A Christmas Gaming Story
- Thread starter Eric
- Start date
Most memorable was Christmas of 1988. We had opened all our presents (or so my brother and I thought) and went to our Grandparents in the afternoon as was tradition. There was a surprise gift waiting for us and we had no idea what it was...
It was an Amstard CPC 464 with green screen monitor.
This was a massive surprise to my brother and I, our first computer and games outside of LCD handhelds and Tomy/Tiger desktop mini arcades.
It was just about the most amazing thing at the time to us, we could now play 8 bit ports of our favourite arcade games at home (usually massively inferior but better than an LCD game).
If you showed this to kids now they would mockingly laugh but 26 years ago two little boys were all made up and it changed their lives.
Best present ever.
It was an Amstard CPC 464 with green screen monitor.
This was a massive surprise to my brother and I, our first computer and games outside of LCD handhelds and Tomy/Tiger desktop mini arcades.
It was just about the most amazing thing at the time to us, we could now play 8 bit ports of our favourite arcade games at home (usually massively inferior but better than an LCD game).
If you showed this to kids now they would mockingly laugh but 26 years ago two little boys were all made up and it changed their lives.
Best present ever.
Last edited:
Forget which Christmas it was, but it was a few years after the N64 came out and I was really young. My brother and I begged for an N64 and made up lists of games we wanted, and what order we'd play them in and what not.
Christmas morning, no N64.
However I did receive enough cash that I was able to buy one and Ocarina of Time along with it.
Christmas morning, no N64.
However I did receive enough cash that I was able to buy one and Ocarina of Time along with it.
NES with Super Mario Brothers
8 years old and the moment all my future free time became useless.
8 years old and the moment all my future free time became useless.
Most of my friends had Atari 2600' and I wanted one soooooo bad, so I asked for one for Christmas. I opened all my presents but no Atari, then my parents had one last surprise gift for me. I opened it and Li and behold I got a stupid Nintendo Entertainment System! I was so bummed, no Atari, fast forward a few months and I was sooooo psyched that I didn't get the Atari. That's when I realized my Dad was a bit cooler than I had given him credit for 
My brothers received a Nintendo 64 when I was a little wee-lad. I don't recollect the significance of it, but they were stoked.
The one big Christmas I can remember was 2006. My older brother and I wanted a Wii. He was in college at the time, and I was really just excited to have him home for break. We spent the week before Christmas watching videos online and doing our research. We realized how hard they were to find and didn't really like our chances.
Christmas morning came and our mom surprised us with TWO Wii's. She bought one for my brother to bring back to college and one for me to keep at home. We were utterly shocked. She told us she spent one morning in the cold for hours. We played Zelda and Wii Sports for weeks. It was truly a great experience. That was the last time I got a console for Christmas.
The one big Christmas I can remember was 2006. My older brother and I wanted a Wii. He was in college at the time, and I was really just excited to have him home for break. We spent the week before Christmas watching videos online and doing our research. We realized how hard they were to find and didn't really like our chances.
Christmas morning came and our mom surprised us with TWO Wii's. She bought one for my brother to bring back to college and one for me to keep at home. We were utterly shocked. She told us she spent one morning in the cold for hours. We played Zelda and Wii Sports for weeks. It was truly a great experience. That was the last time I got a console for Christmas.
Another good memory for me was the Christmas after the first Animal Crossing was released on Gamecube, forget the year but I was still somewhat young. That entire Christmas break off of school my brothers and I played that game to no end. Good times.
I believe it was Christmas 1988. I was 6 years old.
Every Christmas we usually got a family gift in addition to our individual gifts. I was the lucky one who got to open it that year, off came the paper and here was this thing I had no idea what it was. A NES Bundle with Mario, Duck Hunt, Track and Field, the zapper, and the power pad.
Little did I know how great it was about to be.
Every Christmas we usually got a family gift in addition to our individual gifts. I was the lucky one who got to open it that year, off came the paper and here was this thing I had no idea what it was. A NES Bundle with Mario, Duck Hunt, Track and Field, the zapper, and the power pad.
Little did I know how great it was about to be.
It was Christmas 1979 and all I wished for was an Intellivision. I recall pouring over the Sears Wish book Christmas catalog over this amazing system with games that look so advanced and colorful. Sure enough my wishes came true and there it was along with the Astromash and Snafu games. Played it nonstop for weeks and officially became a gamer.
It was just last year that I read that the system back then cost $299.99 which translates to about $950.00 in todays dollars. I immediately called my folks to let them know I had no idea what giving that gift to me and my siblings had put them out at the time.
