Giving your kids your games for Christmas

[Sumez | 2,963]

2 hours ago, spacepup said:

Yea, I mean, he literally said "But they are all psyched"

This is where the combination of great and stupid comes in

[Reed Rothchild | 9,543]

2 hours ago, Renmauzo said:

I actually did this the other day with my son. He has his own personal collection of games he's received as gifts or bought with his own money, but of course has the run of the collection if he really wants. That said, the idea of ownership does seem to make a difference for him.

Case in point, I bought Super Smash Bros. Melee w/steelbook for everyone to play, but have come to find that I really don't like Smash Bros. games. I sold off the N64 and GC ones (still need to sell the Wii U Controller bundle edition), but I kept the Switch games since he's been playing it a ton. He did a bunch of nice things around here the other day, so I decided to give him the game for his personal collection and he WAS OVER THE MOON about this; again, it seems that there is something about being the owner of the game for him (maybe it's the idea of control, I don't know, because they can always play whatever they'd like around here). 

Yeah, this is my experience as well.  I plan on including Smash Ultimate for one of them as a surprise with whatever game he picks, because he's been going back and forth on them and is really excited about it.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,543]

7 minutes ago, Sumez said:

This is where the combination of great and stupid comes in

They're between the ages of 6-8.  They're over the moon with a pack of Pokemon cards or a pack of Starburst 

You'll be there in a few years dad.  Handing over your arcade cabs for Christmas 

[Tulpa | 3,509]

3 hours ago, Sumez said:

He said it himself. They are not getting anything "new" for christmas, just a game they already do have access to playing as much as they'd like, so as a present it seems kind of symbolic.

They're getting something they want, he doesn't have to get into a punching match at a store or have the Amazon guy throw it on the roof. Win-win.

[fcgamer | 4,725]

I'm personally not a fan of this. Growing up, my father would occasionally give my brother or I something that was his, as the situation arose. For example, when I began collecting coins, he showed me his coin collection (I had no idea he even had a coin collection), and a few years later he gave me a few of the coins from his collection. Then there was the time when he gave my brother and I a few cassette tapes, such as a Willie Nelson tape and a Barbara Mandrell tape, when we first got into country music. More recently, my father gave my brother a Mickey Mouse watch he had purchased on our first trip to Disney World, and there's been times where my father lamented having gotten rid of a particular book, as after the fact, he felt that I would have been interested in having it, due to my studies and profession as an adult. The thing is though, these were random situations throughout the years, some as kids and some when we were much older as adults. Similarly, these were items that we generally did not have access to, so it added something of value.

For Christmas though, or even a birthday, the whole thing just feels a little bit weird. If they wanted to start their own collections, especially at that age, I'd probably just see what games they wanted, provide them each with their own shelving, and then buy them a copy of whatever the game is the wanted, whether I had one in my collection or not. Especially at that age (well the 6yo anyways), it just feels a bit young to be relying on symbolic acts. Like you said though, kids from that age are over the moon on anything, even magazine cut outs and other crap.

At the end of the day though, if your kids are happy and you're happy, then as others said, it's a win-win. 

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,543]

I understand that sentiment.  When I was younger my parents were divorced, young, and poor.

Getting second hand presents from my mother wasn't the sexiest or most exciting thing.  "Oh cool, old action figures from 1982."

[Brickman | 3,988]

Interesting that they ignored all the retro games. In the future we’ll be the stamp collectors to kids 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,543]

10 minutes ago, Brickman said:

Interesting that they ignored all the retro games. In the future we’ll be the stamp collectors to kids 

We play Switch 98% of the time, so it probably never crossed their mind.

One of the twins is always asking me to try out Super Smash TV for SNES, but that's still going to be a tough draw compared to fancy newfangled modern games.

[Brickman | 3,988]

2 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

We play Switch 98% of the time, so it probably never crossed their mind.

One of the twins is always asking me to try out Super Smash TV for SNES, but that's still going to be a tough draw compared to fancy newfangled modern games.

Yeah I’ve tried to get some nephews to play older games. They play like 10mins and usually say it looks too old, is too hard or it is boring. They said all three for Super Mario World  then it was straight back to the switch.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,543]

4 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

Besides nothing says merry Xmas like a shitload of Niners gear

Oh no, it's bad.  Their teams are the Titans, Chiefs, and Seahawks.  The 2 teams I detest the most (and harmless Tennessee).  And I had to swallow my rage and purchase Metcalf and Mahomes jerseys 

[a3quit4s | 4,102]

5 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Oh no, it's bad.  Their teams are the Titans, Chiefs, and Seahawks.  The 2 teams I detest the most (and harmless Tennessee).  And I had to swallow my rage and purchase Metcalf and Mahomes jerseys 

OMG I’m changing my vote to you’re a monster 

Edited November 13, 2023 by a3quit4s

[Reed Rothchild | 9,543]

1 hour ago, fcgamer said:

it just feels a bit young to be relying on symbolic acts.

