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Post by chronotigger65 on Dec 9, 2020 23:56:30 GMT -5
Getting a NES from Santa on Christmas was probably the best moment for me with video games on the holiday. I recall being in such joy and excitement to the point of screaming and being hysterical (in a good way,) probably made my day. And when I went to buy my first game for it. I got Kung Fu while my brother bought Jaws.
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Post by spanky on Dec 10, 2020 7:14:29 GMT -5
Almost too many to count. My parents didn't buy me many games growing up unless they were in the bargain bin. But I was always guaranteed a game or two at Christmas so the holiday was always a big deal for me. I think I can remember every game I got every year up until the late 2000s or so. I always loved having a nice meaty RPG or big platformer with a lot of secrets that I could dive into over the remainder of winter break.
I could list them all but I'll list a few of my more memorable years....these are frontloaded but big shocker here: you tend of have better Christmas memories from when you were a kid.
1992 - SNES and Super Mario World. If you could bottle and sell the exhilaration I felt when I unwrapped my SNES, you'd end war and hate instantly. This was the last year I believed in Santa Clause - I was sort of waffling on my belief but I decided to hedge my bets because I really wanted that SNES. Later that day my relatives came over and my uncle gave me a copy of Bart's Nightmare (not as bad as you might think) which pretty much clinched that Santa wasn't real for me (how would my uncle know that Santa was getting me a SNES?)
1994 - Donkey Kong Country. I was a freak who was really invested in the 16-bit war and I always saw this game was the A-bomb that decisively ended things in favor of a SNES. I completely bought into the marketing hype for this game. I probably watched that Nintendo Power video dozens of times. I beat it pretty quickly but I spent weeks trying to find the bonus areas. I also got Wario Blast and Samurai Shodown (GB version) from extended family.
1995 - Between immediate and extended family I got Yoshi's Island and DKC 2. I also got Defender/Joust and Animaniacs (?) for the Game Boy. The two SNES games are about as good as a Christmas haul you could ask for.
1997 - Final Fantasy III. I was late to the RPG train so at this point I was playing catch up and trying to get all the 16-bit RPGs I could. I was just impressed my mom was able to track down a copy of this 3 years after it came out.
1998 - Ocarina of Time. Another game that I completely got swept up in the hype. I had been disappointed with my N64 and this was going to validate the system for me. I have mixed feelings on OoT nowadays but it was mindblowing at the time. I also received a Game Boy Color and Game & Watch Gallery 2.
2003 - Mario Kart Double Dash. We are long past the childlike wonder and anticipation of Christmas stage but I asked for this and got it. Played it a TON with my friends over break and when I got back to college. There were multiple times we stayed up all night trying to beat each other's times on Baby Park.
2012 - This was the first year I was married and I was feeling a bit nostalgic. I always liked going into a new chapter in my life but it always makes me think about my past and where I came from. It got me thinking about how much I loved Christmases when I was young. So I tried to find an old SNES game that I had never played to ask for. I settled on Demon's Crest, which she got for me. Early in the morning, I popped it in while my wife was getting ready to go to my parents and the snow was falling, just for 30 minutes or so, I felt like a kid again.
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Post by dsparil on Dec 10, 2020 8:56:21 GMT -5
Very coincidentally, I was recently talking to my parents about the late 1998 issues I was having my old Cyrix-based computer and not being able to run MM6 on it, and it turns out that they had actually bought me a new computer so I could play it that Christmas! I think it was some no-name brand and still had a little bit of the flakiness that instigated its purchase in the first place, but it was so exciting to actually have something that wasn't years out of date. It ended up being the basis for the only time I actually had a mostly high end system. I think I used it in some form until around 2003 when it finally got too outdated, but I had saved up enough money to replace it myself.
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Post by Snake on Dec 10, 2020 19:39:25 GMT -5
A few that come to mind:
-1997 Getting Final Fantasy Tactics from my best friend. It was the Japanese import (I think the US translation came out the following year). It basically ate up all my time through the holidays, and after school.
-2007, My brother got me a PS3. I was a useless graduate student, needing another year to finish my degree. He was making super good money. But to my disbelief, I unwrapped a 1st 60GB backwards compatible PS3. The most expensive gift I had gotten from him. It was so nice of him to do that for me. I spent the whole night doing time trials on the Gran Turismo free demo.
-2009, My Korean ex imported Final Fantasy XIII for me. While she was pretty much the personification of Korean drama, she loved me desperately and was very thoughtful to get me something I still treasure in my collection. Basically marathoned through the game for the holidays, staying up till like, 2:00 AM to get to the ending.
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