offered a Season Pass for years. If you or your sports gamer is a WWE fan, and they have WWE 2K16—but without the Season Pass—that could be an excellent gift.

The Season Pass adds another storyline to the 2K Showcase single-player campaign, new legends like Randy "Macho Man" Savage, new moves and more.

Virtual Cash

Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

Some gamers hate microtransactions and the in-game currency system, but it is the now and the future of video games. For those of you who are unaware of how this works: In games like NBA 2K16, Madden 16 and others, there are numerous in-game accomplishments and prizes to be had.

Gamers can put in ungodly hours to earn virtual currency or coins through gameplay, but truth be told, you have to have a pretty sad life if you have that much time to spend playing games.

The shortcut is to actually purchase VC, or coins, with real money. For gift givers, it's kind of like buying someone an in-game gift card. Only hardcore gamers are likely to understand and appreciate this gift.

How Many Controllers Do You Have?

You've got the console, about five games, and you even have a cool headset and chair. However, will he or she be playing alone all of the time?

If it's only on the day they receive the gift, chances are your sports gamer will be playing with or against someone in his or her living room. We're not talking about online battles. That'll likely come over the next few days. 

You'll need at least one extra controller so friends and family can share in the fun. Some games such as NHL 16 allow you fill out an entire team with human-controlled players. Nothing sets a party off like multiplayer gaming. Don't forget the extra controller, unless you want to put a damper on the first few hours of gameplay.