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The magic of video games at Christmas

The magic of video games at Christmas

#44: Imagine it's Christmas morning...

December 23, 2022

Ok close your eyes. Actually no don't do that, keep reading. But imagine for a second that you’re a child again.

Imagine it's Christmas morning. You’re creeping slowly downstairs, feeling your way in the dark with your hands, straining your eyes to see the way forward. You can feel that excitement deep in your stomach. That special kind of excitement that only comes from being a kid at Christmas. You walk into the living room and see the selection of presents under the tree, the boxes flashing from the tiny lights suspended above them. You scan the boxes intently, searching for one the size of the item you’ve been hoping for. You spot a winner with your name on and start tearing off the paper. You’ve waited for what seems like an eternity for this moment, and there it is, right there in your hands…

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re a gamer. Chances are what you’re holding is a video game or games console. Is it a glorious, golden Zelda cartridge? Perhaps a Mario or Sonic? Crash Bandicoot or Final Fantasy? Maybe a console itself? A brand new machine with limitless possibilities. Do you remember how that moment felt?

Childhood Christmases are like nothing else. Childhood Christmases with video games? Well they’re truly special.

One of my fondest Christmas memories is one of my earliest. I don’t know for sure, but I've since worked out that it was probably the Christmas of '92, when I was 8. I remember sitting on the floor with a selection of presents around me and opening one that proved a little strange; an Amiga joystick. Not strange in itself, of course, were it not for the fact that I didn't own an Amiga.

Yes, Santa had accidentally put the joystick in amongst the ‘regular’ presents, despite the fact that the ‘main event’ was hidden away ready for a surprise reveal later. As I opened the joystick my parents hastily and hilariously explained that it must be there “just in case you get an Amiga sometime this year”.

But I knew the deal. I'd been mistakenly given one of my presents a little too soon, and when a final surprise present was introduced not long after, my suspicion was confirmed; an Amiga 600. My first gaming machine, and one for which I still have the fondest of memories.

I’d played on an Amiga before at a friend’s house, but this one was mine. I'd spend my entire Christmas break and the next year or so enjoying the likes of Sensible Soccer, Cannon Fodder, Worms, Lemmings, Speedball, Theme Park and a host of other stone-cold classics any Amiga fan will know all too well.

As adults, of course, we know how Christmas works. Also as adults, we can often afford to buy the games we want without having to wait. Or at least we know how long that wait is going to be. As a child you had no idea. Usually you’d have to wait for a birthday - or indeed Christmas - where you'd place a request and hope for the best. You asked for that console or game you longed for, but you didn’t really know if you were going to get it, and the wait was agonising.

You'd soak up magazine articles and screenshots for months beforehand, imagining how the game would look and play in motion when you finally had it in front of you. If the game turned up, the feeling was magic. A feeling of surprise, relief and unbridled joy that is almost impossible to recapture as an adult. With no need to worry about Christmas lunch or preparing the house for visitors, that game could be your sole focus. There wasn’t even the worry of school - two weeks a gloriously endless amount of time for a child. No, you'd slot that cartridge into the console, take up your seat on the floor in front of the TV and disappear into the world that would materialise in front of you.

Christmas is for the kids, of course, but this year try to think back to those times in your youth when you sat down in front of a new game and everything else just dissolved from your mind. Whether it's a new mainstream blockbuster, indie game or an old favourite you haven’t played in years, try to make a little time for yourself this Christmas and get truly lost in a game the way you used to.

Sit back, grab some eggnog - whatever the hell that is - turn on your console of choice, pick up that controller, put your feet up, put your phone away (you never used to browse the internet during every loading screen and cut-scene as a child, did you?) and just enjoy it.

This year, I truly hope you can find a good game to settle down with, and that you can recapture just a little bit of that Christmas video game magic. Whatever your plans - and even if you don't celebrate Christmas - I wish you all a wonderful, safe festive period.

Thank you so much for reading.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

Jeff

THE WEEK IN GAMES

The best news, deals and gaming content of the week!

