Christmas is coming and you now have the opportunity to start your shopping right away. And if you have a son aged 8-15, then it’s a good time to start asking him to make a list of all the things he wants for the holiday season. But if you can’t make out the difference between a Skylander and a Minecrafter or a Call of Duty from a Grand Theft Auto, that’s OK.

Here’s a little guide to help you understand what your kids may want this Christmas. And most boys want either the latest gadgets or video games. Expect to spend from $60 all thee way to $300 for the things your little guy “must” have.

Video games

Luckily for you, purchasing video games is in the $40-$60 range. The lower prices are mostly for the mobile games systems like the Nintendo 3DS and the Playstation Vita. And the biggest games this season for the Nintendo 3DS are the twin Pokemon games: Pokemon X and Pokemon Y. Still an outstanding and successful franchise, Pokemon handheld games are a most wanted item for kids who enjoy Pokemon collecting and battling.

But unlucky for you, new, higher powered video games system are being release before the holiday season. The XBox One and the Playstation 4 are both coming out right before Thanksgiving. And the prices on both of those systems are in the $400-$500 range. Expect to spend top dollar and possibly deal with store shortages as these game systems will most likely sell out quickly.

Other video games that are hot for the season are the latest incarnation of perennial favorites Call of Duty, Battlefield and Grand Theft Auto. All of those games are for mature audiences but nonetheless, kids under the age of 18 still play them. For the ones who have not got into those games may want to try playing the latest Skylander games. They come as individual games or with playable action figures. The latest from this franchise is SWAP Force which packages three action figures with the game at the price of $74.99.

If you don’t want your kids to sit on front of a TV playing video games, you can let them sit and play with a tablet all day. The latest versions of the Apple iPad Air as well as the Samsung Note and Galaxy tablets. After you received the tablet, you may want to download a few games onto it. The biggest games right now for the boys are: Plants vs. Zombies 2, Minecraft and Star Wars Angry Birds 2.

It looks like this season that videogames are the most wanted items are the most wanted items for the boys. But you can go many ways with what you buy: new game systems, tablets, smartphones and the latest games are all coming out at the same time. Always check the newspaper ads for what games and systems the stores are promoting -- those are usually the latest items out and the most wanted.

Image credit: Stephan Mosel on Flickr