Times are tough right now, with so many people unemployed, struggling to pay off debts and mortgages and bracing themselves for hard times. It may be difficult to imagine paying obscene amounts of money for luxury gifts this holiday season, unless you’re rich or something.

It doesn’t hurt to dream though. So this gift guide may be more of a totally unrealistic wish list for people this year. Unless, of course, you’re rich. By the way, if you’re reading this and you are, I’d be totally willing to do a secret Santa gift exchange.

So, if you’ve got spare cash or a credit card with a high limit, Gamertell’s here to help you out this year. Whether you want to spend $150, or $35,165, we’re here for you…

Oh Dell, just when we thought you had gone the way of the Wii for your console relations, you sneak in a little something extra.

In Dell’s printed Holiday Gift Guide for December 2008, hidden under an extra flap from the front cover adhered with sticky goo is a deal called the “Xbox 360 60GB HD Holiday Bundle. The bundle includes a 60 GB Xbox 360 Pro and two free games, Lego Indiana Jones and Kung Fu Panda. Priced at…

System: iPod TouchPrice: $229 (8GB), $299 (16GB) and $399 (32GB)Release Date: September 2008 (2nd generation)Publisher (Developer): ApplePros: Incredible audio support and very accurate touchscreen and accelerometer (motion) controls. Lots of games to choose from including standard casual, card and puzzle games, as well as several system-only and online games. External speakers.Cons: No manual game buttons and a naked iPod is a bit slippery to hold. Home button slip exits the game without pause. No external media slot.Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb sideways; 88; B+; * * * 1/2 out of five.

Apple has been promoting the crud out of the iPod Touch as being “the funnest iPod ever” with commercials that show a bunch of motion-controlled games.

While certainly not a Nintendo DS killer, the iPod Touch does offer some rather decent motion and touchscreen controls as well as all the iPhone’s main features sans the phone and microphone. There are a few small concerns for touch-only games but, otherwise, it performs well above most phones as a gaming device…

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Product: T-Mobile G1Price: $179.99 ($399.99 minus $220 instant rebate)Rating: One thumb up, one sideways; 81/100; B-; * * * out of five.Pros: A great phone with lot of groovy uses. Mini trackball works wonderfully for games, decent graphics for a phone and nice sound. Also has motion-sensitive controls, touchscreen, mini keypad and GPS that can be incorporated into games. A lot of free games in the Android Market.Cons: Touchscreen requires full finger pad contact and sometimes slow to respond. Accelerometer is touchy and mini keypad is hard to see. Battery can be exhausted fairly quickly.Overall: Do not get this to use it as a game device. G1 owners will, however, enjoy many good and inexpensive games that make use of the mini trackball and proper use of the touchscreen, making it better than the average phone for mobile gaming.

The T-Mobile G1 is a mixed bag when it comes to mobile gaming. It’ll play all of the regular games but also promises so much more with the touchscreen, accelerometer motion controls, built-in mini QWERTY keypad and mini track ball. While it’s certainly better than your average cell phone when it comes to gaming, it still has a few annoyances that keep it from being truly amazing.

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Title: The Ultimate Matrix CollectionPrice: $129.95System(s): Blu-ray (and DVD)Release Date: October 14, 2008Publisher: Warner Home Video, IncRating: “Restricted” for sci-fi violence, language and sexuality; “PG-13″ for sci-fi violence and language.Pros: High-def goodness, lots of extra content and amazing transfer. Includes iPod/Windows Media version of The Matrix.Cons: It’s so clear some character in CG fights scenes look extra rubbery. The price. Dupe of the 2003 collection.Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 90/100; A-; * * * * out of five.

The Ultimate Matrix Collection will quite simply amplify your feelings about The Matrix movies.

If you love them, you’ll enjoy them even more and happily gorge yourself on the multitude of extra content. If you hated them, you’ll now be able to pinpoint the tiniest flaws and laugh at them in glorious high-def…

Product: Peak’s Starpex wireless guitar controllerSystems: PS2, PS3Price: $189.99Rating: Two thumbs up; 98/100; A; * * * * 1/2 out of five.Pros: Feels great, works perfectly and looks amazing. Easy to connect and great action on the buttons.Cons: A little pricey and could use a better neck strap.Overall: The perfect gift for a Guitar Hero or Rock Band fanatic. If you want to feel even more like a real virtual video game rock star, this is the guitar controller to own.

Screw those mamby pamby plastic guitar controllers with wood grain stickers. Those are for wimps and wussies.

Peak has released the first full size, wood body guitar game controller. It’s essentially a real electric guitar (ever touch one of those?) with the electric components swapped for plastic controller parts.

It looks great, feels great and plays great, making it one truly ass-kicking game controller…

If you’re still holding out to buy a PS3, Wal-Mart has a good offer to get you into the door.

Starting at 8 a.m., Saturday, November 8, 2008, Wal-Mart will be selling the 80GB PS3 for $399 with a $100 gift card as an added bonus. Wal-Mart can’t sell every PS3 at this price so it will only have 4 units per store. If you’re in an area that has been…

There are some people out there who live for Guitar Hero. Where some of us are happy being able to go through all the songs on medium difficulty, the truly dedicated make it a personal mission to play every song blindfolded while spinning in circles.

Alright, maybe that was a bit dramatic but it’s safe to say the standard guitars that come with the games aren’t enough to satisfy everyone’s inner rock star. Logitech has announced the upcoming release of a new wireless guitar designed for the Playstation 3 version of Guitar Hero 3 and World Tour that is also compatible with the PS2 version of World Tour. The Wireless Guitar Controller Premier Edition goes on sale…

A new mod has just been created for the PC game Crysis, by the HaptX Team, and it involves the Novint Falcon controller. The Falcon controller provides force feedback and allows players to really feel every action and attack in a game. The latest mod will make this controller compatible with Crysis, and will be released for download on October 24, 2008.

Apparently the highlight is that the Nano Suit will affect what players feel with the controller. Different modes will make the controller more or less sensitive. The controller will also allow players to feel actions – the ability to feel water resistance when swimming and impacts when falling to the ground are both mentioned in the official press release…

Rock Band has become the most popular rhythm-based game by creating a party atmosphere and offering more songs than anyone can dare to name. We love picking up those plastic instruments and living out our rock n’ roll fantasy without the shows starring police cars and VH1 specials. We may now be one step closer to putting on our own epic in-hope show when the Rock Band Stage Kit is released on October 26, 2008, for $99.

The Stage Kit developed by Performance Designed Products (PDP) gives us the lights and smoke effects that any self-professed rock God simply must have. The rock God in question will, of course, have to own a copy of Rock Band or Rock Band 2 for the Xbox 360 in order for the…