Super Mario, Pacman and Sonic the Hedgehog Christmas Toys 2008

It would be difficult to argue against the viewpoint that as far as Computer and Video Games are concerned that we might be entering into a golden halcyon era with Computer games with the likes of Sonic and now Pacman suddenly becoming available again. Well if the truth be known neither of them have been very far away as far as serious gamers are concerned but both brand names would have found themselves well down the list as far as popularity with gamers is concerned recently.....or would they? So are they going to be popular this Xmas or what?

Well let's take a look at what Christmas is all about first and get to the games later.

The public holiday that we know nowadays as Christmas day, Christmastide or as has been mentioned before just plain old Christmas, celebrated on the 25th of December every year honours and marks the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. As with most things historical, the truth is actually slightly different from the fiction and due to a change in Calendar systems in the 1500's from the old Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar, named after the then Pope, Pope Gregory VIII it would appear that though we celebrate Christmas day as the anniversary of Christ's birth, the actual birth date may now differ slightly.

It could be argued that actually nowadays the holiday is more of a celebration of the god Mammon rather than a celebration of the birth of Christ as the holiday probably has more to do with commercialism and the giving of gifts than anything else. Modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, church celebrations, and the display of various decorations-including the Christmas tree, lights, mistletoe, nativity scenes and holly.

Christmas is celebrated throughout the Christian population, but is also celebrated by many non-Christians as a secular, cultural festival. The holiday is widely celebrated around the world, including in the United States, where it is celebrated by 96% of the population. As has been mentioned the number of those worldwide celebrating Christmas has grown almost exponentially to appoint where for example, in the USA, it is reckoned that Christmas is celebrated by over 96% of the population.

It is the gift giving element that has turned Christmas , as far as the retailers are concerned into one of the most important times of the year. An inescapable fact and by product of modern day life, whether we like it or not is that Christmas is now arguably more important to retailers than to anyone else.

Taking the historical angle away from it, where did the tradition of the giving of gifts originate from in the first place?

It has been argued that though originating from an interpretation of Christmas as seen through the eyes of the Western world characterized by the giving of gifts, these gifts have been attributed to the character called Father Christmas (otherwise accredited or known as Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas or St Nikolaus, Sinterklaas or Kris Kringle amongst others). The widely accepted concept and image of Santa Claus is widely held to be attributed to the American Cartoonist of German origin, Thomas Naast who drew a new image annually beginning in 1863. It took until the 1880's for the images created by Naast to evolve into the image we all now recognise.

The current tradition in several Latin American countries (such as Venezuela) holds that while Santa makes the toys, he then gives them to the Baby Jesus, who is the one who actually delivers them to the children's homes. This story is meant to be a reconciliation between traditional religious beliefs and modern day globalization, most notably the iconography of Santa Claus imported from the United States.

So to arguably this years must have games, the Pacman Platform 2, PacXon, new Ms Pacman and now the almost morphing of the genre into the Sonic and Super Mario arena with "knuckles Pacman" and "Mario Pacman - Mario Pipe Panic". Well if the truth be know perhaps this just goes to show how well established the Pacman brand name was either in Toy Folklore or the consciousness of kids and young gamers today that want to see some sort of updated "semi-retro" old early games revival with these brands.

Now then, who's to say they are wrong?