The rest of the story is that I still have the console along with about 50 games and hook it up once every 5 years or so to send me back down memory lane and appreciate how far games have come since then. It's one of the reasons you won't see me getting caught up in the pixel counting and frame rate wars of today. I can enjoy a great game even if the main character was 10 pixels total much less where today there are probably more than 10 pixels in 1 nostril.
It was just last year that I read that the system back then cost $299.99 which translates to about $950.00 in todays dollars. I immediately called my folks to let them know I had no idea what giving that gift to me and my siblings had put them out at the time.
The rest of the story is that I still have the console along with about 50 games and hook it up once every 5 years or so to send me back down memory lane and appreciate how far games have come since then. It's one of the reasons you won't see me getting caught up in the pixel counting and frame rate wars of today. I can enjoy a great game even if the main character was 10 pixels total much less where today there are probably more than 10 pixels in 1 nostril.
I honestly could not pick one. I have been lucky enough to receive consoles for Christmas a fair bit. A Commodore 64, Master System, Megadrive, Playstation one, Playstation 2, Atari Lynx, SNES. All of them bought some fond memories. I think the one still most Vivid is when I got the Playstation One. It was not at launch or close to it, but when I got one it came with numerous games, but only one game got attention that day.
Once all the presents were unwrapped and the boring chore of tidying up the wrapping-paper strew across the living room, we rushed up stairs and set it up. Once Rage racer hit the disc drive, that was it, we were hooked. We barely left the room except for some liquid refreshment and meal times, when we were literally dragged from the bedroom. We played, and I mean we literally played from like 10 am Xmas morning all the way till about 8PM the following day. Was just a great day having fun and enjoying time with my brothers.
Once all the presents were unwrapped and the boring chore of tidying up the wrapping-paper strew across the living room, we rushed up stairs and set it up. Once Rage racer hit the disc drive, that was it, we were hooked. We barely left the room except for some liquid refreshment and meal times, when we were literally dragged from the bedroom. We played, and I mean we literally played from like 10 am Xmas morning all the way till about 8PM the following day. Was just a great day having fun and enjoying time with my brothers.
I was more of a Nintendo fan but for some reason i always had a more memorable Christmas with Sega consoles. All other consoles i got on my birthday which is in the Summer, or i got them some other time during the year. One year i got the Genesis for Christmas, i don't really remember the year or much about it besides just being super excited as i was really young. The other time was 1999, when i got the Dreamcast for Christmas and was thinking it was going to be the greatest console of all time. I played Crazy Taxi for so many hours that night and got Resident Evil: Code Veronica a few months later at release which was amazing at the time.
Christmas 2000. I was pleading and begging for a PS2 with Smugglers Run. During the time when PS2s were selling out everywhere and I was told by my parents and even my grandmother they couldn't find any anywhere. It was depressing. I was sad, excited, anxious, and worried.
Christmas morning. One of my last presents is a PS2... controller. I gasped with excitement. But my parents said I shouldn't get too excited because they still couldn't find a PS2. What? They couldn't find a system but bought an extra controller? That made no sense. I just said okay and spent the next few minutes wallowing in what could have been.
After everyone was done opening presents my parents asked me to go get a pocket knife from their bedroom. I walked in and on their dresser was a brand new PS2 with Smugglers Run leaned against it.
Best Christmas ever.
Christmas morning. One of my last presents is a PS2... controller. I gasped with excitement. But my parents said I shouldn't get too excited because they still couldn't find a PS2. What? They couldn't find a system but bought an extra controller? That made no sense. I just said okay and spent the next few minutes wallowing in what could have been.
After everyone was done opening presents my parents asked me to go get a pocket knife from their bedroom. I walked in and on their dresser was a brand new PS2 with Smugglers Run leaned against it.
Best Christmas ever.
We had an Atari 5200 but my Brother and I really wanted an NES and we got it for Xmas 1988 with Mario/Duck Hunt/Track & Field Zapper Powerpad set. My Dad bought us another few games(Section Z and Ghosts & Goblins) in the next week because the theme from SMB was driving him crazy lol!!!
Sweet! At that rate I'd be playing Mario non stop, heck I'd leave it playing in the background...
Maybe it was 2000 then. Could have sworn i got the Dreamcast at launch but it could have been a year later. All i remember is playing lots of Crazy Taxi on Christmas Eve. That game was a blast. That's probably why i don't remember the year. I was busy having fun.