Gifts that had an impact on you

[loopy]

So I have a whole bunch of gifts that I got in my youth that I think really formed who I am in some subtle and not-so-subtle ways.

Gift that got me into gaming​

My mother gave me a Gameboy Color for my birthday when I was little. With Pkmn Blue, Yellow and Gold. Although Gold had a dead save battery to I never got far into it.
I love how they made the red power LED Pikachu's cheek, its so clever.

My mom later gave me a Gameboy Advance, with Advance Wars and Worms Worms World Party, but this was at the same time I got into emulation, and just used VBA to play lots of other GBA games, so my GBA never got used much.

Gift that got me into Sonic​

Now my cousins also gave me two awesome gifts when I was a kid.

Sonic R for PC, which has a great soundtrack and was super fun.
And a CD with a bunch of 90s music that had nothing to do with sonic, but I loved the songs alot and shaped my music taste.
These gifts made me love Sonic, way before I ever played a 2D sonic game.

Gift that got me into emulation​

Those same cousins put UltraHLE on our family PC, a for the time revolutionary N64 emulator.
Although saving games didnt work on it for some reason, for Mario Kart, Wave Race, Super Smash Bros, and some others, that really didnt matter much.

This obviously let little me to seek out emulators for other systems, and got me into a still relatively early emulation scene. I used VBA for GBA games like mentioned before in this post. But also introduced me to the SNES which i didnt even know existed.

Those cousins also put some awesome videogames on the family PC like GTA2, Virtua Fighter, Earth Worm Jim 3D, and probably many more.
They could have just not done that, all they were asked was to install Windows 95 on my parents PC, but they chose to put some games on it for me, and they had a big impact on my life because of it.

Gift of support and freedom in becoming a PC nerd​

Although we already had a computer in the livingroom, and I spend literally any moment I could on it, my parents got me my own PCs over the years for in my bedroom. They did so because they saw how much I loved computers and supported it instead of seeing me rarely go outside as a negative thing and to get off the computer already.

My parents worked at companies that would throw out their old PCs, and my mom and dad would look out for me and ask them if they could have them instead to give to their kid, they cared enough about my hobby to do that for me, and I really think that is awesome of them.
The first one was a Windows 3.1 PC that came with a Super Mario Bro's DOS clone

Then later I got a Windows 95 PC that I played Red Alert 2, Starcraft and Age of Empires 2 on alot, my dad was really into RTS games (still is). And later I got another PC upgrade.

They got me my own PC when I was 6 years old. I now work in IT, and I think i wouldnt have been who I am today if they didnt let me explore my hobby to the extend they supported me in doing so.

 

[Clippy]

This might sound like a cop out but I appreciate pretty much any gift I get, even if don't make much use of it. The thought that someone regards me highly enough to gift me something just makes me feel good, even if the gift itself is a dud.

 

[Cu-Neo]

I always appreciate when I get clothes as a gift, as a kid I didn't always appreciate that, but now as an "adult" that goes to the city every day of the week, I get very happy when I get a T-shirt as a present.

 

[loopy]

Sorry guys I posted this thread too soon lol, apperently hitting ctrl+enter publishes a post, and I hit it by accident.

Anyway i changed the title to better reflect what I wanted to talk about. Sorry about that.
(Previous title was "Gifts you appreciate") but share whatever story you want!

 

[Megazao]

When I was a kid my parents got me this PET from the Mega Man Battle Network anime and it's probably the happiest I felt with a gift in my life. It's also probably the moment I realized I loved videogames and videogame-adjacent things, which would define the rest of my life. I still have it (still works) and I treasure it very much!

 

[RanmyakuIchi's iconRanmyakuIchi]

The one that sticks out for me was receiving a PC from my Grandma when I was 12. She used a PC regularly and wanted me to learn how to use one too. My life would've probably turned out pretty different without her.

 

[DunkeyKong]

Wow, sometimes I kinda wish I got these kinds of gifts

But anyway, just like the others, I appreciate every gift I've got. Whether it is actually a gift or not, I'd would still appreciate it

Even if they said it was trash, it wouldn't be trash to me. Just like what some would say, "one man's trash is another man's treasure"…I have many trash

Anyway, I think my favourite gift that kinda impacted me a lot is definitely the phone I'm typing this with. Other than that, I think this site is one of the best gifts for me

The only place where I could chill and yap all day without feeling like something bad is about to happen, just good fun

 

[Bakuma1997]

I have lots of stress and anxieties, before 2019 i got it great and practically confy, but 2020 came and the world felt like collapsing, fortunately my mother is into spiritism and as soon as she saw how it was affecting me, she gave me a necklace, a red cord with a white quartz, she told me it was going to be a a anxiety soother, i become more accepting of misfortune due to me becoming Nihilist, and that necklace helped me go though a lot of bad times

 

[DunkeyKong]

I have lots of stress and anxieties, before 2019 i got it great and practically confy, but 2020 came and the world felt like collapsing, fortunately my mother is into spiritism and as soon as she saw how it was affecting me, she gave me a necklace, a red cord with a white quartz, she told me it was going to be a a anxiety soother, i become more accepting of misfortune due to me becoming Nihilist, and that necklace helped me go though a lot of bad times

That's a really great mother, I hope you both are doing better!

