Videogames and Christmas are indelibly linked, and we rather hope they will be forever. Much of that is due to this industry’s historic obsession with the final three months of the year; while release schedules are doubtless better spread out these days, big-budget development is still all about Q4. For most of us, of course, business considerations don’t come into it, and never did; there’s just nothing quite like a great game on a cold winter’s day, and if you’ve spent days or weeks looking forward to it, poring over magazine previews while eagerly eyeing the suspiciously sized present under the tree then so much the better. As such, if you love games, chances are there’s one in particular that you will forever associate with Christmas Day. If you’re anything like us, you’ve probably got many more than that. Here, staff and contributors share their own favourite memories of videogames at Christmas.
Shenmue (Dreamcast)
David Valjalo, contributor
It was December 1999 and a local shopkeeper had taken my order for a Japanese import Dreamcast. He brought the machine, with its exotic orange swirl, back from a family holiday to the east in his suitcase. Only in Liverpool would that be a legitimate way to run an import/export business. I was giddy with excitement. The first game I fired up was Giant Gram: All Japan Pro Wrestling 2 In Nippon Budokan. The second was Shenmue. I couldn’t understand a word of it. And I played it for the next twelve months, captivated, until the PAL release.
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