Black Friday has become one of the best times for gamers and those buying for gamers to catch the best bets of the season. This year is no different, but the surprise this year is that best of the best is not what we expected. While the focus, of course, is on the launch of the Wii U, those not interested in the Wii U because they don’t want the Wii U or already own another console might be surprised to learn that once again this year the best deals seem to be targeted at those who want an Xbox 360 or those who already own an Xbox 360. Surprising to us, retailers don’t seem to be making a big play with the PlayStation this holiday season.

Our pick for the best Black Friday deal for a new video game console system was a tie, but the winner was the same. The Xbox 360 at $199 is the best deal going. It is only a question of whether you would rather have the Forza 4 and Skyrim holiday Xbox 360 250GB bundle at Best Buy, or the Xbox 360 with Kinect 4GB bundle with Kinect Adventures and Kinect Disneyland Adventures at Target. In our opinion, the better deal is the Best Buy Xbox 360 Forza 4 and Skyrim 250GB holiday bundle with the single wireless controller and wired headset. We think the advantage of getting the 250GB hard drive is a much better bonus than getting a Kinect, but we can see the Kinect bundle being an excellent replacement for those with younger kids who will have an aging Wii.

As for software for the Xbox 360, hands down our favorite to recommend is the recently released open world Forza Horizon racer for $15 at Wal-Mart. There simply is no better deal on this recently released title, and it is an excellent game that we have been spending a lot of time playing at Fudzilla these days. Of course, many are looking for a deal on the just-released Halo 4, and the best deal has to be at Target where they are selling Halo 4 for $59.99 and throwing in a $20 Target Gift Card with every purchase of it on Black Friday.