So, what is everyone hoping they'll receive for Christmas this year?
I don't expect much myself, as I usually end up buying the material things that I want right when they come out (I see games like Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the horizon but I won't be waiting for Christmas). Or they're too expensive for me to expect anyone else to buy for me (laptop (even though my dad just bought my brother one for school), iPod, replica Master Sword, etc.). And the things I truly want (love, job security, family stability) are immaterial so I can't really expect them under the tree.
But I'm interested to know what you guys think are hot gifts this year.
Bah humbug!
It seems that once you reach a certain point, you can't get cool stuff for Christmas any more, but on the other hand you get to actually buy cool stuff yourself whenever you want it, so long as you have money. (Me, April: Oh look, shops full of Wiis encountered by chance while abroad. I'll take one.) It's probably related to the way the cool stuff I want costs a lot more than the cool stuff kids want. The downside is no more childlike anticipation and excitement, having to buy gifts for everyone else, and receiving crappy token presents. I can't remember one thing I've got in the last few years that wasn't a waste of time to open.
Well, although my family wasn't poor, my parents never put any real emphasis on expensive presents eitehr for our birthdays or for Christmas, and instead we just travelled with them a lot. The most expensive present I ever got was an NES, and that was for both me and my sister. The downside was that at the time, we kept comparing outselves to other kids who would sometimes receive 150$ from their grandparents alone while we'd get about that amount total for all our present *if* we were lucky; the upside is that we didn't grow up spoiled rotten and appreciate the value of hard work.
The rest of the time we were told to save our weekly 5$ allowance until we could buy what we really wanted. Needless to say that I got tired of the Gameboy before I could ever earn enough to buy one, and I never bought a lot of things I thought I wanted but never regretted not getting.
Anyway, while Christmas no longer has all the magic it had as kids when we used to count the days until Christmas Eve with the mass, the extended family supper, the presents from our parents and family and the little gifts in our decorated socks in the morning which we were *sure* were really from Santa and the holiday cartoons every day for two weeks, it's still a special time to me.
Now that Christmas is devoid of material value, I've attributed a more spiritual one to it. While it's true that all the values preached at Christmas are important such as love, compassion, family and such, they really are important all year long. But somehow, we just keep forgetting among the troubles of everyday life. It's important for me to use the holiday to reflect back on those important values and try again to make them last as long in my mind as I can.
I also like to take the time to get to know my extended family more. As a kid, I just couldn't care less about the adults, and as I grew up, I got caught in the little disputes and rivalry where most of the family for example think that so-and-so hates them and keeps avoiding them because she's a snob, and things like that. But in recent years, I've tried as much as possible to talk to everyone during the Christmas supper to try and really know what's going on in their lives and how they feel. I can't know for sure that everyone's being honest, but my experience tells me that people just aren't honest with each other or such rivalries and misunderstanding wouldn't happen.
Oh yeah, as for my immediate family plus a few chosen friends and extended family members, we throw our own little party where we have fun, play games and try to dance as bad as possible to cheesy music. Basically, do the kind of things that we know everyone involved will enjoy and participate in.
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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me
Christmas, don't remind me. Last few years just hasn't felt Christmasie for me.
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Creator of over 580 maps on GameFAQs. ^_^
Thanksgiving is my extended family time. We all get together and either watch American Football or play video games. After eating of course.
Christmas is now all about my kids. I might get one thing I am looking forward to, but its not like it was before kids. I do not like to give toys and such to my girls as I remember having a ton of toys myself and most went unnoticed or they broke from abuse. I see the same thing happening with them. So at this time in their lives clothes really make a better gift. Though there are certain DVDs I wouldn't mind them having.
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Cool beans
85 days 'til Christmas.
42 days 'til Super Mario Galaxy.
I suppose things are a little less Christmasy each year, but once you have kids, I guess it'd be a little different. I imagine it must be a joy to see a child's face light up when they get something they really want.
You know the infamous "Nintendo 64 kid"? If I ever have kids, I want at least one of my kids to be like that one day with something I get them. (Probably not with a future Nintendo console, because I'd've probably gotten one on the first day myself. I got my GameCube, DS, and Wii on the first day and I don't see the future game systems being any less exciting for myself, since I'm such a geek, and maybe moreso the older I get.)
Well, it's only 50 days now...not that anyone else is counting. :P
You sure like countdowns, eh?
