(Beastcast) Best gaming gift you've received?

On the latest Beastcast , someone emailed in asking the duders what their favorite gaming gifts were. This got me thinking about my answer. I've narrowed it down to two possible answers.

1) An N64 with Smash Bros for christmas. This was a gift for my siblings and me. I remember going to pick up my older bother, with my mom, from a sleep opever and seeing them play this game. I thought it looked like the coolest thing ever. I mean playing as all these great character in one game, c'mon! To top it all off, we begged to open one gift early and my parents compromised by having us open this family gift one day early. So we got to spend the day leading up to christmas playing Smash non-stop.

2) A Gameboy Color for my 7th or 8th birthday (lime green for life). This was my first hand held console, and the first console I did not share with my siblings. I remember wanting one so bad; I would endlessly look at them and all the different accessories for it in a toy magazine. I finally got one for my birthday and that day I made my mom drive me to the mall so I could buy Pokemon Yellow with my birthday card money. I spent the next 24 hours playing pokemon non stop to try and catch up to a friend who had Red version already because I had a sleep over with him the next day.

Now that I wrote both of those out, I would probably say the Gameboy Color is my favorite gaming gift. So what's yours?

On a side note, much like Alex with his SNES, my brother and I saved up half for an original Xbox and my parents paid the other half.

After 1-2 years of nagging my dad finally bought me an PS1 with Red Alert as christmas present. I had played Red Alert at a friends place on PC for all that time and it was the only thing in the world i wanted. What i really wanted was an PC with Red Alert but my dad found an cheaper option and i didnt really mind, it was Red Alert after all.

My brother and me spent the entire 2 week skitrip our family took just sitting in the lodge and playing Red Alert 12 hours a day. It was the first and last time my parents ever bought a videogame to me ;)

@rethla: haha that ski trip story is funny. I remember when I was like 12 and my family took a trip to Canada (the only time I've been outside of the U.S.) and I had just gotten Avenge Sevenfold's album City of Evil. I listened to it the entire trip and it made me such an angsty teen twat the entire time.

I'd have to say Super Mario Bros. 2, Christmas eve, 1988.

It was at a time when games were made on cartridges, and supply couldn't ever keep up with demand, especially around the Holidays. After I opened it, we ordered a pizza, and I started playing my new game. When the pizza guy arrived, he stood in the doorway handing my dad our pizza, and then he said to my parents "is that Super Mario Bros. 2? Where did you get that?"

I felt so fortunate in that moment, and I still haven't forgotten it, nearly 30 years later.

Duke Nukem 3D for my 10th birthday. Best of times.

Definitely the original Ps2. My parents werent in a great economical state at the time, and games were a low, low priority (I was already doing sports, and they prefered more active hobbies). I was pretty aware that the chances of getting an expensive gift that didn't include exercise wasn't likely in the least. I had pretty much eliminated the possibility of getting the hot new PlaystationTM from my mind entirely.

Now I can tell you, the best surprise is the one you want, but least expect. And the stars fucking aligned for they birthday, the complete disbelief and joy I felt when I saw the Sony logo shine through the packaging was uuuuunbelievable. I'll remember that moment for the rest of my life. <3

I think I have to say my Wii. Not that in hindsight it was that great of a present, but this was for Christmas 2006 when they were really hard to find and my dad camped out all night for it so I could get one and Twilight Princess.

Though also my DS was a pretty rad gift.

@belegorm: I remember my parents getting us a Wii sometime in the first 2 years of it's launch. We had a lot of fun with it, but I was in the teen stage of not caring a whole bunch about "little kid" Nintendo. Now I'm looking at No More Heroes 1 & 2 online and thinking about borrowing my families Wii to play those and the Galaxy games.

An Xbox 360 Saints Row bundel after my first year in high school for getting good grades.

My NES I got as a kid. I was raised by a single mother and I also have a younger sister, so times were pretty tough. I was young enough that I wasn't really aware of videogames, and I didn't know any kids around my age with a videogame console to be envious of either, so she didn't even have to get it for me. This was probably some time around '94, so the console must have been cheaper by then, but it still couldn't have been easy. I only had three games on that system that I can remember: SMB3, Sesame Street Countdown, and a Batman game that I had no idea how to play. Couldn't have been happier with it.

I also got a Super Nintendo several years later, but I eventually ended up sending both consoles to family in the Dominican Republic, which I kinda regret now as it would have been nice to have them around as childhood keepsakes if nothing else.

