What Gaming Christmas Means To Me

Merry Christmas everyone. As we prepare to see our families this year, in-person or virtually, we reflect on the year or years that have passed and memories flood in with great discussions at the dinner table, family we have not seen in a long time, and of course the gifts left under the Christmas Tree for us to unwrap that morning, or on Christmas Eve depending on your culture. As I get ready to open all my gifts tomorrow, I wanted to reflect on the best gaming presents I received over my 3 decades of video game history.

December 1999. 

I remember Crash Bandicoot 3 being one of the main games I played throughout the year after releasing in 1998. My Playstation was on every day with Crash, WWF Attitude, and many more games. But there was that itch missing. I had never owned a Nintendo console up to this point, with my only other console being  a Sega Genesis. That all changed that Christmas when, to my surprise, I became the meme that I am sure everyone else was.

When that Clear Green Nintendo 64 showed up underneath the wrapping with one of my favorite platformers of all time in Donkey Kong 64, I was ecstatic. When I was a kid, it felt like Donkey Kong 64 had infinite replay value because of that “Just One More” condition that all collect-a-thons had. All the Golden Bananas, power-ups, levels, characters, smaller bananas, weapons were all over the place and man it was just a rush to perfect each world map to the fullest. Also that DK Rap at the beginning of the game was the stuff of legend, and still is to this day. 

Everyone was Green with envy for this!

December 2001

The next generation of consoles, at the time, dropped into stores throughout 2000 and 2001. Playstation 2, Xbox, and Gamecube hit the market and it felt like the future was now. New technologies distinct to each console were the biggest things in gaming, pushing how we played and experienced games at the time. 

Well, also at the time, money was a definite issue for me and the family so the price of a console going into the holidays was also important. So $200 for one of the best consoles for multi-player was a no-brainer. The Nintendo Gamecube was my intro to this generation of consoles and one of its best games was my first: Super Smash Bros Melee!!!

So glad this never happened to me in a game…..ever!

Unlocking characters, trophies, awards, and everything else in this game was a dream. So much content was loaded into this game, which took the formula of Smash 64 and made it so fluid and concise. To this day, even with the large cast and refined mechanics of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, competitors still crave Melee at tournaments and conventions all around the world. When you hear the immortal words “No Items, Fox Only, Final Destination” you know you have made a larger impact across the gaming and internet space.

Nintendo really defined my Christmas years when I was younger and their amazing first-party titles always hit big, so much so that looking at some of the most requested gifts over the last few years, Nintendo Switches and their first-party games, especially Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, always lead the sales charts. The Big N are amazing at releasing highly sought after titles each year, especially as the holidays approach and 2021 is no different, with Metroid Dread and Mario Party Superstars leading the way. 

Enjoy your holiday season this year. Let me know what you plan to pick up or do end up getting for Christmas in the comments below.