It's an obsession. On Christmas Day he will begin his countdown to the New Year. Valentine's Day will follow that. :P
49 days 'til christmas
10 days 'til Super Mario Galaxy in Europe (6 days for US, 23 days for Australia, and -5 days for Japan)
Also, at least 56 days 'til Super Smash Bros Brawl for UK, 96 days for the US release date
Oh and... 1,725 days 'til London 2012 on July 27th, 2012
Between 1,883 and 2,247 days 'til Shrek 5 is released in 2013
About 24,163 days 'til the Green Wall of China is completed in 2074
Oh and this is really cool...
47 days 'til the Grand Conjunction!!! (23rd-24th December 2007), in which there will also be a full moon, not to mention that it's the Winter Solstice... ish... etc... blah blah blah...
How many days will it be until Duke Nukem Forever is released? 999994598723987543378997458899?
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Dot? Dot. Dot!
HOLY CRAP!! This was potentially a... possible 1998 release? It's had trailers in 2001, etc.... and, as of almost 2008, there's still no plot???????????????
Damn that evil Scott Miller!!!!
Heh heh. And the developer still insists that the game will be released. He must be the most optimistic person in the world.
Firstly, 46 days left... and here's a silly mathematical joke/riddle...
Why do mathematicians think that Christmas and Hallowe'en are the same?
No clue...
Before I tell you... you have to know decimal, octimal, binary... all that lark...<_< anyway...
the number 25, in decimal (base-10), is equal to the number 31 in octimal (base-8), or......
25 Dec = 31 Oct
HAHAHA Christmas = 25 Dec(ember), and Hallowe'en = 31 Oct(ober) XD lawl....
I actually laughed. Nice riddle.
I know something that happens in 153 days and you don't.
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Dot? Dot. Dot!
Is that April 10th, or April 11th?
I know on April 10th, it's the birthday of Princess Ariane of the Netherlands, who will be 1 year old... and also, April 10th, 2008 will be the 55th anniversary of the first 3-D film in New York <_<, 38 years since Paul McCartney announced his departure from the Beatles, and... other things, and April 11th, is known for... things like .... errrmmmm......................... Joss Stone's birthday, but I bet it has something to do with.... either a videogame or movie being released, or.... it's your BURFDAY!<_<????
You know this does get pretty boring... about 120-130 members, and NOT A SINGLE POST FOR TWO ENTIRE DAYS! (I.e. it is November 16th, and the last post was November 14th... possibly even November 13th in other timezones), oh and...
38/39 days until Christmas!
36
28 days until Mega Man's 20th anniversary.
Bah, Mega Man's anniversary means nothing as long as the original series has been burried and forgotten in favor of all the new stuff like Starforce and ZX. If only they could manage to make new game from the old series while still making it fresh by changing the basic formula... I guess I miss Rock, Roll, Blues and the rest.
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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me
I don't mind ZX that much. It does follow the original storyline, and it does have gameplay elements similar to that of a classic game. I too would like to see a Mega Man 9 or something, but ZX is OK for now.
Star Force on the other hand is terrible. I think that Battle Network and Star Force have been the biggest waste of Capcom's time. It shifted the fanbase from devoted gamers to 7-year-olds that just see it as another Pokemon clone. Sure Capcom has made a load of money from it, but now that the novelty is wearing off, they are going to have to figure out something else.
Hopefully the 20th festivities will bring a better grade of Mega Man game.
I guess I miss the funnier and friendlier universe of the classic Mega Man, back before their world got into the habit of being detroyed twice a week by Mavericks/Dark Elves/Evil Humans/etc.
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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me
On-topic... 5 weeks.
Alright alright! Okay, something Christmas related, something Christmas related...
Duh, it's snowing this morning and thus the first time this year where I actually feel like Christmas is just around the corner?
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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me
OK, now erm... what is it about where I live that makes it Christmassy? Hmmm... firstly, ... the weather... let's see.... a bit of rain, and a bit of sun... temperatures ranging from 6 to 10C in the day, and -1 to 7C at night.... North-Westerly winds, from 7 to 17 mph.... mid-high humidity, ..... erm.... too warm for Winter IMO.... (should be -10, for nights, and about 1-2 for days etc)... oh and erm.... I hope we get a decent amount of snow for once :D
As of 4 minutes ago, for me... (it's 12:04 am), 31 days left!
29
395 days 'til NEXT Christmas. (I decided to get a jump on next year.)
