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[DenogginizerOS]

In the spirit of the season, I thought it would be nice to have a thread where we all shared our favorite gaming memories from this time of the year.

My favorite memory actually came while I was in college. I had just returned home to New Jersey for Christmas. There was a lot of snow that year and the area was covered with a nice white blanket. The morning of Christmas, I found myself opening a lot of gifts that involved clothes, things for my dorm room, and more clothes. But out of the blue, my Dad produced a gift that I will always remember - a Sega Nomad. My Dad saw it on the Today show, called Toys R Us, and drove out in heavy snow to get one of the last ones they had in stock. It was not something I had asked for let alone even knew existed. Needless to say, it was a big surprise. But what was even more wonderful was envisioning my Dad going out and getting this gift for me. As a father now, I know the thrill of surprising my child with gifts and it always puts a smile on my face thinking about him doing that. I truly can't wait for tomorrow morning.

 

[Ramirez]

Definitely the Christmas I got Shenmue, I played that shit for 3 days straight, non stop, until I beat it, I was in love.

 

[Bricfa]

Christmas 2001(?) I got a Ps2 as my first home console. My parents knew next to nothing about games then, but neither did I. We got Cool Boarders 2001 and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. I never beat either of them, and I have no desire to.

me and my younger brother played splitscreen on a tiny 6" TV/VCR.

 

[Threi]

Christmas '90something
Family Dinner

SNES
TMNT:Turtles in time
Street Fighter II
NBA Hangtime

Genesis
Streets Of Rage II
Sonic 2

nuff said.

oh and i believe i got my SNES with Zelda:ALTTP on Christmas day as well.

 

[RiskyChris]

The year I got Yoshi's Island. Fuck, I wanted that so bad that season.




< Edit: lulz avatar

 

[Tim-E]

Definitely the Christmas I got Shenmue, I played that shit for 3 days straight, non stop, until I beat it, I was in love.

That's one of my best Christmas memories, aswell. I hadn't even heard of it and my dad blindly bought it for me along with my Dreamcast and I loved it.

 

[NekoFever]

Playing Diddy Kong Racing until I gave myself a seizure. Literally. I spent most of Christmas morning in the hospital.

Pay attention to those photosensitivity warnings, kids.

 

[probune]

When I got Final Fantasy VII for Christmas. I poopsocked that shit for the entire vacation.

 

[Flock]

The Christmas i got my Nintendo 64 + Diddy Kong Racer and Pokemon Snap. I had waited soooo long. I seriously lost my mind, its still so obvious Diddy Kong Racer was much superior to Mario Kart!

Also the Christmas i got Pokemon Red, i remember i just started playing it (7am) and didn't stop even when my relatives started arriving (12am). My mum grabbed my gameboy from me and just switched it off, luckily i had just saved. Crazy Women.

It was so awesome because my brother and my two cousins all also got Pokemon. We just sat on the couch together and played it. It was so awesome when you could get so hyped for a game and just be so blown away when you got to play it.

 

[cool_dude_2049]

The year I got OoT has to be my favorite. I must've been ten years old, and my older sister knew where the game was hidden. She was nice enough to get it out of there and let me play it before christmas. Of course, i deleted the save file when I was done. It was the nicest thing she's ever done for me, seeing as to how much of a bitch she can be.

The funny part was that when my eldest sister gave me the game for christmas, she saw that I when straight for the kokiri sword, and she asked, "How did you know that was there; have you played the game before?" I simply replied that I had seen some kid do it at walmart earlier. At 10 years old I was a bad ass liar. Nine years later.... not so much.

 

[Diablohead]

Two that first come to mind are the christmas I got my ps1 with resident evil, amazing nights to be had that holiday with me and my dad working out how to escape the mansion.

Second one was getting shenmue 2, I remember this one because I was a FOOL and sold it within a month. Wish I kept it now.

 

[Jumpman23]

Zelda for the NES. They had been advertising it in the Sears and Montgomery Wards catalogs since the spring catalog listing it as "Coming Soon!". I would drool at those pages dreaming of getting my hands on that game in the fall. When Christmas morning arrived and I ripped open that box and saw the game I nearly cried. The game living up to all the hype and truly being one of the most epic titles ever made, made that the most special "childhood" Christmas for me ever.

 

[Kntj]

Christmas holiday of 1998 was when I got FF7, which is the one that got me into gaming and is still my favourite.

 

[blackadde]

getting sf2:ce for my genesis early (!) one christmas. and then getting the 6-button pad the next day. woooohoo.

 

[Redd]

Last year when my friend gave me a DS lite with New Super Mario Brothers and Phoenix Wright. My second favorite memory was when my parents finally realised I was a gamer and stopped giving me all clothes and crappy train sets and got me my first NES.......good times.

 

[hellclerk]

NINTENDO SIXTY-FOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUR!!!!!!

seriously, thats my favorite holiday gaming memory, getting my N64 back in the day.

 

[angelfly]

The Christmas I got my Playstation along with Blood Omen: Legacy of ****. I must have stayed up for about to days playing it. That game was pure awesomeness.

