Ubisoft's Naruto: Rise of a Ninja comes out tomorrow, and if you're dying to play as Shikamaru (one of my favorite characters), you're now able to. Ubisoft has included him in the game as a downloadable character, at the low price of free. All you've got to do is link your Xbox Live account with your Ubisoft account, so that they can monitor your every move. 

To download Shikamaru, all you have to do is go through a quick process of linking your Xbox LIVE Gamertag with your Ubisoft Account. First, choose “Exclusive Content” from the main menu. In the next screen, you will be prompted to either create a Ubisoft account, or Log In to your existing account.

If you already have a Ubisoft account, just choose the Log In option, and input your username and password in the next screen. Afterwards you should be informed that the account linking is complete. At that point you can choose the option “Download Exclusive Character”, and you can download Shikamaru just like any other Xbox Live download.

With the swarm of games coming out right now, it's really easy to get titles lost in the shuffle. This Naruto title has been something that I've wanted to play for a while, but with The Simpsons, Disgaea for PSP, Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles, and a slew of other titles bombarding me, it'll be tough to decide whether to spend the money on a Naruto game for the 360 or to buy your mom a Christmas present. She likes Naruto, right?