Ben's 12 Days of Christmas Memories - Day 4: I Have a DreamCast!

And top it we eventually did.

So Christmas 2000 wasn't the best for me. I got a lot of really cool stuff I liked, but it's the year I destroyed my PlayStation and couldn't play half of the games I had gotten. Thankfully my cousins would eventually get a PS2 and let me play games over there from time to time, but that was only on weekends. Anyway jump ahead to 2001 and things were a different story. The Nintendo GameCube was on it's way, and I really wanted one. Luigi's Mansion looked great, and I just thought I'd be able to ask for one and hopefully get it. I was 10 years old, and somehow stupid me didn't clue in on what I was really getting that year.

"The SEGA DreamCast is being disconnected, and Davey is going to buy one for himself. Are there any games you think would be good that you could play when we visit him?" My mom asked (Davey being my cousin). I told her that Sonic was really good, and I'd love to play it. Didn't think much else about it, and continued playing or whatever I was doing at the time. I was happy to hear I could go to his house sometime and finally play that Sonic Adventure game I had seen at Walmart years ago, but I also knew it wouldn't be anytime soon. Then Christmas Eve came.

(Free Background included on the DreamCast Disc)

I still remember the box. It was huge! I wasn't sure what was inside, but when I opened it I found multiple smaller boxes within. Some of the boxes looked like CD cases so I reached for those first. Expecting what? I'm not sure (considering my PlayStation was gone), but I wanted to open them before hand. Well my aunt stopped me and told me to open the big one first, and needless to say, there it was. The DC was sitting in front of me, and it was all mine -- not my cousins. Afterwords I opened the CDs to see which games I had, and then opened the controllers and VMU (the memory card). All I can say was, I was completely blown away. I finally had Sonic Adventure, and a real SEGA console (not counting that Pico). My grandparents let me set it up on their TV that night, and I spent the rest of Christmas Eve playing it. Then when I went home I continued playing it up until my parents made me go to bed. Although this night was a little different because they didn't let me sleep in my own room.

They wouldn't tell me why, but I had to stay in there room for the night. I remember laying there at the edge of their bed as I listened to all of these snapping sounds and loud bangs. I could tell something was being put together, but what? The funny thing is, I don't think my parents ever slept that night, or if they did they slept on the two couches we had at the time. All I know is when I woke up they were already waiting for me in the living room (later I saw the video of them still putting "it" together around 4 AM in the morning). Anyway, what was "it?" And why wasn't I seeing it? I remember the first thing I noticed was my bed room door being closed, but I didn't want to go open it. Instead I looked around the living room and asked them what was going on. After leading me on for a few moments my mom finally told me to open my door, and that's when I saw it. A massive foosball table. I love foosball.

This thing was an amazing gift, and only helped make that Christmas more perfect. It was tall and wide (larger than your average table you'll see), and the underside of it made the perfect fort to sit and play under! Me and my friends got so much use out of this thing, and that's not to mention all of the games of actual foosball we played! I loved it so much -- so much that I still have it to this day. I use the underside for video game storage, while the top tends to be used as an "actual" table from time to time. I still like playing foosball itself though, but people are rarely willing to play against me. (It's one of the few non video games I am pretty serious about...) But that's not the final gift from that year. I also got a plug n play "VR" snow boarding game (man that was a let down), and when I went to my other grandma's house I was given none other than Crazy Taxi! This too would go on to become one of my all time favorites. Heck, I even have it on my phone now. Overall that Christmas really was one of my best, and one I fondly look back on to this day. My DC is now sitting under the foosball table ready to play at any time, and I'll always have the memories from both of them. They changed how me and my friends hung out at my house, and I'll always treasure that time we spent playing them. It was a great Christmas, and there was nothing that could make it better. Or was there?

Actually there's one more thing I got that year. It's something that amazes me even as I write this. In fact until I sat down to figure all of this out, I had completely forgotten I received this gift on that exact same day. It caught me so off guard, and even now I can't believe it happened. The Game Boy Advance. I remember opening up the Lego Bionicle game and just looking at it. "Cool it's Bionicle!" I thought, but then my mom gave me the bad news. "Look at what it says it's for." Yeah, I was pretty crushed when I realized it was a GBA game and not a GBC game. For a moment I thought I was going to have to return it, but then my mom told me to open the package hidden behind the tree. Yep I was speechless. The GBA was sitting in front of me. It was a new console that had just come out half a year before, and something I asked for for my birthday. I didn't get it then though as it was too expensive, but now there it was. I honestly have no idea how my parents afforded that Christmas. They must've worked hard and saved as much as they could. Although that was also the year we won $100 playing that M&M game, so maybe that went towards it as well. But whatever the case they did their best to make that the best Christmas ever. GameCube, who needs it!