 

[Phthisis]

I got a Dreamcast for my birthday in 2000 along with Shenmue (my birthday is Nov. 29, and when I booted up Shenmue for the first time, as you know, the game begins on Nov. 29th; I just about freaked out).

Anyway, that Christmas I received Skies of Arcadia from my parents, and I spent the rest of winter break playing and beating the game. It was magical, and ended up being my favorite game ever (until Mass Effect last month).

 

[SIP YEK NOD]

Just last week, me and my friend playing NHL 07 while he was off from college

Kazakhstan(me) vs Edmonton oilers(him)

second period, i he high sticks me, gets a delayed penalty, i get a shot on net, it is right on the line, his goalie goes to scoop it out, puts the puck in, scoops it back out, and no goal is awarded because of the delayed penalty, damn game, anyways:

playing 5 minute periods, so the clock runs quite fast. 21 seconds left in the 3rd, i am down 3-2, face off, i win, he holds my puck carrier up for a second, and puts me off side, fuck, 17 seconds left. i win the face-off, pass it back to my defenseman, back up to my left wing, he skates in to the left, i one timer to the center, GOAL with 3 seconds left on the clock. game is tied, we go into 4 on 4 overtime.

face off, i pass directly to my left wing, he has no right wing on, so i was free to skate right into his zone, same move, one timer to the center, bang, in, 7 seconds into overtime. it was so fucking intense. 2 goals in 10 seconds between 2 periods to come back and win the game.

 

[SSM25]

I bought FFVII for christmas in 1997 (yes, I gave myself a present). It's one of my best holiday memories ever.

 

[Alts]

The Christmas that I got Pokemon Red. I sat down and read through the manual while everyone else was opening their gifts, and as soon as the presents were all gone, I started playing and just did not stop. I don't think I have ever been as excited about a single gift as I was with that one. I wouldn't play another pokemon game until Diamond just earlier this year, and to a certain extent, it captivated me like I was back in 7th grade.

 

[nny]

Getting up at 6 A.M. to open the presents, plugging up the new console, turning it on and listening to a voice chanting "Seee-ga" right before I started playing Sonic on the Mega Drive for the first time. Oh what a game.

 

[andymcc]

Christmas 1998. My dad surprised me and got a Japanese Dreamcast. I had no idea I was getting it.

 

[Yoshi]

Best christmas was 1998 Zelda OoT, best year's end Zelda MM (imo MM didnÄt start out as great as OoT but got better than OoT, both were christmas presents)

 

[camineet]

i'm old (31) so here goes:

Christmas Eve 1989, getting WonderBoy III: The Dragons Trap for the Master System.
(a few days before I got Phantasy Star). the memory of playing WBIII that night, into Christmas Day (still during the nighttime hours) is a joy beyond anything else I can think of. the fun lasted through the entire winter vacation with my brother and I playing our hearts out through the many lands of this wonderful game.


a distant 2nd would be, Christmas Eve 1990: a UPS truck arrives with my free copy of R-Type for the TurboGrafx-16 that I got because I bought a Turbo 6-8 weeks before and sent in the rebate.

 

[BirdBomb]

1999. dreamcast. enough said.

 

[tak]

There are a lot of good memories, but I think one stands out more then the others.

I'll always remember the xmas I got my Superscope for the SNES. I stayed up really late playing with it, I thought it was so baddass when I was younger. I pulled a Nintendo 64 kid style scream when I unwrapped it, I was not expecting to get it at all.

 

[Wyndstryker]

Sister buying me a PS1 for christmas

I forget what year =(

 

[LJ11]

1991

I begged my father for a Sega Genesis throughout the summer to no avail. A month before Christmas I brought the subject back up, but my father wasn't hearing it, said it wasn't his call "Santa brings the gifts."

At this point in my life Santa was a fictitious character, the cat was already out of the bag, my parents were open about it from an early age. At the age of 10 my father was insisting I regress and believe in Santa Clause once again. He suggested I write a letter to the bearded one, which I did out of desperation. I gave him the letter, and once again asked him to buy me the Genesis. Santa wasn't bringing a thing in my mind, letter or no letter.

Well I finally got sick and tired of asking, so I dropped the subject a couple of weeks before Christmas. All my gifts were under the tree by Christmas Eve, every year it played out the same way. I searched under the tree for a box big enough to house a Genesis, nothing. To be honest, I didn't even care at that point, I was already resigned to the fact that a Genesis wasn't heading my way.

Woke up the next morning with my brother literally over my shoulder, he was shaking me so I would wake up. "I told you he would come, you didn't believe but I did." Shook the grogginess off, wiped my eyes, looked over and a brand new Sega Genesis with Sonic was sitting at my bedside.

Good old St. Nick came through. :lol

Second Favorite: 1995 when my father and I went Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve. Came home with this new system from Sony called a Playstation. I picked up Gameday and Wipeout with the system, clerk recommended Wipeout. Hearing "swoooooosh" as I went to down huge drops and banks left me floored, the sound of Wipeout left me stunned. Gameday was a football nuts wet dream. Still my favorite console of all time.

 

[-COOLIO-]

december 25th 1998 - ocarina of time

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

Getting a N64 and Mario 64 after thinking my family couldn't afford one, much less find one. Playing it at Toys R' Us weeks before...

