The holidays when you were a kid were more or less (let's be honest) about all the cool stuff you were going to get and as time has gone on we all learn to appreciate more aspects to the holidays but c'mon... the gifts were where it was at. Yes, it's nice to see old friends and the family (the ones you can tolerate) and enjoy some warm memories of holidays and good times past but we all desire those kick-ass gifts from the ones who truly know us best.  As time has gone on the evolution of gift giving for gamers has evolved as rapidly as gaming platforms have. Every time we see those gifts in that shiny paper under the tree that are shaped like a DVD case you know in the back of your mind there's a 50/50 chance that you're about to snuggle up to your system for some additional T.L.C. Whether you're the college kid, the factory worker or whatever, as long as you're a gamer, those fingers are crossed as you stare drooling at those square packages of potential joy. 
 
Over the last 10 years, don't get me wrong, I love next generation gaming and the incredible leaps that have been made in graphics and sound but I find more and more joy coming back to the parents house and dusting off the good ol' systems and popping in a cartridge game and just going to town. No matter how badly Kano may kick your ass or how badly you may want to shoot that damn giggling dog you can't help but smile and keep going back for more. I have found that drooling over the anticipation of a new 360 game is quite fun and always satisfying but there are so many good memories of spending countless hours in front of a 12" tube T.V. wanting to snap the controller in half after hours of beat-downs or of that victory fist-pump after completing a level you've been stuck in for  2 hours. Those memories are what draw us (or me at least) to the joy of the holidays, which is celebrating the holidays with games... a s*%t-load of games.