Favourite Christmas Day gaming memory?

briany

I think many of us have a memory, or similar, of getting up extra early on Christmas morning to play some new game or console that we were pretty excited about getting and maybe playing the hell out of it during the day, maybe even having to move the console to different TVs in different rooms, as the needs of the other family members demanded. I suppose, for myself, it was receiving that Super Nintendo (w/ Super Mario World and All Stars) at the age of 8 or so. A great day. I'm sure there's plenty better recollections to be had out there, so what are they?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

lol, exact same memory as myself

i'd found the snes and mario all stars bundle a few weeks before xmas so I knew what was coming that year. was a great day

YouSavedMyLife

Getting a PS1 with Final Fantasy 7 and Time Crisis + Lightgun. Never played a FF game or a JRPG before and as Cloud engaged in the first fight i spammed all the buttons on my pad wondering why the feck he wouldn't attack or move. Turned it off 15 minutes later and played Time Crisis for the rest of the day...

Conbhar

Defo getting a Nes and a new tv for christmas 89 and playing Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt for the first time. Absolute bliss for a 7 year old me

Tommy_NDX

This one always comes to mind when I hear that question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQexHWFIZkQ

I was pretty young so the Christmas magic was still there.

Darkglasses

A complete surprise Gameboy Advance SP, accessory pack, and Monster Force game. Was delighted with it

I think it's my only Xmas gaming present, I usually bought them myself.

kaimera

first pc and playing carmaggeddon at 4/5am.

or wiring up a plug to the nes - it never came with one so i took it off the vhs player to me and the bro could play mario.

those two always come to mind

fermanagh_man

The championship managers for me always got them at Xmas until I was old enough to buy then myself

Remember getting some weird games as a child

Bevis and Butthead for mega drive being a personal favourite

Owryan

Decades ago I got an atari 2600 (which for some reason santa made me part pay for) and centipede. Can still remember the awesomeness of those blocky graphics .

Vojera

Playing the Lion King on Mega Drive on Christmas morning. So much fun!

Daveysil15

The PS one and Final Fantasy 7. Oh that game consumed me for 4 months straight. I was mesmerized by it.

djmarkus

Micro Machines on the Mega Drive.

Sarky

Syndicate Wars. Oh, the freezing cold outside, the fizzy drinks and homemade bakewell tarts inside, the sound of Christmas carols from the radio mingling with the screams of civilians I'd set on fire... just pure magic.

Tipsy McSwagger

Waiting a long long time ( a few months really) to get the Street Fighter 2 SNES bundle. I had my whole room filled with posters and I have never anticipated a game since. It brings back great memories of such an innocent time.

rabwaygal

Goldeneye on the N64. Couldn't believe that graphics could be that good. Haven't had a wow moment like that since.

The whole day was spent in front of the TV.

0ph0rce0

Defiantly getting the NES with mario/duck hunt. Ahh thems were the days.

Insect Overlord

The Sega Mega-Drive 6-in-1 collection (Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Columns, World Cup Italia 90, Super Hang On, Revenge of Shinobi). Got years out of that!

Medal Of Honour: Rising Sun for the PS2 is another memory that stands out. Probably the first Christmas morning I wasn't made to go to mass!

tailgunner

The one that stands out the most was the year I got an N64 with Lylatwars. I must have watched the opening cutscene ten times before pressing Start. Couldn't believe a game could look so good on a home console.

briany

Insect Overlord wrote: »

The Sega Mega-Drive 6-in-1 collection (Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Columns, World Cup Italia 90, Super Hang On, Revenge of Shinobi). Got years out of that!

Medal Of Honour: Rising Sun for the PS2 is another memory that stands out. Probably the first Christmas morning I wasn't made to go to mass!

Didn't the 6 in 1 come with the Mk. II Megadrive; the smaller one with red buttons? My brother only got the EA 2 in 1 when he got a Mk. I IIRC.

chopperbyrne

I've plenty of these.

Atari 2600 with Centipede and Joust.

NES with Mario/Duck Hunt and Probotector.

