New orders have disseminated out from Christmas Command Central. In particular, there is now a limit of $50 imposed on any presents for “the adults” of the family.
While a completely reasonable figure, allowing for something “big enough” and yet not “extravagant”, this arbitrarily-set limit has a signficant drawback for at least two of the adults affected:
Modern videogames retail for $59.95.
What this means, on the face of it, is that that gift which I, for one, so look forward to on Christmas morning, will definitely not be there. It’s a blow, to know that you are definitely not going to get the thing that springs first to mind when asked to prepare a Christmas list.
There can be arguments made about “I’m not feeling the spirit of Christmas”. I’m sure that all the people who say that would very much like to receive $50 worth of motor oil under the tree. Because that’s what I’m talking about. Think of the thing you would like to receive most as a gift, then arbitrarily decide that you’re not going to get it, for want of “seeming fair” and “chose a number without consulting anyone”.
This has nothing to do with attempting to choose something that the receiver needs or wants. It’s about focusing on the children. And I understand that. But there is no reason not to say “$60” instead of “$50”. Any argument to the contrary is sheer obstinacy. I will, in fact, supply an extra $10 per adult out of my own pocket to make up the difference. Call it my Christmas gift to the family.
All vitriol about the Ruling of the High Council aside, I have found that my Christmas experience has been significantly altered, and not all in ways that are bad.
For instance, when there was a strong chance that I would receive a videogame for Christmas, I enhanced my Christmas joy by putting those new games that I desired most on my wish list. This meant, of course, that I could not buy any of those games for myself until *after* Christmas. Thus began a nearly-decade-long tradition of going out shopping on Dec 26th, “My Christmas”, where I had both a complete idea of what games had already been purchased, and a fistful of cash and gift cards that I could apply to the rest of the list.
I applied the self-imposed videogame-buying moratorium as of Thanksgiving each year, until one year where Thanksgiving was a little too late (I have the sweater to prove it), at which point I pushed it back to Halloween. As all of the “hot games” for the season rolled onto shelves each year, I sat in mute anticipation as friends started playing the games in mid-October, while I patiently awaited The Big Day where I finally raided the nearest GameStop.
Among the Dec 26 purchases that I remember the best: Guitar Hero, which Anthony and I played until the wee hours and which has started a 4-year obssession with music games. The XBox 360 itself, which I had in my hands and nearly purchased two days before Christmas, only to relent (honoring The Pact) and being completely surprised to find it under the tree. And Assassin’s Creed, which I picked up in Aberdeen and stayed out of the ditch on the way back to Clearwater only because of my “Nintendo reflexes” after a log truck nearly ran me off the road.
This year, there’s no reason to wait. Oh, sure. I’ll put a couple of $60 games on my Christmas list, just in case someone wants to get me a game worse than they want to follow the rules (My $10 is still on the table if that helps). But I’m not really expecting one (or at least not a $60 one), so I have found myself, while trying to build my Christmas list, really thinking about the games that I want to own, and feeling no guilt about buying them and playing them right now.
I may go pick up a couple of stragglers on Dec 26. But the $50 limit is fine. By Christmas, I’ll have all the games I want, and I don’t have to sweat the anticipation.
Now the question is, do I fire up Dragon Age: Origins now, or can I hold out until Dec 25? Only time will tell.