Philadelphia Daily News Plugged In column.

By Jonathan Takiff, Philadelphia Daily News Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Dec. 21--THE GIZMO: Have a video game player on your shopping list? Let's dig into Santa's bag and pull out some of the best software titles of the season.

THE "MUST" LIST: If your PlayStation2 user hasn't plunked down any bucks on a game in the last few months, you'll raise a howl of delight with a gift of the densely packed urban crime adventure "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" (Take Two).

Xbox users gotta have the long-awaited intergalactic demon hunt "Halo 2" (Microsoft), a title that's pushed sales of the system ahead of PS2 this holiday season.

GameCube's big hit is the spacey, first-person shooter "Metroid Prime 2: Echoes" (Nintendo).

Topping the Game Boy Advance wish list is THQ's version of the hit movie "The Incredibles." …