SNES with Mario All Stars, Mario World, Flashback, USA 94 and Starwing.

N64 with Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time.

ziggyman17

spectrum 48k with seperate tape deck and colored monitor and collection of games, including the hunchback and panoma joe a sort on indy jones rip off....

keith16

Commodore 64 with Terminator 2 and Flimbos quest. Brings a tear to the eye.

Some of the other tape games were Chase HQ, bubble bobble and a weird one called Cauldron.

Pure magic.

Insect Overlord

briany wrote: »

Didn't the 6 in 1 come with the Mk. II Megadrive; the smaller one with red buttons? My brother only got the EA 2 in 1 when he got a Mk. I IIRC.

That sounds about right. I was pretty young though, so numbers meant nothing to me. :pac:

Not The Real Scarecrow

Can't remember the name of the game that came with it , but getting the gun yolk for the mega drive that looked like a bazooka once you had it assembled properly...then spending about an hour calibrating it to the tv.
Although nothing beats the memory playing Mario cart for the first time on christmas day with friends....and then telling them to get out after they defeated me for the 100th time.

krudler

Being able to play Street Fighter 2 at home, mindblowing.

spuddy90

Donkey kong!! Felt sad when I finished the game, that's how much I loved playing it!!

NTMK

briany wrote: »

Didn't the 6 in 1 come with the Mk. II Megadrive; the smaller one with red buttons? My brother only got the EA 2 in 1 when he got a Mk. I IIRC.

MK II had at least 2 varients of the 6 in 1, the one Insect mentions and the one i got Sonic, Italia, Shinobi, Monaco F1, Streets of Rage, Columns

There was a 6 in 1 with iirc with some of the Mk 1's but i dont know what the combo was

pablomakaveli

Standout one is probably getting my PS2 with GTA Vice City for Christmas.

Had only played the top down GTA's on PS1 before that so playing GTA in 3D tearing around in a jeep to Billie Jean felt a bit midblowing.

Tweej

Waiting for christmas dinner to end so that my brother and I could play Pokemon Gold and Silver which our parents got early from Christmas

calex71

renting kingdom hearts from xtra vision on xmas eve and never giving it back

flynnlives

Red Alert 2!

Installed at 11am.

When i next turned away from the monitor it was 10pm, dark outside and i was in the room with no lights on!

peekachoo

Getting the Lion King SEGA game. Immense.

Temptamperu

Street fighter 2 turbo with me mates, animal christmas!

Canis Lupus

Getting my Snes and playing Mario bros and F Zero for the rest of the day. Sigh..... Wish I was a kid again.

Y2KBOS86

Tomb Raider christmas 96.

Y2KBOS86

calex71 wrote: »

renting kingdom hearts from xtra vision on xmas eve and never giving it back

Those were the days, remember renting the mega drive with my brother and my father having to give a crazy deposit of 50 pound or something like that.

We kids appreciated things back then.

briany

flynnlives wrote: »

Red Alert 2!

Installed at 11am.

When i next turned away from the monitor it was 10pm, dark outside and i was in the room with no lights on!

Strategy games have a way of doing that.

"Alright, I'm just going to fire up Civilization for a half an hour, see if I can the Viking capital.......aaand it's tomorrow."

I think I may have faked sick a couple of times so I could play Red Alert 2.

Grimebox

A Link to the Past

Glico Man

Christmas morning 1997. The folks had bought me a PS1 and F1 97. The power had gone out the previous night and wouldn't come back on until around 6 or 7 that evening. From 6am until then I stared at the console, waiting to play. I studied the manuals for hours, even reading them at lunch and dinner. When the power finally came back on, I stuck in the demo disc and was mesmerised by the T-Rex and Manta Ray

Unearthly

Getting the ps1 and Fifa 97. It blew me away. I couldn't believe there was commentary from the sky sports lads.

falan

For me it was getting my first new console when i was 9 or 10...A sega master system with Enduro racer when i was about 10...Before that all my comps had come out the second hand shops, Atari 2600 and commodore 64...Even when i view enduro racer on youtube i still remember it perfectly..

podgemonster

Don't know what year. Got Grand Theft Auto 1 on PS1. I was 13 and I remember me old fella standing over me as I drove around Liberty City.