25 days 'til crimbo also.... yay I'm a 22!
I mean 26.
Only 23 days left till christmas.
No it was 24 days. 1st December - 25th December.... 25 - 1 = 24 days <_<
NOW it's 23 days.
Oh and if you were reading it from some Google add-on thingy... apparently, 23 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59.99999999999999999 seconds it.... not "24 days" but "23 days" <_< so it's kind of... a day less than you'd think. It'll say "0 days" on December 24th, at 00:00:00.00000000000000(1)
Nope I am right, in Sweden we celebrate Christmas December 24th for some reason :)
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Current Projects: Akumajo Dracula (X6800)
The Ultimate Koopa Said:
No it was 24 days. 1st December - 25th December.... 25 - 1 = 24 days <_<
NOW it's 23 days.
Oh and if you were reading it from some Google add-on thingy... apparently, 23 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59.99999999999999999 seconds it.... not "24 days" but "23 days" <_< so it's kind of... a day less than you'd think. It'll say "0 days" on December 24th, at 00:00:00.00000000000000(1)
I think you have it backwards. Isn't it a day
more than what a counter with hours would say? Are we talking about full days or calendar days?
I can't believe I actually got into an argument about this with someone at work.
At the time, she was counting down to Christmas, and it was 67 days or something like that. According to her, anyway. I pointed out that it was actually 68 CALENDAR days, as she was reading off of a counter that said 67 days and some hours and some minutes and etc. So while it was 67 full days, it was a little more than that, and that it should be rounded up to the next whole number. (I thought I explained it with the simpler, more easy to understand fact that on Christmas Eve, the countdown would read 0 days and some hours, but on that day everyone would say it was one day later.) She didn't believe me and insisted it was 67, "reasoning" that it was so much closer and didn't want to change the countdown on the whiteboard. So I took a calendar and started from Christmas being 0 and worked back to the current date, at which point she blew up on me and furiously insisted that Christmas
Eve WAS Christmas. (I didn't think I was being facetious or whatever, but she must've been mad that I was right since if that was what she was counting down to, she could've said so from the start...)
And then it took a bit more fuss just for me to point out that if it was so, to just write "Eve" at the end of her "X days to Christmas" countdown to avoid confusion.
Then everyone else who missed the conversation and saw the board later wondered why we were counting down to Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day.
Sheesh.
Calculating dates and times sucks. I usually cheat and use UNIX time, but that means my stuff probably cease to function properly in 2038.
I usually go by the fact that... it's December 4th now (UK time), and thus... 21 days left.... whether it's 12:05 am, or 11:35 pm.... I still call it "21 days"... and as soon as 12:00 am hits... 20 days etc...
.... um..... 19 days left... well.... 18 days and 13 hours as it's 11:00 am here <_<
2 weeks til I finish college for the holidays yay! And 4 extra days 'til crimbo!
15 days yay!
I know this is boring but........ 14 days yay!
Frick, two weeks?
Should probably get shopping, eh?
Just over 6 days.
Being on jury duty for a month has totally thrown off my internal calendar or something. I totally would not have guessed that it's less than a week to Christmas. >_<
Yep...... and erm.... still 6 days :D (just THIRTEEN days 'til 2008 O_____O)
Yep...... and erm.... still 6 days :D (just THIRTEEN days 'til 2008 O_____O)
Wow... double post glitch!
Oh and 4 days 'til Christmas, 11 days 'til 2008, 377 days 'til 2009 etc.
I think it's something like 51 days until Super Smash Bros. Brawl...
I just want Mario Galaxy and Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for Christmas. I would also like the special edition of disney's robin hood (dvd).
and a ps3 and xbox 360.
Oh man, if only I had the money, I would treat myself to a Wii with Super Mario Galaxy, and once it's released this side of the sea, NiGHTS: Journey Of Dreams.
*sigh* I guess I made my choice when I decided to take a trip to China this Spring...
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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Current projects: Mega Man Zero (GBA), Battletoads (NES), Sonic CD (Sega CD)
you went to china? how was that??
Actually, I spent two weeks in France in the Alsace region this october (I have yet to actually post any pictures or write in detail about it though, expert procrastinator that I am), and I'll spend three weeks in China in April 2008. My mom went there on an organized trip (a good one, unlike so many such trips) that took her all over China and she fell so much in love with the country that she not only made me want to do it myself, but she's coming back with me for the same trip all over again. She's nuts :)
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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Current projects: Mega Man Zero (GBA), Battletoads (NES), Sonic CD (Sega CD)
Cool, I'm going over for the New Year. Yay China.
