0:13

Welcome , dear listener , to whatever

0:15

. This is currently untitled and

0:17

, going by the codename , you never get those

0:19

minutes back . Where are all the Christmas

0:22

games ? Christmas is

0:24

bloody ages away . The big

0:26

white cloud bursting at the seams with so

0:28

much festive fare from the realms of film

0:30

, tv , books and music

0:32

. It could pepper at the wintery landscape

0:34

with enough tinsel drape treats that we'd

0:36

be buried to our next in it until the new year . Other

0:39

entertainment platforms they get their serious

0:41

Christmas makeover Big Screed

0:43

extravaganza's backed by Bing Crosby

0:46

dreaming of a white Christmas . Small screen

0:48

specials backed by Bing dreaming

0:50

still of a white Christmas , with

0:52

music collections fronted by Bing

0:55

Crosby being like is it snowing

0:57

yet ? And books largely based

0:59

on how to screw up the Christmas dinner completely

1:01

. Bing free as he's ragequitting gone on to sleep

1:04

. I wonder what you'll dream of . However

1:06

, my train of thought has derailed slightly

1:08

. My point is I've often felt that

1:11

us Santa hat wearing mince pie chomping video

1:13

game fans get missed by the season

1:15

of Goodwill and are left to our own

1:17

devices , which by and large means playing

1:19

few games entirely devoid of Christmas

1:21

cheer . And so that's what we do . We

1:24

go online and slay good

1:26

pun our enemies . We play sports

1:28

franchises that feel older than Saint Nick

1:30

himself . We fight zombies and alien hordes

1:32

on distant planets , and if we're lucky

1:34

, it might even snow on Christmas day in this other

1:36

far-fung galaxy , but usually doesn't

1:38

. There are a few games out there , of course , that hold

1:41

some shred of seasonal greetings . Mafia

1:43

2 finds the true meaning of Christmas

1:45

as players beat the crap out of each other in the opening

1:48

chapter to the dulcet tolls of D Martin

1:50

singing Let it Snow . Some games put

1:52

on their festive clothing , such as we see in Fortnite

1:54

. There's a home alone game well

1:56

, I'd say a game but the pickings are slim

1:59

and I want a proper big , fat , santa

2:01

size Christmas rom to play . Oh

2:03

, at least I thought I did . However , what I

2:05

discovered some time ago is that a festive

2:08

theme is not all that important . And get any goof

2:10

by that warm , fairy light dotted

2:12

Christmas , feeling Like

2:14

where's Marty Pello ? I feel it in my fingers

2:16

, I feel it in my toes and it might be

2:18

frostbite , but I think it's more likely to

2:21

be . Love , love for the weird games that

2:23

bring me some yuletide cheer every time

2:25

I boot them up . As a prime example

2:27

of what I'm talking about , I turn to John Madden

2:29

. John Madden , football 1990

2:32

. Whatever was a game I absolutely did

2:34

not understand . I found it a little slow

2:36

, a lot confusing and a bit of a drag

2:38

. However , I did persevere

2:40

with the game in 1990 , whatever

2:43

, and I did this in the run up to

2:45

Christmas . It was one of those glorious Christmases

2:47

as well , the likes of which gradually diminished

2:49

with age , the sort where you

2:51

happily tap a toe or two to Cliff Richard

2:54

while sitting under the steely glare of your

2:56

guns and roses posters , where you loosen

2:58

the headlock on your little brother in the spirit

3:00

of Jesus and proclaim you have saved

3:02

him , and where , when you are not playing video games

3:04

, you are generally found bouncing off the walls

3:06

in utter unbridled excitement . And by

3:08

the eve of the big day , I had acquired something of

3:10

a taste for this game that I still did not understand

3:13

. I was getting by and enjoying a little something

3:15

that felt like diluted fun as

3:17

my blocky little team ran around the screen , but

3:20

little did I know John Madden was

3:22

also installing himself into my subconscious

3:24

as the real Santa Claus . I

3:26

became aware of this fact when a weird , tingly

3:28

Christmas feeling coursed through me as

3:31

I booted the game up in mid January . John

3:33

Madden's baffling , pixelated American

3:35

football game was sending me off to Christmas

3:37

recently , past quicker than I

3:40

could say and

3:43

this phenomenon is it phenomenon ? Probably

3:45

not . This will call it a thing because

3:47

I don't want to say phenomenon again . This

3:50

thing has repeated itself again and again

3:52

, to the point that after some time I realised for

3:54

myself the game need not

3:56

be decked out when it's festive finest to bring Christmas

3:58

cheer to the player . The reality

4:01

is that the true Christmas games are simply those

4:03

that bring memories of those magical days

4:05

and nights of play towards the end of December

4:07

. My own includes such yule free

4:09

offerings as grabbed by the ghoulies , called

4:11

duty free and mortal combat , each

4:14

about as far removed from the spirit of the season

4:16

as can be , yet each brought me glad

4:18

tidings in abundance . The

4:20

strange relationship between these games and the ability

4:23

to send me off into a hazy stroll down memory

4:25

lane , where I swear it snowed

4:27

every 25th December , left me considering

4:29

why these games in particular had this effect

4:31

. I mean , I did get other gaming

4:33

gifts to play as well , and I put it down to

4:36

the shared experience of play and the genuine

4:38

magic that comes from sharing the game with others

4:40

. I played grabbed by the ghoulies with my son

4:42

, who at the time was 4 years old and experienced

4:44

his first taste of video game nirvana

4:46

. That was special . Everyone

4:49

got involved in the Mortal Kombat year and

4:51

it was a day full of laughter and violence , just

4:53

like Christmas should be . And Call of Duty

4:55

3 was my first step into the online world

4:57

. I shared that game and a part of my Christmas

4:59

with countless others , of which some remain

5:01

friends to this day . And John Madden ? Well

5:04

, I was just an excited kid who shared his Sega

5:06

Mega Drive with his little brother and the occasional

5:08

headlock . I used to go in search of the Christmas

5:10

game . There were definite prerequisites

5:13

out to have snow and fairing lights

5:15

on trees and houses and , if possible , a battleaxe

5:17

wielding Santa Claus riding a sleigh pulled

5:19

by zombie reindeer , if possible

5:21

. Yet by the end of my search

5:23

, I left with the realisation that the only

5:25

thing you really need is John Madden and

5:28

a reasonable memory .