A History of Holiday Games (1980-2007)

Relive 30 years of Christmas past with our collection of retro TV commercials and childhood wish lists

Words: Charlie Barratt on December 26, 2008
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Are you ready for Christmas to be over? Now that all the gifts are unwrapped and all the excitement has passed, don’t you kind of wish you could restart the holiday and relive that once-a-year magic again?

Better yet, what if you could go back to the Decembers of your youth, when Santa was real and when the anticipation of a new videogame under the tree could literally cause you to lose sleep at night? How great would that be?

Well, now you can. On the following pages, we’ve done our best to bring Christmas back for you. Not just one Christmas, but every Christmas – from the forgotten kids’ commercials of the 1980s all the way through to the best-selling holiday games of the 2000s.

Welcome to nostalgia nirvana.




The games you wanted for Christmas:



The commercial you saw over and over:





The games you wanted for Christmas:



The commercial you saw over and over:





The games you wanted for Christmas: 



The commercial you saw over and over:





The games you wanted for Christmas:



The commercial you saw over and over:





The games you wanted for Christmas:



The commercial you saw over and over:





The games you wanted for Christmas:



The commercial you saw over and over:

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Platforms:

Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PC, PSP, DS, Xbox, GameCube

49 Comments
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  • Bitchslapthehomeless

    Bitchslapthehomeless  - 1 year, 5 months ago  - Report

    Jeez, 97, 01 and 04 were some pretty amazing years.
    Reply
  • YouDontImpressMe

    YouDontImpressMe  - 3 years ago  - Report

    I remember my first home consoles. A Playststion with Crash Bandicoot for my 9th birthday, and then a Nintendo Gamecube for my 10th birthday.
    Before that all I had was a gameboy color. I've always been a Nintendo and Sony fan since then. But anyways, the animal crossing game commercial reminded me of all that. The year after I got the gamecube, I played animal crossing in a Gamestop a month or so before christmas. I loved it, and asked for it. So I ended up getting it for christmas, that and the e-reader. I cant comprehend why I thought the e-reader was cool back then. Maybe it was I was 12 when I wanted it. lolz!
    Reply
  • Thequestion 121

    Thequestion 121  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    the commercials from the 80's are hilariously campy! Also, i can't believe that the Game and Watch games look almost exactly like the DS!
    Reply
  • Master_Leep

    Master_Leep  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    When I was a kid, I was totally loosing sleep on christmas eve over many old sierra adventure titles.... waaaay back in the day. I feel waves of warm nostalgia when I see the old box art for those games.
    Reply
  • Wizrai

    Wizrai  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    Now you are playing with [PORTABLE] Power!
    Reply
  • jonfitt

    jonfitt  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    It was going well up to 1998 and then it went all modern and boring.
    It would be nice to see this done with the UK Christmas games of yore. Over there they don't have such a fat plumber fetish. There'd be lots more Spectrum, Amiga, and Commodore ads.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udPpPDih1Qo
    Reply
  • VladMethos

    VladMethos  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    Sad to say that I was playing games when Yars Revenge and Frogger were the shizzle (I have the Pacman them song on vinyl along with the title cut to Berserk). Those years were as good as today simply because we never saw games like that before (Monopoly board game anyone) – today, we look for evolution in gaming – during the 80’s it was a revolution since computer gaming was in its infancy. The commercials and games from the 80’s bring back memories and reminded me that I still have most of those games in my closet with a working Atari 2600!

    In 20’s years, the tweeners to 20 something’s today will remember COD4 as fondly as I remember Missile Command and the hours I would sit playing the games. Thanks for a trip down memory lane and reminding me how dang old I am…
    Reply
  • foarthelulz

    foarthelulz  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    lol sonic 2 can cover bald spots
    Reply
  • GoldenMe

    GoldenMe  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    Of course.....

    Any article with Halo in it and people start going "gaylo" and flame.

    Seriously people, just shut the fuck up and find other games AND ignore fucking Halo. It's good, not great, but good.

    On a side note, Sonic 2 commercial FTW!!!!!!
    Reply
  • GIJoe01

    GIJoe01  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    I remember long ago when I didn't even know what a playstation was and my father had given me one for christmas along with a copy of Spyro 2 and Crash team racing. I still think Spyro 2 was the greatest game ever made.
    Reply
  • georgeguy

    georgeguy  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    god i suck at spelling
    Reply
  • oryandymackie

    oryandymackie  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    Oh God, Avsareone, get over yourself you fanboy.
    Reply
  • super0sonic

    super0sonic  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    Best Article EVER!!!! Made me so happy!!
    Reply
  • FlyinHawaiian13

    FlyinHawaiian13  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    sonic 2 fits easily into any tackle box lol
    Reply
  • EiGrOn

    EiGrOn  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    Mario..Mario Mario Mario Mario Too Much Mario X.x

    O.o ...-Trows sega out the window-OMG its thinking O.o

    >.> PLaystation 2 Commercial is like wow O.o wtf yo ps people get something better then a guy runnig around..and talking to a duckman or something >.>
    Reply
  • Avsareone

    Avsareone  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    Only Reason people don't like Halo3 as apposed to the other two is because they were like Story? Halo? GARG BRAIN EXPLODESSES GAAAAAARRRR NO MULTI MASTER CHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEIIIIIF, SHIP MASTER WTF story Make less Kill, GARGAL GEERG.

    Halo was known for not having a memorable Story, then 3 came along and up its standard, so everyone was confused cause they didn't pay enough attention and can't read(Thus the Novels go unread even though John is three times more Badass IE him ripping of an elite's two bottom lip things and melting his face with plasma)
    Reply
  • Yellowhat17

    Yellowhat17  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    That made me realize what a short time gaming's been around. Plus, I remember that horrible Animal Crossing commercial... but I don't remember that Halo commercial. I don't remember any Halo commercials :-l
    Reply
  • garnsr

    garnsr  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    The Mario 64 and Galaxy commercials are terrible! Watching people move around while trying to play games is completely disgusting, how do they sell so many Wiis?
    Reply
  • Dr.Salvador

    Dr.Salvador  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    i wasnt even alive yet! :D
    Reply
  • bernie10

    bernie10  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    sorry about the quadruple post
    Reply
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