The earliest game I remember getting for Christmas was ShadowGate for the NES, my brother got StarTropics. I don't remember which grandparent it was who geve 'em to us, just playing the Hell out of the games. That was well before I started asking for video games as gifts.

One year I had hounded my parents for a N64 and they got us a PS instead, they said because the guy at the store showed them the larger selection of games for it. It may not have been what I wanted, but I remember playing Crash Bandicoot late into the night many times that Christmas break with my bros and not really caring about the 64 for another couple years...

This is why gift cards were invented.

I never did get what I really wanted for Christmas.

She gave your fucking NES away? Harsh. I totally feel your pain, I pawned my NES in my days of idiot youth and have regretted ever since. That said, my folks were pretty good at getting exactly what I asked for. Them scoring ocarina of time despite it selling out everywhere was fucking awesome.

When I was about 12, I started Photoshopping my christmas list and included pictures to combat this. I actually still have a couple of those on my hard drive.

Even after doing that though, my grandparents would sometimes bungle it by getting me a gift card to Borders and telling me to pick out my games there. Borders does NOT sell video games.

I only got 2 videogame gifts I actually wanted, Super Mario 3 and a Genesis(That was the sweetest christmas ever!).

My mom has been surprisingly good at finding games I ask for.

A few years ago she actually found me a copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (PS2).

Haha this always happens. As kids my best friend asked for Kung Fu and he got Karate Champ. Boy were we disappointed.

I don't ask for video games anymore. I don't want my parents or firends to go out and get something I ask for, and complain when I trade it in 2 months later or so. So I ask for more permanent gifts. Like LEGO's. Yes, motherfucking LEGO's; got a problem with that?

But they did manage to get one I didn't ask for orignially (they got me and my brothers an Xbox once; didn't get us Halo though >.<)

My mom's always REALLY good at getting me video games. Either she listens, or listens when I talk about things and due to what I have already bought myself, or what I've talked about she can pick out games that are relevant to my interests. The first system she got me was a SNES with Mario Kart, Mario World, and Mario All-Stars, and that was without me even mentioning I wanted one. So she does well. =) The rest of the family, not so much, but she rocks!

"Parents just don't understand"

My parents were worse...they just wouldn't buy me games at all. They were anti-video game people so if I wanted games or systems I had to rely on my uncle to buy all my game stuff...thank god for him!

I guess I'm in the cool 40%. My parents were pretty good at getting me what I wanted. I even got surprise gifts that I didn't ask for but were still cool. I got a Best Wars Optimus Prime that turned into a jet. Ah, how I miss my childhood Christmases.

My parents never bought me games for Christmas. My older brother, on the otehr hand, always came to the rescue for me an my siblings. When I was about five, he bought us a NES with that three-bundle pack-in game (Super Mario Bros., Track and Field, Duck Hunt) & another zapper game called To The Earth... it was the coolest thing ever.

Then when I was about eight, he bought us a SNES with Super Mario World, Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts, and Krusty's Super Fun House.

... Then, whn I was about 13, he bought us a PlayStation with Final Fantasy VII...

Wow, I think I'm gonna call my brother right now and tell him I love him...

It's not that my mom dosn't really know what to get me, because I make a list, but she'll buy me like, 3 or 4 games I wanted, then 10 games I did not ask for, or know what is.

And PwnDaddy, legos are freakin awesome. I went to toys r' us just the other day and we were just looking at all the legos and nerf guns.

I got serpentera for christmas once without asking.

From that day on, I declared my parents clairvoyance a gift from the universe gods and I never second guessed them.

Now I'm writing scripts for TV SHOWS!


Go figure...

All I wanted was Super Mario Bros. I got Gyromite and a big plastic disaster that cant even spin tops right.

I remember I got a sega cd instead of a playstation, one christmas...



THAT WAS THE BEST GIFT EVERRR!!!



...and oh yeah, i got a sega 32x on my birthday a few months after that. lol

My parents are generally good. I make a list of stuff I want (usually games) and describe things in utmost detail, usually even giving Amazon links to them. I also toss on a lot of stuff because "they want me to be surprised." This next part is copypasta from my cblog:

I've been a fan of games since the NES days, but sadly, my parents would never get me a system, so I ended up having to play at friends' houses. The year the N64 came out, I put it on my Christmas wishlist; by the time Christmas rolled around, I had completely forgotten what I had asked for and was (temporarily) overjoyed to own a used Sega Game Gear, with Sonic Chaos and...some crap.

My parents always gave me shitty games as a kid, and Id always say "thanks, next year follow teh list."

Then, 2 years in a row, they performed EPIC win. The first year it was Donkey Kong Country for SNES, which I LOVED and played over and over again.

Then, the next Christmas, it was 3 gameboys, one for each kid, and 3 games. Link's Awakening and Pokemon Red and Blue. FUCK YES! 2 (3 if your technical, Pokemon is 1 game IMO) of my top favorite games of all time!

Then all I got was socks. :(

This never happens to me, actually. My mother always shows my gifts to a brother to cross check them all, and vice versa with me and the older brother also. For instance, today my mother brought me with her to Best Buy, to ensure she did in fact get Rock Band. She did, no preorder either. Last one though, surprisingly. It's for my bro.