Nothing compares to a brand new system when you're a kid. Nothing. For me it would have to be the NES or SNES. I was very young when I got an NES so the memories are hazy, but I remember very clearly when I got my SNES. We were on our way up to a rented house for winter vacation when my dad pulled off the highway into a Toys 'R Us. He told me that 'against his wishes' (who knows if that was true) my grandfather had decided to get me a SNES and we were there to pick it up, and I could get one game with it (in addition to Mario World, which it came with, and Mario All*Stars, which was free but I had to send away for.) Since I had a friend with me I looked for a two player game and settled on World Heroes.

I know a lot of people don't love that game, but let me tell you for two pre-teen boys playing at night in a cabin surrounded by snow it more than got the job done. I more than got my grandpa's money's worth out of that game and I continue to have fond memories of it to this day. Unfortunately I lent it to another friend about a year later and it got stolen from him (he replaced it with SF II), so I no longer have the cart, but I do have the memories.

For various reasons when my mom bought me a PlayStation in 1997 I was unable to appreciate it, and I bought all my own systems after that, so I don't think I will ever have as pure a moment of consumerist joy as I did that winter morning, looking at all the SNES games and thinking of the fun times to come.

Best: My aunt bought me the SEGA Genesis bundle that came with Streets of Rage 2 and that's one of my favorite games to this day.

Worst: My pops bought me Spawn for the PS one birthday and I, having no knowledge of the game itself, was super disappointed. Fuck that game.

This seems like a mixed message.

My mother got me Aladdin on Ps1 out of the blue. It might not seem like much, but she had never played a game in her life and the fact that she got me a game without asking me is something i'll never forget.

Out of one of those Reddit Secret Santa exchanges, my gifter dare managed to try and understand my specific fandom of Sonic The Hedgehog and managed probably the best gift. I received an asian region cart of Sonic 2 for the Genesis. It is completely in English, but the cart and the style of it is more in lieu of the original Japanese release. It was also a bit of a time capsule. It is near mint and came with everything originally in the case, including an advertisement for an upcoming Batman Returns game.

I got some other things too, but that was hands down the best gaming present I've ever gotten.

@bigsocrates: It actually was a great motivator to keep performing well at school, as long as I get good grades I get an awesome gift I thought. But that wasn't the case probably for the better otherwise I would've been an even greater spoiled brat.

I just meant that you were rewarded for good behavior in school with a game that's about delinquency, joining gangs, and general bad behavior.

It would be like rewarding someone who maintained a safe driving record with a copy of Burnout 3: Takedown.

SNES with Donkey Kong Country changed things forever. Before then I had only played games at friend's houses.

A SNES for Xmas and in more recent memory I got the Bloodborne Old Hunters Edition imported from Japan for my birthday last year.

My dad bought my brother and I a new GBC each and imported copies of Pokémon Gold and Silver before they dropped in the UK, that was the happiest damn Christmas I ever had. I felt like the coolest kid in school.

In 2005, my dad camped out for two days in front of Best Buy for the Xbox 360, but then made us wait until Christmas to play it. In 2006, he did the same thing for the Wii, but this time it was 5(!!!!) days, in front of Target, and he let me camp with him from Friday to midnight Monday morning when they let us buy them. I was in the fourth grade, and my school didn't meet on Mondays, so I didn't miss anything important. While the consoles were great and I appreciated them, the best part was getting to hang out with my dad, sleep in a tent in the harsh, midwest winter, and talk to the other people in the line that were just as big of nerds as I was.

C64 when I was 6 or 7, I wasn't expecting one because I grew up pretty poor and that shit was expensive.

I'm 37 and I'm a child of the Atari 2600 and the NES. But my true loves were Zelda and especially at the time Street Fighter II in the arcades. I was unable to procure an SNES on its initial release, but I did get the core set without a game and Zelda: A Link to the Past and Street Fighter II for my birthday which I figure would be December 31st of 1992. I played the shit out of those two games. What a great birthday!

Its not really my gift, but my Dad was visiting the electronics store one day and was shown the Doom shareware version running on a pimped out 486 (Dude, this thing had 8mb of ram). Needless to say, my Dad made the worst / greatest impulse buy of our life and since I had the only desk in the house, that computer was put in my bedroom. =)

I missed being able to play Mickey's Space Adventure and BC's Quest For Tires on my old Apple II, but those pangs disappeared shortly afterwards.

I grew up poor so video game gifts from my immediate family only consisted of Ataris and the like from Goodwill or flea markets. My aunt and grandpa took a shine to me because they could talk world events and politics to an 11 year old boy. I used to read the paper from my paper route keeping me up to date. My dad only read the comics and reading was like garlic to a vampire for my sister and mother. The rest of the family are mostly harmless knuckle dragging troglodytes. As a thank you for saving them from TV talk and family gossip, one Christmas they got me a NES with Mario/duck hunt and that light gun thing.

