I am unapologetically something of a Grinch or Scrooge around Christmas. The actual holiday doesn’t bother me and I try to celebrate it both from a secular and religious standpoint. After all, what better excuse am I going to get to buy cool stuff for the kids?
No, it’s the Christmas Season that I loathe, or really the whole generic Holiday Season that ramps up in October and doesn’t end until January. I just tend to single out Christmas since that is the holiday everything seems to be geared for. The constant sales, increased traffic, and crowds of people at the store does nothing for me. In 2007, before the economy went belly up, the mall was so crowded that I had to find a different route home to avoid it on Fridays. How crazy is it that malls get so crowded that you get the effect without actually going to one?
However, the Season of Jason O takes hold after Christmas. The first is the immediate post Christmas sales and I am usually flush with cash and gift cards. Then a series of sales in February followed by predictable permanent price drops for many games in March and April. The four months after December are my most prolific buying times of the year and I try to make the most of them since I know game companies are still stridently clinging to their increasingly failing and antiquated business model and will release nothing for the bored gamers of summer. (Note to publishers: I’ll say it before and say it again, I get the same paycheck all year!)
With Christmas finally behind us, I am looking forward to my favorite gaming time of the year.
Any plans on what you’re eyeing to pick up? I have enough to survive the winter (after I pick up Mass Effect 2, of course) but I’ll be ready to grab some new stuff right in time for Season of Jason O!
Just post Christmas alone I already picked up Darkest of Days, Rune Factory Frontier (for the kids), Wall-E (DS version for younger son), Section 8, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, and Killzone 2.
Not to mention most of the Steam Sale is set for post Christmas. I think it started Dec 22nd and ran to Jan 3rd.
Ignoring new games for a moment, which will be immune to the post-holiday price drops and clearance sales, I’m most interested in finally getting Fuel, Tom Clancy’s Hawx (both of which I could have picked up for a song two days ago but my pile of shame is too large), Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Avatar (it will drop!), Boom Blox Bash Party, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, and Jurassic: The Hunted just to name a few.
Of course, now is the time to stock up because about the time when the Season of Jason O ends we get a quick boost and then slam into the Summer Doldrums.
Oh, and Need for Speed: Nitro which has been our surprise low-expectation fun hit of the season.
Fuel is a great game but it is BIG, VERY BIG.
So BIG that there’s almost nothing to do. It’s great for my sons to play and just drive around though.
I usually take part in this post-holiday as well but alas not this year. However, I was able to score 2 Steam games and Borderlands 360 post-holiday. Most of my purchases came before this year because I got lucky with times sales (by not really looking for them either). LEGO Rock Band and Forza 3 come to mind. Plus, I acquired n+ (PSP) used.
I have a stack so tall right now it’s pathetic. If I could just stop playing Borderlands, I could start on them.
TEST
You passed.
Thanks. Things got wonky there for a second after the database upgrade.