Well, considering I won't login from now on until after the holidays, I want to wish everyone here a Happy Holiday Seasons (which should cover pretty much every religious/seasonal holidays, as well as people who just want to celebrate for the heck of it). Have a great time with your friends and families :) !
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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Current projects: Mega Man Zero (GBA), Battletoads (NES), Sonic CD (Sega CD)
Meh, I am not too big on covering everything/everybody. So I'll wish you what I want and you wish me what you want.
Merry Christmas.
As everyone here knows I am not much of a big talker so I will just say merry christmas everyone.
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Current Projects: Akumajo Dracula (X6800)
marioman Said:
Meh, I am not too big on covering everything/everybody. So I'll wish you what I want and you wish me what you want.
Merry Christmas.
Just covering all the bases. I once wished a Merry Christmas in a forum of usually reasonable people only to have a few fly off the handle and being pissed off because I "dared" to assume they were practicing Christians. Which is really stupid because I only wanted to wish people the best of times, and you can never have too many occasions to celebrate and have fun :)
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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Current projects: Mega Man Zero (GBA), Battletoads (NES), Sonic CD (Sega CD)
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Seconded! Hope you all had a great time last night :)
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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Current projects: Mega Man Zero (GBA), Battletoads (NES), Sonic CD (Sega CD)
Merry Christmas/happy winter festivity of your choice, everyone! =D
I mostly got money, which was to be expected, but one of my aunts got me a Motorhead t-shirt. Awesome.
I got a brand new computer. Now all I have to due is get rid of all the junk that came with it.
Merry Christmas, since I didn't get around to saying it. (Though those of you on the east coast of North America were probably already in bed a while ago resting up for Boxing Day sales.)
I got a Transformers G1 calendar, some money, and an Optimus Prime Big Blaster (which my mom got and is now going to return).
My brother got an Optimus Prime poster, and I'm enjoying the More Than Meets The Eye books I got for myself. :P
(This year has been unusually Transformers-related...yes, this is unusual, even for me.)
Oh yeah, my brother also got me Season 2 of Sam & Max. And I got him a bunch of Wii Points.
Come to think of it, me and my brother didn't get the usual clothes/candy/chocolates "fodder" from our parents this time. Maybe because I complain about that every year. :P
Christmas ain't what it used to be, but I'm thankful for the time off from work.
-1 days until Christmas.
We could count to Christmas 2008. :P
I guess it'd be 365 days from today (don't forget, next year is a leap year)... :P
I remember doing the math, and in the Twleve Days of Christmas, if the singer got each item again each day, he'd actually be getting 364 items total...maybe in a non-leap year, he could get them again, one a day, except for one day, maybe Christmas Day itself...(I don't know what you'd do with a single "lord-a-leaping", and you'd get that for thirty days...)</ramble>
Well, what do you know, it's under a month!
29 days!
You know, I'm 19 years old now, and the things I usually get for Christmas are I dunno, DVD boxsets of stuff like The Simpsons, or South Park or whatever, CDs, and stuff. I also jump around going " OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG itz tomorroooo YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY" ... <_< >_> of course I don't really...
What actually happens is my grandparents 'secretly' take this big bag of prezzies in to my room. I usually kind of wake up at this time (usually 7 am ish), but then just lay there with my eyes closed pretending to be a sleep, then wait for them to go out... then get up, turn my light on (it's usually still dark at that time), and open my presents. Oh it's just a Wii. .... *opens another one* ... OH My GOD! I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!! A PACKET OF STAPLES <_< OK it's not that lame.
52 minutes!
Sadly, it hasn't really felt much like Christmas. We even had to work a half-day today.
But our team won the gingerbread house competition at work yesterday. That was fun.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
I should get to bed to be sure Santa doesn't freak out.
Merry Xmas
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Creator of over 830 maps on GameFAQs. ^_^
Happy Hogswatch! Alternatively, Merry Christmas everyone!
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Current projects: Bucky O'Hare (NES), Metal Storm (NES), Clock Tower (SNES), Ristar-The Shooting Star (Gen), Sonic The Hedgehog (Gen), Sonic CD (Sega CD), Mega Man Zero (GBA), Battletoads (NES)