NEWS

Another 22 games have been added to the PS Plus Extra and Premium tiers, and the PS Plus games for January have also been leaked. But 10 PS4 games will leave the service in January.
9 games are also leaving Xbox Game Pass soon.
Somebody has recreated the Super Mario Bros Movie trailer... using N64 graphics.
God of War Ragnarok will receive a New Game Plus mode in Spring 2023.
Meanwhile, the God of War TV show will be incredibly true to the source material, according to Amazon.
UK watchdog calls on Nintendo to fix Joy-Con drift and compensate consumers.
Kojima Productions is commemorating both the studio's seventh anniversary and the reveal of Death Stranding 2 with a collection of PSN avatars you can redeem right now.
Speaking of Kojima, he has said that he is taking an arthouse approach with the upcoming Death Stranding movie.
If you own any Ubisoft games on Stadia, you can claim Ubisoft Connect copies of them at no additional cost, but only until January 18th.
Epic Games will pay more than half a billion dollars for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, according to the FTC.
A Microsoft survey about Xbox Game Pass suggests that an ad-supported subscription tier may be coming to the service.
A group of gamers has banded together to sue Microsoft over Activision merger, although 75% of public comments on Microsoft-Activision were in favour of the deal.
PSVR2 was designed in parallel with PS5, Sony has said.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been related for release by the North American rating board, ESRB.
This year's Jingle Jam has raised over €3.4 million ($3.6 million) in global donations to charity.
High On Life sets Xbox Game Pass records as biggest 2022 launch and more.
Devolver Digital has shown off new Skate Story gameplay.

DEALS

PlayStation's January Sale has started already, with up to 75% off a load of games both big, small, old and new. Including Modern Warfare II, Last of Us Part I and II and more.
The Deal of the Week is 30% off both editions of Elden Ring.
Over on Xbox, you can also save on Elden Ring and many others in the Countdown Sale, which offers up to 60% off a huge number of new and old games.
On Nintendo's eShop there's a Festive Offers Sale running, with up to 60% off a range of titles including Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope and Sonic Frontiers.
The Epic Games Store is still offering its conveyor belt of free titles to claim every day, and is currently in the middle of its Holiday Sale promotion.
Over on Steam, the big Winter Sale is now on with a predictably large selection of games on offer.

MORE!

25% off Week in Games Premium!

Since it's Christmas, and for one week only, you can currently get 25% off a Week in Games Premium Subscription - just £3 a month (or £2.50 with a yearly sub).

Not only will you be supporting what I do, you'll also receive the new weekly Sunday Supplement issue, get access to exclusive Special Issues throughout 2023, and my everlasting gratitude.

Ninty Fresh Magazine: Issue 08

Issue 08 of the brilliant Ninty Fresh magazine is now available to buy online following its successful Kickstarter campaign. This issue's main focus is Star Fox, but there's plenty of other current and retro Nintendo content in there to get stuck into.

Ninty Fresh #08 Winter 2022

Miss the days of print Nintendo magazines? There had been no Nintendo magazines in the UK since 2014, when ONM (Official Nintendo magazine) closed its doors. As print coverage of Nintendo systems has declined over the years, we felt it was time to bring it back and so we made this! This eighth issue of Ninty Fresh is a

https://www.nintymedia.net/products/ninty-fresh-08-winter-2022

The Heaaaps O Games Christmas 2022 Charity Livestream

A quick shout-out to a good friend over on Twitter who is hosting a charity stream on his YouTube channel tonight (Friday 23rd at 7.45 GMT). It’ll be a good laugh and any money raised goes to the Irish Hospice Foundation.

Heaaaps O Games

The focus for this channel is to cover both the current & retro gaming scene all with an Irish Twist. Bit of craic to share my lifelong pastime. A never ending backlog is always a good thing! Typically upload twice a week with live streams scheduled on Fridays! Bring the the Rage! #theragingclover

https://youtube.com/@Heaaaps

NEW RELEASES

All the major releases arriving this week and next!

THIS WEEK:

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (PlayStation 4) – December 20
Naraka: Bladepoint (Xbox One) – December 22
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4) – December 22

NEXT WEEK:

Nothing :(

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…and that’s it for this week!

I hope you enjoyed the issue. If you have any comments, suggestions or enquiries, please reply to this email directly or catch me over on Twitter or Hive!

Thanks again, and see you next week!