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Have You Ever Received A Game You Didn’t Know You Wanted Until You Had It?

It’s the holiday season, which means a lot of people are getting presents. Many of those presents will be video game related. Some of those will be games you want, and maybe some of those will be games you don’t want. My question is, have you ever gotten a game you didn’t even know you wanted until you had it?

For me it was Golden Sun for the Game Boy Advance. I had dabbled in a few turn-based RPGs, but none had really grabbed me. I had seen the commercials for Golden Sun, and they looked cool, but I didn’t think it would interest me.

My father bought me the game as a Christmas present based on feedback he had heard or read, and it ended up sucking me in.  I never would have pursued the game on my own, but I am glad that it was given to me.

What about you? Have you ever received a game as a gift you ended up loving despite your prior assumptions?

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Comments
  • Ocarina of Time when I was six. I had asked for Goldeneye and got Ocarina instead, it was great and developed my love for RPG-type games
  • Last year I was given a copy of Rayman Origins. A game which I had little to no interest in, however it turned out to be quite enjoyable
  • Wow, it's funny you mentioned Golden Sun. I haven't thought of that game in years, and hadn't heard of it until I got it for Christmas one year. That game had me absolutely hooked. Were the sequel(s) anywhere near as good as the first one was?
  • Mass Effect. When I first got it, I was like "WTF is this, I dont even like RPGs!" Now it's one of my favorite games of all time. Same with The Orange Box that same year. Introduced me to 3 GREAT games.
  • Kind of, it involves Demon's Souls and I love it. I actually was overseas where the selection was meager and I didn't have many cheap choices at the store I was in, but I noticed everyone was going nuts for Demon's Souls. My parents got it for me and though I only heard it was just a hard Middle Earth RPG, it went much deeper then that with a much deeper story and lore than the basic elves and dwarves stuff of other fantasy RPG's, and a damn fantastic combat and online system.

    I loved it so much I beat it twice and got Dark Souls day one. I have yet to get a platinum trophy on it like the great Jim Reilly though :(
  • Killer Instinct for snes :)

  • Dark Cloud, never heard of it until I got it for Christmas from my broter, I played that game so much!!!
  • Mass Effect. I got the first 2 games a couple Christmases (?) ago for my Xbox that I got only a few months earlier. I didn't play them immediately, but when I started, I forgot about all my other games and got completely sucked into the Mass Effect universe. Now I plan on getting the trilogy for my PS3 so I can do it all over again.

  • Yes, Left 4 Dead.
  • Dang it, double post. :P
  • Total Annihilation.  My Dad found it in the bargain bin at a Wal-Mart and naturally I thought it was just one of the many 10 dollar games Wal-mart sold that completely sucked.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  If I hadn't gotten into Total Annihilation who knows if I would have even gotten into 3x strategy games as a kid.  Honestly, I still play the game today.  Great story, great gameplay, and awesome maps.  I wish someone could make another (newer) game just like it (supreme commander was fun, but I would have preferred a Total Annihilation 2.  SC just didn't live up in my opinion).

  • When I was younger, I actually liked the Revenge of the Sith video game. I felt bad when I beat it on Christmas day though...
    But, when a friend got my sister 999, which we had never heard of, and I did a playthrough after she finished, man, I couldn't put that game down. I'm so glad that she got that game. ^_^
  • This happened to me with Fallout 3.
  • Most of the time I get really crappy games for Christmas unless I specifically ask for one, but I did get goldeneye from my grandmother by pure accident (she got it for my aunt, but she had a playstation not 64) so she gave it to me. I would probably not have gotten the game otherwise.

  • Yes, Lost Planet 2!

  • Pretty much all of my Gamecube games. I was actually talking to my dad about that today. He's not a gamer and, when I was a kid, he didn't do a lot of research when picking out games for me but he did a great job, since all of my Gamecube games are awesome and introduced me to great franchises, particularly: The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker; Super Mario Sunshine; Metroid Prime; Star Fox Adventures; Super Smash Bros Melee;
  • Gravity Rush!
  • kingdom hearts 1

  • For me it was Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012 for the PS 1. At that point in time I did not know about these types of games, & because of this particular game I grew to became a fan of the Twisted Metal series.

  • Kingdom Hearts, thought it was stupid seeing the Disney characters on it, wield the keyblade for 5 minutes, never looked back
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