 

[Dyne]

In 1987 I got a Nintendo NES for my 6th birthday.
Changed my life forever

 

[Bakuma1997]

That's a really great mother, I hope you both are doing better!

THX, and worry not, she is doing well and i managed to finish Online Hi-school that same year

Post automatically merged: Jan 25, 2025

When I was a kid my parents got me this PET from the Mega Man Battle Network anime and it's probably the happiest I felt with a gift in my life. It's also probably the moment I realized I loved videogames and videogame-adjacent things, which would define the rest of my life. I still have it (still works) and I treasure it very much!

View attachment 17363

 

[DunkeyKong]

THX, and worry not, she is doing well and i managed to finish Online Hi-school that same year

Post automatically merged: Jan 25, 2025

That's good to know, may you both and probably the others have a great life together

 

[Sir Auriel of Lionel]

Dragon Age Origins. Dad got it for me and down the line it's given me the longest friendship I've had.

 

[RageBurner]

I remember getting a Ren & Stimpy game for the MD for one of my birthdays... I deeply disliked it, so you could say it had an impact on me, hah.

 

[Tezca]

Persona 3 Portable.

Being a SMT guy, I wasn't all too interested with the series, but got that game from a family member, I believe (it's been awhile).

Anyway, within the story is another story, that of a side character whose dying of some unnamed illness. He writes a short story that, at the time, moved my mind into a more contemplative zone. The message of the his story was: "The meaning of one's life is something that one makes but can't see."

That was one of the events that pushed me up the path I spent years on. Leading me to where am I today.

So it's defenitely a gift I remember fondly, though I can't remember who gave it to me.

 

[Pockets]

My cousin bought me a copy of Dream Drop Distance as a gift and that led to me buying a PS2 to play the older Kingdom Hearts games and that eventually led to me seeking other games from my childhood and got me into collecting PS2 games.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Mostly random trinkets given by friends that are no longer in my life... Like a golden horse, a terrible CD and a switchblade.

 

[kanesha]

Super Mario Bro's DOS clone

best Mario game

 

[pHoeniX_WRIght]

Hmm... I remember a few years before my grandma passed away she would always squeeze some money (usually coins and stuff) and give to me as a gift when we visited her, I always used that money to buy games. I bought Final Fantasy X with it, and it is a game that had a pretty big impact on me growing up.

Thanks grandma!

 

[CardcaptorEd2019]

I must have been around 4 or 5 when I got a Gameboy Advance with Pokemon Crystal on it for Christmas

 

[Mr. Daddy]

A lot of the gifts I got growing up were gaming related because it's pretty much always been my main hobby, so a lot of my favorite games and a handful of consoles I grew up on were gifts that I got from things like my birthday and Christmas. One of my favorite memories was when my grandma got me a bunch of ds games, but was saving the Nintendo ds as a gift for when we were back at her house (this was at an extended family Christmas gathering), so I was just really worried she didn't understand that I couldn't play those games with my GBA.

 

[King Koopa's iconKing Koopa]

My grandma surprised me with a copy of Kingdom Hearts 2 while picking me up from school. I don't know how she does it but she always knows what I want even if I don't mention it.

 

[Nidoking's iconNidoking]

Like a lot of kids my age at the time, I had spent quite a while hyping about the Nintendo 64. It was far and away my most wanted gift for Christmas, but it wasn't exactly a "shock" when I opened it up on Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I was super happy and I loved receiving it... but I basically knew it was going to happen months earlier.

That said... up until that point every console I ever owned came with a game; the N64 did not. My family didn't know that, so I was there on Christmas Eve night with a brand new N64 and no game.

So my brother got in the car that moment, found a store open, and brought me back a game. He knew I loved dinosaurs, but what he couldn't have known is he had just bought me what would go on to be one of my all-time favorite games that, to this day, I absolutely love to play.

 

[Ian Naxieas]

I haven't had too many gaming gifts that have had a huge impact on me, but the few that did were something special.

I wanted and did end up getting a Genesis, but ultimately I like the SNES way more. Did have lots of great memories on the Genesis though, it was by no means bad, but I just didn't play many games that were a big influence on my tastes. I know a lot more great Genesis games now, but they came in too late to have a profound impact on me. However, there is one shining gem amidst all that. You could even call it a treasure. Gunstar Heroes completely kicks ass. I had no idea it existed before I got it as a gift from my grandpa, but it clicked with me right away. Man, what a great fucking game. Treasure really hit the ground running with that as their first game. I'm not a huge fan of run and gun games, but Gunstar Heroes is my favorite of the genre and pretty high up on a list of my favorite games of all time.

Second is easy, the PS1 my grandpa got me for Christmas. As mentioned elsewhere, I wanted one because of the first Twisted Metal game and there was so much more the console had to offer in addition to that. It really had a huge impact on the kinds of games I like, I'd even say the biggest impact on my tastes.

Finally, this one is kinda the thread's idea in reverse. I bought Bust-A-Move '99 as a gift to my mom because she loved playing Bust-A-Move in the arcade. I liked it in the arcade too, but didn't think about playing it much on the PS1. Well, I decided to play it with her a few times and it didn't take long to get me completely hooked. I absolutely love that series now, it's one of the only puzzle games I like and I force everyone I know to play it with me. x) Thankfully, everyone I've forced really enjoyed it too. Like Gunstar Heroes, it's just proof that I can never say I dislike any genre entirely.