Console Christmas is the best. If you grew up gaming (or have ever celebrated like a “NINTENDO SIXTY-FOOUURR! OH MY GODDD!” kid won the Super Bowl) you know that the holidays that follow the release of an exciting new console are incomparable.
But it can also be dangerous. If your parents are strapped for cash, they may not have the funds to drop on a $300+ gift. one of their children. They may tell you that they can't afford it ahead of time to manage your expectations. So, they may even tell you that as a red herring to get you off their trail. If it's a red herring, it means double the excitement when you discover that you actually got the gift you wanted. If it doesn't, that means double the frustration because you let yourself think your parents were pulling a Jedi mind trick.
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Christmas 2006 and The Dawn of the Revolution
Going into Christmas 2006, I found myself in the same situation. I've been following the Wii's pre-release rollout and its November launch closely in the pages of the now-defunct Nintendo Power magazine.
Of course, that meant facing a downgrade from the action title Revolution (which my 12-year-old self thought) to the Wii (which a sixth grader thought was grotesquely childish).
I was amazed at all the seemingly impossible details that came out about this new console. It wasn't a completely new experience for me – the DS had opened my mind two years ago – but the Wii was launching with a new game in one of my favorite series: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Getting to play the new 3D Zelda, which was just minted with Nintendo Power 9.5/10, was exciting enough in itself.
But when you throw in other launch games like Wii Sports, Excite Truck, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, and Rayman Raving Rabbids, all of which boasted these revolutionary motion controls, my hype skyrocketed. If I get one, or I dream of, those two games, it makes my life.
So I did what any child would do. I touched my parents. I worked the Wii into every possible conversation. I read Nintendo Power around them and left the magazine open to pictures of the Wii. Well, I don't remember if I actually did that last one. The main thing I did was to be constantly annoying because, as a child, getting so angry that you worry about what happens when your parents don't give you what you want. The advantage is that the pubic gland is not yet developed.
What's in the box?!
So, when Christmas came around, my parents knew exactly what I wanted. Christmas morning has always been a slow affair in my house (and this is especially true now that my sister and her husband have four children). We open the stockings, we eat the breakfast casserole, then we go to the presents. The suspense was unbearable, and my parents made it worse by letting me take off several pairs of socks and sweaters.
Under the tree was a large box and as the morning wore on, it began to hold all my hopes. Could it be the Wii? And if it is, why are there no games for it? Will they give me a new console with nothing to play on it? Finally, it was time for the big box. I put it in my arms. Closing my eyes, I slowly turned the paper over. I opened my eyes and was greeted by a small logo. A boombox!? All this build for the boombox?
Disappointed in my heart, I turned to my mother. “A stereo?” I asked holding back tears. “It looks like it,” she said with a smile that felt cruel. Summoning the will to move on, I opened the box. And, to my surprise, there was no stereo inside. There was – could it be? – A Wii? And many games? Including Twilight Princess!
Reader, at that moment, I went full Nintendo 64 kid. My parents trolled me.
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