10. Glover (1998)

I believe the only reason I had this on my list was because my best friend was also getting it, and I heard that his mom and my mom had bought us each a copy of the game. Aren’t I a nice kid!

I have this one low on the list because after playing through the game I actually had a lot of fun with it! Maybe this is the point in my gaming career where I started really enjoying the quirky odd-ball games. Huh…

9. PlayStation Vita (2012)

A new system, even a handheld, can make the holidays all the better! I remember fondly opening up my original Nintendo DS Christmas morning and playing that thing non-stop for the subsequent hours/days/weeks. So I was hoping the PS Vita would recapture that feeling in 2012. But really, past-Jason? A PS Vita? What was I going to play on it? Uncharted? Yeah, then what?

Hell, even if I got it now what would I play besides Uncharted?

8. Hellgate: London (2007)

I really wish I had gotten Hellgate: London. The game sounded (and still actually does sound) pretty amazing: A Diablo style hack ‘n’ slash RPG set in a post-apocalyptic London with online multiplayer and tons of replay value. But who was playing this game that would have made it worthwhile? And why would I want to play this when I had the excellent Diablo II still installed on my PC (I was still playing it with friends at the time, too!)? Oh the mind of one’s younger self. Always amazes.

7. DJ Hero (2009)

Riding the huge success of the Rock Band franchise, DJ Hero seemed like the only logical progression for Activision to take the series. And I was apparently all for it in 2009. DJ Hero wasn’t even that bad a game; If I recall it actually sold quite well and was highly praised for it’s unique gameplay. But did I really need another set of plastic music peripherals in my room? And DJ’ing isn’t nearly as cool as playing guitar. Or Drums. Or hell, even singing!

6. Brink (2011)

I can explain wanting Brink: I was incredibly addicted to Valve’s Team Fortress 2 on Steam and seeing as this game was a TF2 style shooter with some free running action thrown in (and published by Bethesda) I thought it would be a good gift. But the lack of players and not as in-depth gameplay should have been my clue to just stick with the Scout and run around 2 Fort some more.

5. Buck Bumble (1998)

Yeah yeah, we all know how awesome the intro song is, but what goes largely unnoticed by most is how much promotion this game received, especially in Nintendo Power magazine! My young mind was manipulated into thinking this bee could outdo the excellence of GoldenEye, which I didn’t even have at the time! That’s right: I put Buck Bumble on my Christmas list over GoldenEye. You can take my gamer card whenever you’d like…

4. Battalion Wars 2 (2007)

As we draw closer to the end of this list I can remember more and more why these games were on my Christmas lists more and more. With Battalion Wars 2 I wanted something like Advance Wars on the Game Boy Advance but with updated visuals and motion controls on my newly purchased Wii. I never did get Battalion Wars 2 that Christmas and only recently picked it up used, but I’ll never forget being disappointed for no reason not getting in way back then.

3. AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack (2008)

Oh my god… what was I thinking? I’ll tell you what I was thinking. I was engulfed fully in the wonderment of Rock Band on the PS3 and couldn’t get enough music! So any excuse to add more tunes to my game seemed perfect, even from a band that I admittedly enjoy but do not know enough about to justify spending $50 on a “complete” game add-on. Worst of all, only a few of the songs I actually liked. I have this thing with live versions of songs not sounding like the recorded ones and not enjoying them as much. Well, lesson learned.

2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)

While looking through my past Christmas lists just for kicks, this was the game I saw that inspired me to write this article.

Seriously, past-Jason? Modern Warfare 2? I ended up getting the original Modern Warfare on my PS3 when I bought the system online and it came with a couple of games, including CoD4. The biggest “Why?” comes from not even enjoying the best aspect of these games; multiplayer. I think all the hype got to me and I thought, “What the hell, if someone buys it for me, there are RPG-like elements in it. I might even enjoy it!” Thankfully I never did get that game, and still haven’t picked it up.

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)

As if ONE Call of Duty wasn’t bad enough on my list, apparently the next year I hadn’t learned my lesson and included the (arguably) better Black Ops on the annual list. And just like the year prior, I thought I could enjoy the game by looking at the multiplayer and RPG portions, and again like the last year I did not get the game for Christmas. I actually remember my brother commenting he didn’t know why I even had the game on my list. Looking back now I have to agree. This game would have offered nothing for me, and had someone had gotten it for me it would have fallen into the short list of bad gifts I received.