"is that it? This is what they were warning me in Symths about over the 18c. Load of shíte, is this even any good"

Oafley Jones

It's a small thing,but I always loved the Easter egg in Operation Flashpoint where all the small fir trees became Christmas trees on Christmas Day.

Krusader

Getting an Amstrad 464 and my older brother hogging it all day

Getting a Sega mega drive and my da hogging it all day. He did reach level 147 playing Columns, which was impressive

Penn

'95, Sega Mega Drive. Sonic & Knuckles, Lion King, Mega Bomberman and the 6-in-1 collection that came with it. Barely had time to enjoy a game because I kept switching between them to try them all out.

L'prof

Favourite memories for me would have to be playing Tetris and any of the Marios on the Gameboy or Columns on the Megadrive. Played them all for hours on end.

Myrddin

For me it has to be Xmas morning, playing A Link To The Past for the first time, walking out of Link's house into the thundering rain...timeless

Vyse

Asides from all the childhood christmas mornings (C64 Hollywood pack, Amiga Batman pack, launch Megadrive in '90) I had a good one a few years ago with the XBox. Had ordered Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (an overlooked gem) and it arrived Christmas Eve. Had a great Christmas day playing that and XIII (another overlooked classic):D

Potential-Monke

I have 2.

The first was probably around '92/'93. We always had Christmas on the Eve, family would get together and have the dinner, followed by opening the presents and off to mass. The older crowd would go to the pub, and mam would usually stay behind with me. My brother was only 1 year older, so i've no idea where he was this year, possibly went to the pub with the rest of them, but i remember getting pure annoyed because i was too young to go to the pub.

Anyway, even though i got awesome presents, i was sulking. Mam was smiling, and it was annoying me. I stormed off to the bedroom, and next i heard mam shouting "Give me a hand". I slowly walked out to the sitting room, and there was mam with a massive smile and a big box wrapped. I didn't know what to think until she told me to unwrap my last present. I don't think it took me more than 0.5 seconds to unwrap my shiney new SNES Mario All-Stars bundle. Good god i was shaking with excitement! Think i was the last to go to bed that night (the rest didn't return until 4am!!!).

Second time was around '97/'98, can't remember exactly, was the year with the really bad weather. Anyway, into town on Xmas eve with the mother so she could get a few bits done. Told me to go up to the sisters work place (hairdressers) while she went to do something. Bored off my box in there, and in walks mam with a silvery/blue box. Immediately knew what it was, a PS1. I think the hairdressers was full, but i didn't care and i think i nearly started crying! I had wanted it for ages. The next 1 1/2 hours were a pain of a wait, while mam got her hair done. Into the car, pure excited on the 1/2 hour drive home. Half way home, i noticed the lights were out on some houses, and i started to worry as there were reports of electricity outings. But, when we arrived home, the lights were on. Don't think i even closed the door on the car, ran into the sittingroom, unboxed carefully, set it all up, pushed the power button, screen flickered, i heard the first note of that beautiful start-up sound, and "zzzzt". Electricity gone. It didn't come back for 6 days... The longest 6 days of my life!!!!!

I will never forget those 2 Christmas's! Love my mother, and she went on to buy me the PS2 as well, but in a less excited fashion!

Hank Scorpio

snes and the mario all stars pack, got f-zero too. will never forget it, was just magical

another year getting a big yellow original gameboy with donkey kong land packed in, couldn't sleep that night kept hearing the drums of the music in my head, was freaking out!

briany

nuxxx wrote: »

snes and the mario all stars pack, got f-zero too. will never forget it, was just magical

another year getting a big yellow original gameboy with donkey kong land packed in, couldn't sleep that night kept hearing the drums of the music in my head, was freaking out!

Woah, looking at game play footage, they really packed a lot of the SNES style into that little cartridge. I'd say it pushed the GB to it's limit.