At the end of the day though, if your kids are happy and you're happy, then as others said, it's a win-win. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I understand that sentiment.  When I was younger my parents were divorced, young, and poor.

Getting second hand presents from my mother wasn't the sexiest or most exciting thing.  "Oh cool, old action figures from 1982."

I guess I should also mention that the jerseys alone are costing me $300, so most of Christmas is hardly symbolic.  They're getting the best of all worlds.  

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

I've done this. Not as Christmas presents per se, but my kids do enjoy having their own thing. My son was stoked when I gave him an extra wii I had laying around and Wii Fit+ to go with it!

[Reed Rothchild | 9,543]

19 hours ago, Kguillemette said:

I've done this. Not as Christmas presents per se, but my kids do enjoy having their own thing. My son was stoked when I gave him an extra wii I had laying around and Wii Fit+ to go with it!

That actually reminds me that I grabbed a spare DS from one of the VGS box trains for a future Xmas present for my oldest.  I had completely forgotten, and here we are like 3 years later 

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

I think it's a great idea. Focusing on the selection/process and how they go about I think would be the better gift than the game itself. (ex. give them a coupon redeemable for one free game from your collection or something on Xmas). Maybe a stupid idea but you know what I'm getting at.

[drxandy | 3,235]

Awee what a cute idea with their own shelving, that's what seals the deal for me.

[JamesRobot | 5,803]

On 11/13/2023 at 11:25 AM, Reed Rothchild said:

Getting second hand presents from my mother wasn't the sexiest or most exciting thing.  "Oh cool, old action figures from 1982."

Probably for the best that parents don't give sexy presents to their kids. 

[Estil | 1,265]

25 minutes ago, JamesRobot said:

Probably for the best that parents don't give sexy presents to their kids. 

Like the Ultra Vibe Pleasure 2000?  

Edited November 18, 2023 by Estil

[Reed Rothchild | 9,543]

1 hour ago, JamesRobot said:

Probably for the best that parents don't give sexy presents to their kids. 

You heard me!

[Reed Rothchild | 9,543]

Update:

Like usual, our gifts seem to suffer scope creep.  We just add more and more, and spoil everyone.  It's a thing.  I'm not sure what it says about us.

I ended up bundling 3 games for each boy.  They were expecting the one they picked out, and instead they got that, another game from my collection they love, and a new game each.

They also immediately identified which present was game-shaped and spent all Christmas Eve begging me to let them open them early.  So they were psyched for it even though they (thought they) already knew what it was.

I also built a new bookshelf for them to use as a game shelf.  Right now it's pretty spartan, but they already know that each birthday and Christmas is a chance to build up the collection.

So I'd say it was a success and plan on doing this going forward.  By the time they're teenagers they should have some pretty substantial portions of dad's collection 

[Gloves | 11,783]

54 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Update:

Like usual, our gifts seem to suffer scope creep.  We just add more and more, and spoil everyone.  It's a thing.  I'm not sure what it says about us.

I ended up bundling 3 games for each boy.  They were expecting the one they picked out, and instead they got that, another game from my collection they love, and a new game each.

They also immediately identified which present was game-shaped and spent all Christmas Eve begging me to let them open them early.  So they were psyched for it even though they (thought they) already knew what it was.

I also built a new bookshelf for them to use as a game shelf.  Right now it's pretty spartan, but they already know that each birthday and Christmas is a chance to build up the collection.

So I'd say it was a success and plan on doing this going forward.  By the time they're teenagers they should have some pretty substantial portions of dad's collection 

You're a pretty cool dude.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,543]

Update:

I used this system for their birthday, and even implemented it into some whiteboards where I tally points for things like fastening their seatbelts (without having to be asked), reading books (and giving me an oral book report), and being nice to their brothers.  Having your choice of hundreds or thousands of games is a powerful motivator.

They're getting dangerously close to realizing they can inquire about the classic retro games though.  Not sure what I'll do when that day comes.

Plus certain games are off my backlog and onto their's now, so I can live vicariously through them 

[T-Pac | 7,560]

15 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

... reading books (and giving me an oral book report)

Plus certain games are off my backlog and onto their's now, so I can live vicariously through them 

Looks like a prime opportunity to swap "oral book reports" for "oral game reports". 

[T-Pac]

[Reed Rothchild | 9,543]

17 minutes ago, T-Pac said:

Looks like a prime opportunity to swap "oral book reports" for "oral game reports". 

[T-Pac]