It’s not long now…
Soon, everyone around the world will be visited by good old Santa Claus, receiving their bundles of presents (if they have been good this year!). However, if the magic of Christmas was already ruined for you, then it’s the day we finally get to open those presents that we slaved over to acquire and then wrap. For anyone with a love of videogames, it is the perfect time of year to get something relating to your passion. It might be the hottest game out just in time for a festive launch; maybe it is an accessory or two to enhance your gaming experience going into the new year. If you have siblings, it’s most likely that second controller so that you are forced to allow your little brother or sister to play alongside you just for some peace and quiet on Christmas morning. However, there is something about this festive time that brings to light some of the oddest choices in gifts when it comes to desperately trying to fulfill your need for videogame-inspired gifts. Maybe your parents don’t exactly understand what games you like or even what system you actually own, but here are some examples of very odd gifts to receive on Christmas Day.
Now back in the day, bootleg games were a pretty common occurrence that really couldn’t be helped. Ranging from Playstation discs to the Gameboy cartridges, it was pretty easy to just knock up a fake game and slap on a confusing cover so that people mistook it for the real thing. This could be even more apparent around Christmas time when desperate parents are trying to figure out what their children have described to them. What was that big thing that they loved again? Pokémon? Well this slightly blurred front cover of Pokémon Chaos Black is surely what they must be after! Yes, this game did exist at one point but it was far from official.
Sporting an image of Chaos from Sonic Adventure, it was a very odd bootleg that reportedly varied from cartridge to cartridge. The one I received was a jet black cartridge for Gameboy Advance, and it seemed to be a rather weak or even corrupted game. My version of the game did not include a save feature (for whatever reason) and the music was a borderline earache to listen to. The game also had a bad habit of restarting if I tried to interact with one random NPC character and eventually I lost the will to live with this shoddy attempt at cashing in on the Pokémon formula. Pokémon Chaos Black fell into the oblivion that was the back of my drawer and after moving houses, I never saw the cartridge again. I’m sure someone has written a creepy pasta about it though.
Videogame-inspired clothing is usually a safe bet for a Christmas present; what better way to tell the world about your passion than displaying it on your very person? This can range from shirts to hats and even to themed socks and such, though one of the strangest items comes in the form of sweaters. Of course, winter is the perfect time to wear a warm and cozy sweater, but sometimes videogame-inspired sweaters miss the trick. Having received several growing up, featuring images from various franchises in pixel-like fashion, they all seemed to have the problem of being specifically Christmas-themed, adorn with Christmas trees or Santa hats and such. Now, it is socially acceptable to wear Christmas-themed clothing leading up to Christmas, but afterwards it is rather weird to see. After all, Christmas has now passed and even though the start of the new year is still technically Winter, Christmas is now but a distant memory and it’s another twelve months till it comes round again. Videogame-themed Christmas sweaters seem to only be good gifts on the actual day, unless you actually remember to keep it and are able to find it once more when it’s the festive period once more. They say that there is a lot of love within a Christmas sweater, but sadly the timing for this kind of gift is just a little bit off.
Are you a gamer who needs something soft and squishy to hug? Well, cuddly toys or plushies might look pretty nice sitting on your bed or looming on your shelf but wait, you are a gamer, so that means they need to be plushies from your favourite games! Of course, there is a margin of error between each different plush; they all won’t look exactly the same and there may be slight flaws in stitching. This is even more apparent when the merchandise is unofficial, made in some far off country in order to cash in on something that is immensely popular. Back in the ’90s, there wasn’t that much merchandise of your favourite Playstation mascots, at least not to the same extent as the Pokémon toys.
However, try to imagine, if you will, a plush toy of the popular mascot Crash Bandicoot. You remember Crash Bandicoot, right? Well, if you don’t, his original trilogy of games is getting a remaster so keep an eye out for that in the future. Anyway, have you imagined that plush toy of him yet? Now try to think of his usually chipper and happy expression, but twisted thanks to his cross eyes and his poorly-stitched mouth. Along with orange felt fur that seemed to be falling off of his poor plush body, it is truly the stuff of nightmares. Thankfully, there are quality plushies out there, but do keep an eyeball out for those cuddly toys that are scary enough to be features in their very own horror-themed VR game.
Those are only a few examples of some of the strangest gifts that you could give to someone who adores videogames. There are plenty more out there, probably back in the deep darkness that is childhood. Have you ever gotten a very odd or strange Christmas present? You can probably relate to some of these festive tales or maybe you have always been lucky and gotten exactly what you wanted from good Saint Nick. We hope that whatever your gaming preference is, you get those videogame goodies that you have been pining for on Christmas day!