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Best Holiday Gaming Seasons Ever?
Thanks to GameSpy for their feature discussing the best videogaming holiday seasons of all time, as they point out: "Most of the biggest and best games, and many of the best game consoles, have all come out during the final months on the calendar." Their nominations include 1982, in which "Ms. Pac-Man ruled the arcades, and the previous arcade king, Donkey Kong, could finally come to our homes, packed in with the snazzy new ColecoVision", and 1996, where: "With the introduction of Mario 64 in September, gamers discovered the joys of games in 3D. With the release of Tomb Raider that same month, gamers discovered their hormones." What was your all-time favorite gaming Christmas?
1994... that was the year I got Tie Fighter.
1996... that was the year I got Civilization II.
It's tough to choose which one gave me more entertainment:
Tie Fighter: My routine when high school clases finished:
2:30-4:30 = sports (fall soccer, winter track, spring tennis).
5:00 until dinner (~6:30) = Tie Fighter.
7:30 = homework/tv (depending on the day)
Civ II: Routine: Didn't have as much of a routine as Tie Fighter, but I usually started playing around 8-9, earlier or later depending on homework volume. It was NOT uncommon for me to not realize that it was 1am and I had been playing for 4+ hours, even though I only meant to play for "a few minutes..."
Man, I'm not one of those cynical "games today aren't what they used to be" people, since I've loved some recent games (Battlefield 1942, Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime), but nothing since Civ II has given me a "can't wait to play it later!" feeling. Anyone know a more recent game like that? I would love to have that attachment to a game again (not that I really have the time, but still...)
was given a SNES with Super Mario World. That game was so simple, so fun, it's still my all time favorite game. Now i get to waste even more hours of my study time with the GBA version :D
besides the fact that this is an obvious troll, I'll bite...
:)
I love these pot-calling-the-kettle-black statements that you see on Slashdot more and more lately - i.e. the people on Slashdot themselves calling other people nerds
And to address your idea that simply getting a videogame means, to quote you, that we would have to "try to pretend [we] had social skills" is insane. That's like saying if getting a book that you can read over-and-over will cause you to have few social skills. Ridiculous!
Besides the fact that most videogame systems released in the last 2 and a half decades have this fascinating device called a "second-controller port" (which, strangely, would require a FRIEND to use the second controller), the article is asking about the best holiday GAMING seasons ever. It's not saying "what videogame gift made your holiday better than the family get-togethers, dinners, homemade gifts and company put together?" My family celebrates Hannukah, so we personally had 8 days where we did this stuff. Usually, one gift was a videogame that we'd asked for. All of my Chritmas-celebrating friends also got one videogame toy during the holidays. So, based on the article, I answered which GAME was the best out of the 10-or-so years which I'd received them.
Geez, I'll bet you got your ass-kicked by some geek in 4th grade and ever since you've been on a futile mission to get revenge. Ha! Nice try...
Half-life 2!
Oh. Wait...
I am one of many. My idea is not unique, nor do I expect my voice alone to sway you. I speak in a chorus of opinion.
The parent is a troll because it offers nothing constructive and just tries to makes fun of people. On top of that it misses the point entirely.
Also, not everyone has tons of family to fill up all that time. So tell me, when is it acceptable to go play some games? December 27th? Jan 2nd? What if you're Jewish? Are you an anti-social loser if you're playing games on X-mas eve?
I can think back to when I got X-Wing I was so excited, got to install it on X-Mas day and start it up for about 10minutes. It wasn't until after new years that I really got to play it, but I still consider it to be a great GAMING Holiday Season. I believe I got Mario Kart for SNES. So taken together the amount of fun I eventually had playing those games made it a great GAMING Holiday Season.
It's like asking what year do you think was best for pick-up trucks?
-- taking over the world, we are.
people dont have more money to spend, they just spend more money.
there's a subtle difference... especially on your credit card.
SNES centric comments:
1993. Secret of Mana, and the multitap. Makes your friends forget about their families and come over to play it.
Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening came out about this time too for gameboy.
1994. Donkey Kong Country, Super Metroid, FFIII, and Breath of Bire, Megaman X. I was broke as soon as I had saved up my 69.99 each time. Damn that was expensive.
I think it was 1979. Why so great? First 2600. You have no idea how long Combat and Space Invaders could keep you occupied when you're 6 years old.
All the other things you have mentioned were mere set dressing. Evolution, not revolution.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
I was 11, and the only game system I had was a NES that I'd purchased with my own money. My parents thought that video games were a waste of time and money, and so everything I had I'd bought myself.
I'd recently discovered this incredible game in the arcades, Street Fighter II, and I fell in love with fighting games. Of course, there were no fighting games for the NES, so I just went to the arcade and burned quarters there.
When I heard that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters was going to be released for the NES, I was ecstatic. Since it was due out right around Christmastime, I begged and nagged my parents to buy it for me. On Christmas morning, as I tore through my presents, I came across a suspiciously video-game-shaped one. I opened it up, and found TMNT: TF all right... but for the Genesis.
I was heartbroken. I turned to my folks with what must have been a pitiful look on my face, and told them "Thanks guys, but you guys got the wrong one..." My dad just grinned, and without saying a word reached behind the couch and pulled out a brand new Genesis.
Of course, TMNT:TF wound up being pretty bad, but that was still the greatest gaming Christmas ever. =)
I love how GameSpy continually puts out these best gaming etcetera opinion pieces to simply spark the fanboy debates. The last page even has some useful essential links (scroll to the bottom) that must not be missed. :)
:)
I am not immune, however. So...
Nintendo rules the artificial demand department with the "chip shortage" of 1988 which affected Zelda II more than any other title. Hmmm.... They also seemed to have a low supply of N64 consoles in 1996. One of my fondest Christmas-ish moments was walking into a toy store on Black Friday and asking if they had any N64s. The clerk told me that he had just got off the phone with someone who had to cancel their layaway and asked if I wanted it. I simply said "no thanks."
Sony had the hype/demand machine chugging in 2000 when they launched the PS2 at more than twice the price of the Dreamcast that had a bigger library of quality games. Those lucky enough to get a PS2 that year were treated with marginal titles, a way to play their PS1 games and DVDs and not much else. Majora's Mask came out in 2000. This is one of the most misunderstood games of all time. Most players hated it due to it's manipulation of time, but it is a very fine game.
My personal favorite holiday gaming season would have to be 2002. Some of the finest games of all time came out during this season. GTA: Vice City and Metroid Prime are must have games for any (mature) gamer. Platform lovers who usually stuck with Nintendo systems would be shocked as Super Mario Sunshine proved to be a slightly above average game. The PS2 meanwhile had the incredibly superb Ratchet and Clank. Even the Xbox had a slight edge as Jet Set Radio Future was being shipped with the system, unfortunately, the only other platform game for the Xbox was the terrible Blinx so it didn't have that big of an edge.