My dad drove to Toys R' Us after working the graveyard shift at the oil refinery and they had just got a truck in. I was 8 years old then...

 

[tnw]

favorite holiday gaming memories:

-received NES with like 7 games (SMB, Popeye, Baseball, Gumshoe, etc.)

-Zelda II. I was very happy to get that.

-Final Fantasy II (IV) Oh that game was beautiful

-Game Boy with Tetris and SML, got me through my grandfather's funeral

Ocarina of Time- I came back from College and bought it for winter break. I even brought the game and the system with me to my aunt's house. Pretty much completely tuned out everyone else :lol

 

[Imperial Hot]

You guys are so old!

My favorite gaming memory was the day I got my Xbox. I had played Halo 1 at my friends house a week or so earlier and I was amazed! Needless to say, It was way to close to Christmas to ask for an Xbox, because they wouldn't have been able to get it, so I never bothered asking. Well, fast-forward to Christmas, I had just finished unwrapping all the gifts and was really happy with the haul, when my Gram(she lived across the street) came by with a huge box for me. I tore it open to see the amazing black-and-green box staring back at me. I have been gaming (hardcore) ever since.

 

[Windu]

Christmas 2001: Played Luigi's Mansion and Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2 on my new Gamecube. I think this was the only console that I got for Christmas, all the others it was either birthdays or I bought them myself.

 

[tnw]

You guys are so old!

I was actually thinking the opposite

 

[Zeed]

The Christmas I opened up the N64 and popped in Mario 64.

I doubt anything will compare to that first leap in dimensions.

 

[vilmer_]

Christmas 1990 is a great Holiday memory. I received John Madden Football and NHL Hockey for the Genesis. Fantastic Christmas morning that was Last year was actually cool as well because a friend and I dedicated hours upon hours to finding every item in SOTN.

 

[HugBasket]

Getting my Genesis. It was my first console and I got Sonic Spinball with it (were they packaged together at some point? can't remember). I played that thing for hours.

 

[robot]

Getting both an Xbox and Gamecube on Christmas day was pretty crazy. IIRC I got Halo, DoA3, Oddworld, Super Smash Brothers, Star Wars and Monkey Ball.

I always getting a few videogames on xmas but this was just complete insanity.

 

[Leopold]

1995. SNES.

1998 - Nintendo 64 with Zelda.

2002 - GameCube.

2006 - Nintendo Wii.

Just awesome days, all of them.

 

[Philia]

Phantasy Star III for Genesis. I'll never forget that brisk morning as I munched down my stocking's candy M&Ms. God... that was like a good 15+ years ago. That's the only GOOD xmas memory I have that is gaming related. Sigh... the rest just kinda sucked because my family expected better of me because I was a girl. Fucking dishes just never seemed to end.

 

[Baryn]

First, I unwrapped Super Mario Bros. I was 6.

"But what am I going to play it on?!!"

Later on I unwrapped the NES. OMG! OMG! OMG! ZZZOMGGG!!

Only Christmas I remember where my parents were together, and still the best.

 

[The_Dude]

The day I got my Commodore 64...and then the day after, when I finally figured out how to tune the TV so I could actually play it!

 

[Mr. Thiggleberry]

Two stand out the most, first when I got a Nintendo 64 with Mario and Wave Race, the second being when I got Zelda:OoT, playing it pretty much all day.

 

[KyanMehwulfe]

Warcraft II

The first snow stages in Hillsbrad were perfect for a snowy Christmas afternoon.

 

[Baryn]

Second one was getting shenmue 2, I remember this one because I was a FOOL and sold it within a month. Wish I kept it now.

There is a 360-compatible version, my man, and you can get it without spending an arm and a leg. Unless you live in the UK, I'm not sure about the regional availability.

If you didn't get more than halfway through, you're in for a real treat. If you did, and still sold it, then I don't know what got into you.

 

[Iam Canadian]

In 1997 I got Earthbound. I had rented it a few times and absolutely loved it, but my family didn't have a lot of money then and couldn't afford to buy it for me. I got it in 1997 on my birthday, which is just six days before Christmas.

Best Christmas present ever and still my favourite game ever made.

 

[neoism]

1998 Game: OOT
I was sooooooooooooooooooo excited for this game its not describable in words. My mom let me open it 2 weeks early if I spotless-ed my room I'm talking spotless, for a year 13 old it was lol. Well I was jumping up and down with excitement and my dog mickey( RIP died a month ago bit my finger( he didn't like excitement and horseplay and I think he though I was hitting my sister with I wasn't I was high fiveing her) This was a serious bit too, his teeth went through my middle finger on my left hand I didn't get stitches though. THE GAME WAS AWESOME. I haven't been that excited over Christmas sense!

 

[LowParry]

Getthing the 80's toy of Prime and Starscream That just tickles me still thinking about that. ( I know it's not game related but damn, that was such a fine day ). Although for game was getting the SNES for Christmas. Hells yeah.

 

[GhaleonQ]

My birthday's on the United States' Indepedence Day, and I ended up figuring out King's Quest VI the day that I received it for my 6th birthday.