I asked for that King Kong game for the Gamecube. I got the game only it was the XBox version. I 'shop my list each year because showing them said gifts in person allows memory to screw it up.

Yeah, my parents have actually been pretty good with buying video game-related stuff. Like kobewan0824, I have a brother (two years younger), and my mom always shows me the gifts she’s getting him (and vice versa) just to make sure she has everything right. I got every video game system I’ve ever owned for Christmas (yeah, I bought my PS3 on New Year’s Eve, but my mom paid for it as a Christmas gift). And my parents have been great with games, too. I remember being surprised with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 and Tony Hawk’s Underground two Christmases in a row (and as far as I’m concerned, those were the last good Tony Hawk games). And I haven’t really been surprised in a few years now that I’m older — my parents just ask me what I want, and either say, “Okay,” or, “No, that’s not doable.” It’s a great system.

I never had a problem with this, when I was a kid. I usually got what I wanted, which wasn't really that much.

He mentions the Gallery Mall!
God that place is a dump, honestly, if you're ever in Philly, you've got better things to do on Market St. than the Gallery...

hah, awesome video tag.

This is proof of how spoiled kids are today. The whole point of gifts is to not know what you are getting. I gave my parents ideas, but a lot of the fun was in the mystery. I never told them, "You have to get me..." or took a gift back because I didn't like it. I've gotten some really cool things that I never asked for.

One year, I asked for "killer 7". Sure, i got killer 7, but it was the PS2 version and not the GC version.
So first I was like, "But, this is for PS2..." "Wait, you guys got me a PS2 aswell? Awesome!" only to hear that "No, we didn't get you a PS2".
That was a sad christmas...

I would have done anything for a Sega Saturn.. It was all I wanted. I stayed up the entire night of Christmas Eve until it was time to open presents. Throughout the entire night I was reading a Sega Saturn pamphlet I had, staring at the amazing graphics.. Then when it came time to open the gifts, I opened a Playstation. I was happy that it was a game console, but pissed that it wasn't a Saturn. Man was I wrong, the PSone turned out to rock.. The guy at the store convinced my parents to pickup a playstation instead of a Saturn. I wish I knew who that guy was, he made a wise decision that day..

My parents are very good at getting me Christmas presents. I asked my Dad for a copy of Okami last Christmas and he was able to get one of the final copies(They probably had a limited supply of the game or something.). That was another great Christmas.

my parents were 18 and 22 when I was born (yet they are still married and succesful) but I played THEIR video games. So I usually got all the high profile games. When the 64 and psone were out they didn't game any more but they still read reviews and asked around for good game gifts.

The best one is when they made me choose a 64 or ps1 on a black friday, we picked the 64 then my parents turned around and brought us the ps1 unrequested.

This is exactly why gift cards are there. However I think this is totally going to be more and more of a non-issue as we progress, as the gamer culture will eventually be those parents who are shopping.

My brother got me Call Of Duty 3 last Christmas. That is he got me the XBox version. Having a 360 (and even though there weren't many differences between the two) I really wanted the version for my system to ensure it was playable as well as being afforded the opportunity to get more achievements when I did get around to playing it. (Sadly it's still unopened on my shelf while I've beaten COD4 twice lol). Luckily the exchange was pretty easy at a local Gamestop even sans-gift receipt.

Nothing sucks more than getting something you totally didn't want though. ET the Extra Terrestrial anyone?

My parents have always been awesome at getting me exactly what I want (game-wise) for christmas. I can't think of even one time that they bungled a christmas for me.

THANKS MOM, THANKS DAD! LOVE YOU!

Although, one year (and this is really not a complaint against my parents) I remember going to the mall with my parents to buy a present for my cousin. We both had an NES, so they decided to get him a NES game. Much like how I picked out my own games in the NES era, they randomly chose Astyanax (I don't care what ppl say, Astyanax was awesome, great music, huge sprites, tight controls...).

Anyhow, I was extremely jelous. I WANTED ASTYANAX. But no, they were only buying for him. They said just wait and get what you get from your aunt and uncle. So Christmas comes, we open presents, my cousin gets an awesome nes game from my parents....and me? I got a VHS tape of Waynes World. Fucking gay. Even if I did like the movie, a VHS tape does no compare in value to a freakin NES game! I was totally gyped!

To my aunt and uncle. You guys suck! You rich bastards, you are cheap!

From the comments it seems like I'm not alone on this but one year I got a Sega CD for christmas and had basically no games for it. The next year on my birthday (10 months later) I got Warcraft 2 and I was PSYCHED and then I looked at the box and saw "Sega Saturn" and I was like "What you got me a Sega Saturn!?" and they were confused, the next day was a very dissappointing trip to the store to exchange the game.

Problem solved: http://www.gamefly.com/giftcert/giftbuy.asp

If I wasn't already a member I'd be sending this link to my mom and dad. Seriously... This seems like a no brainer to me.

I've already bought two of them for friends. No gift wrap, no giving the wrong gift. Pretty much eliminates the need for decision making altogether. I'm big on the gift certificate. It comes from years of getting (alright and maybe giving) stuff I have no use for whatsoever. If you're going to give a gift, it might as well be useful.