It's that time of year, and as we move towards the Christmas holiday my mind is always flooded with great games from Christmases past.  It's a rather commercial outlook on things, but for any gamer it's hard not to remember some of the great games you've played in the years prior.  For that reason I oftentimes find myself revisiting these games leading up to Christmas, and this year is no different.  For the past couple weeks I've found myself playing the original Call of Duty, probably spurred on by the fact that I just finished the latest title in the franchise just before.  From there I moved on to the cel-shaded shooter XIII, a game which wowed me back in 2003, and still holds up quite well 5 years later.

It's an odd habit, I suppose.  For whatever reason I get in certain moods for certain games throughout the year...a sort of "jonesing" if you will.  Sometimes the urge to play a game will pay dividends (with Call of Duty and XIII, for example) while other times I'll revisit a game and wonder what I was thinking.  I just think it's fun to replay games that tend to get thrown by the wayside so quickly these days by checking out my back catalog.  Last year for example, I played through Thief 3: Deadly Shadows for the first time since 2004.  The game was great, and it's an excellent way to kill spare time while on break from school and work.

I suppose the only question is will my stint into the archives continue?  Probably.  So do you have any holiday rituals?  Something that makes you perk up this time of year as you relive a tradition?  The 1UP Yours podcast has done a segment where gamers send in their own past holiday stories, and I can definitely relate to a lot of them.  As a child there was nothing like the anticipation leading up to the big day, and although some of that magic has faded over the years it's always fun to reminisce.  Leave a comment and share a story!  It doesn't have to do with video games, and can be about absolutely anything.

After all, despite my passion for gaming a lot of my favorite memories involve just having fun with the family.  Although this is a little early, I just want to wish any and all readers happy holidays and a merry Christmas!

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