A Commodore Amiga 500. It wasn't technically mine, but when my parents upgraded to a Gateway it was moved into my room. I poured over those Usborne programming books trying to convert the code into AmigaBASIC from whatever version of BASIC is was written in.

Speaking of, Usborne released free PDFs of their kids' programming guides from the '80s. Pretty cool, especially if you grew up with them.

http://www.usborne.com/catalogue/feature-page/computer-and-coding-books.aspx

EDIT: The best honest-to-goodness gift was received the Christmas after the Gateway purchase, when my parents bought all of us kids Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator: WWII Europe Series, Logical Journey of the Zoombinis, and The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain.

Not a gift for me specifically but when I was 7 and my brother brought home the Pegasus (a famicom) for the very first time it was a life altering experience seeing Contra in action.

Everything else pales to that first time wide eyed wonder I experienced that day hearing that music, seeing those colors. Man.

The N64 was the only gaming gift I got where I was the right age for it to really hit.

@bigsocrates: I can think of no better positive warning to drive safely than the viscous crashes of the Burnout franchise.

Half Life back in 1998. Little did I know it was the game that would convert me from console to PC gamer

I got my own PS1 and a copy of ff8 one christmas and I was in heaven. It was a total surprise!

I got FF12 for Christmas. Doesn't seem like much but my family wasn't doing well financially at the time and I have 3 younger siblings. Being a teenager and thoughtful, I helped my parents wrap all the presents that year and told them they didn't need to get me anything (they always would get me chocolates and the like, or small but nice necessities). They knew my fondness for the series and made sure it was right there on the tree when I got up that morning. It was just super awesome of my parents to do, and unexpected, as they could have used that money elsewhere.

2001 Christmas, a gamecube with super monkey ball, pikmin, smash brothers melee, tony hawk 3, and rogue squadron 2. the basis of what mattered on the gamecube imo

I would have to say the first Playstation (my parents bought it for me), my platinum Game Cube (parents bought it for me) are up there. The crown jewel really is the Taken King PS4 that my wonderful girlfriend bought me.

My co-worker (the partner on my ambulance) gave me a $50 steam card last winter for my birthday during the steam winter sale. I also remember my dad getting me FFXII when I was a kid, even after he mocked how expensive a single video game was after I showed it to him at the store.

Contra for the NES. My dad bought me that for Christmas. Next best would be a PS1 with FFVII. My dad also bought me that one. Both pretty damn good gifts in my book.

One Christmas my parents bought me a Game Boy pocket. It was my first real gaming device that wasn't one of those Tiger Electronic LCD games. It was packaged with Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.

Another Christmas like eight years ago my sister got me the Original Soundtracks for the Silent Hill games. One through four.

There have been plenty of Christmases that my family have given me stuff I didn't need or wanted but those two things are my favorite video game related gifts.

My Virtual Boy. The best gift I've ever gotten in my 29 years of living.

Probably the Amstrad CPC 464 I got whilst everyone else was living in a Sega wonderland. The Amiga I got might've come close but I barely remember anything good from it apart from the Lotus series.

The Master Chief Collection, a masterpiece - the matchmaking was ahead of its time...

@giliad: I bet a bunch of people got burned by this gift.

I believe it was on my 12th or 13th birthday when I received my Sega Genesis bundle from Sam's Club which contained Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Evander Holyfield Boxing, and a megafire controller. Part of me always regrets that I didn't go for the SNES but it only came with Super Mario World for the same price.

My aunt bought me a Sega Megadrive (Genesis in the US) when I was 12. My first ever console, I was so happy! It came with California Games which I played to death.

Waaaaaay back in the day (1989) I asked for a stack of games for my Spectrum +2 for Xmas. The day came and after opening all my other presents there were no games. I was gutted... That is until my Dad brought out this big box as a joint present for me a my brothers to share. It was only a Batman pack Amiga 500! It's cost £399! A crazy amount of money back then. My parents must have saved for months.

My Gameboy. It was the pack with Tetris, the link cable, and the earbuds. Batteries included.

That was a good day.

My brother bought himself a PS2 and pretended to give it to me for christmas...that was cool i guess.

Honestly?

Last year, right around the launch of MGSV, I had to attend a very difficult family gathering. I was dreading this get together because it was for my Grandmother, who has terminal cancer. I was also having some very rough financial troubles at the time as well. My anxiety was through the roof regarding this gathering, but my wonderful roommate encouraged me to follow through and attend. It was very hard, but I'm so glad that I went.

I am a huge metal gear fan, and when I got home that night there was a fresh copy of Metal Gear Solid V waiting for me, courtesy of my roommate. She knew there was no way I could buy it myself and she knew how rough of a time I was having. So, she just did it.

I'll never forget it.