From a family showdown on Guitar Hero III to the winter levels in Diddy Kong Racing, the designers of some of today's top titles recall the gifts and moments that lit up their childhoods.
There is a viral video that tends to get passed around at this time of year. It's an old home movie showing a boy and a girl on Christmas morning eagerly unwrapping a present that turns out to be an N64 console - the boy is, to put it mildly, extremely pleased. It's a scene a lot of us who play games will recognise: the excitement and anticipation provided by that big console-sized parcel, or the little DVD-shaped package that could be the latest Super Mario adventure. Although I never got a games machine at Christmas, I remember one year being given Trivial Pursuit on the Commodore 64 and the whole family gathered around the TV to play. It was one of the few times my mum and my sisters showed any interest in the computer, and I loved getting them involved.
Veteran designer Rhod Broadbent of Dakko Dakko recalls the Christmas of 1992, when his father, a programmer who had previously looked down on games consoles, bought him Mario Kart and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. "Zelda was completely unknown to me at the time," he recalls. "I think Dad was probably expecting me to be more excited. But after I had spent the morning in Mario Kart, I plugged in Zelda and everything changed. From the title music, through the intro and into that beautiful initial thunderstorm, everything was so polished and smooth and unlike the video games I'd played before. It didn't leave the cartridge slot for weeks. I remember that Christmas morning like it was yesterday ..."
For Anna Hollinrake, founder of Electric Saint, Christmas gaming was an opportunity for sweet revenge. "As a competitive child with a guitarist father, I chose to learn the violin aged six so I could be better than him at something. However, he picked up my violin and immediately smashed out a few pieces way above my level. Years later, Christmas morning 2007, I unwrapped Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Imagine my delight as I watched my dad catastrophically miss every note on the plastic guitar controller. Oh, how the tables turned, father. Who's the musician now?!"
The memories don't always end so happily. Sam Barlow, creator of Her Story and Immortality, recalls when he and his brother used to wait until everyone was in bed on Christmas Eve before sneakily squeezing and shaking all their presents. "One year my brother fishes out a thick rectangular present - exactly the shape of a Super Nintendo game box. We were so excited, we got very little sleep thinking about what game it could be. Skip to the morning, he carefully peels open the wrapping, teasing out the reveal ... only to discover a Ghostbusters card game. His utter disappointment was the funniest thing I've seen. To this day in our family, 'Ghostbusters card game' is used as shorthand for those occasions when life fails to meet our expectations."
But there were also times when disappointment turned to delight. Video game writer Alex Donaldson at Eurogamer recalls being desperate for a PC, but his parents couldn't afford it so got him a Sega Mega Drive instead. "I quickly set it up and loaded the Mega Games compilation cart," he says. "Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Revenge of Shinobi ... Everything was so immediate, so visceral. This wasn't a PC, it was better. I always remember that feeling - there is a beautiful simplicity to the console."
Some of us have found ways to keep treasured Christmas gaming experiences alive. I can dig out Singstar and relive festive karaoke sessions of old, while Lucy Blundell of Kinmoku Games (One Night Stand, Videoverse) has a collection of vintage consoles to call upon. "Last Christmas morning, my husband and I snuggled on the beanbags with our dog, plugged in our Japanese Sega Saturn and played Christmas NiGHTS," she says. "Afterwards, we booted up the Nintendo 64 - the very same console I received for Christmas back in 1999 - and played my favourite Christmas games: Diddy Kong Racing's winter levels and Super Mario 64, which I bought on Boxing Day in 1999. Spending a quiet Christmas together and sharing our favourite childhood games was a real festive treat!"
Last week, I asked on BlueSky for people's Christmas gaming memories, and what really touched me was how many recalled being given secondhand machines, with bundles of games - and being delighted. A Commodore 128, a Nintendo Wii ... the thrill was in having so many new experiences to try, not just the one game that comes with a new console. Christmas for a gamer isn't always about the flashiest, newest, most expensive things. It can be a few hours of shared fun with whatever machine you have to hand.