Now with both Halloween and Bonfire Night gone and out of the way there is now, unfortunately, nothing stopping the endless onslaught of Christmas-themed songs, films, and products gushing into our lives. But while we endure the draining full-frontal Christmas offensive from all around us, there is still some intrigue to be had with this year’s festive offerings.
Over the years, we’ve come accustomed to the usual topics used for Christmas flicks; Santa needing help delivering presents, Romance blossoming in a snowy city, magical beings delivering Christmas miracles, this is stuff we’ve all seen before. But for us gamers, it seems that we finally have a Xmas story specifically made just for us.
Any gamer will fondly remember the Christmas’ of their childhood, almost definitely due to the fact that for many of us, Christmas was the time when we received our first gaming console; received our first handheld, or received the number one game or peripheral that we wanted more than most.
For this writer, my earliest memories were that of gleefully unwrapping my PS1 on one blissful December 25th and my life was never quite the same since. The pristine futuristic packaging, the consuming sense of mystery of what fantastical experiences this magical machine could bring, no toy or gift could ever compete.
Now it seems that Michael Dowse’s new festive film 8-bit Christmas seeks to re-ignite that nostalgic Christmassy gaming feeling by taking place in the late ’80s at the dawn of the original NES, lovingly described by the film’s protagonist as a:
maze of rubber wiring and electronic intelligence so advanced, it was deemed not a video game but an 8-bit entertainment system
Jake Doyle (8-bit Christmas)
This film seems dead set on being the perfect high-thrills nostalgia trip for any gamer who remembers their first console at Christmas. In a very Princess Bride type fashion, the film jumps between kid Jake played by Winslow Fegley and adult Jake played Neil Patrick Harris telling the story to his daughter.
In spite of his parents’ technological fears banning Nintendo from the house, the film centers around Jake’s quest to get his dream Christmas present, and all the conflict, chaos, and friendships that such a quest contains. The trailer sparks both nostalgic glows and genuine laughs as we see both childish hijinks, as well as grown men assaulting the elderly in order to get their hands on the coveted console.
Based on the book of the same name, 8-bit Christmas also stars Steve Zahn, June Diane Raphael, and David Cross, and will be released on digital download this month on the 26th of November!
What do you think of the trailer? Will you be adding this to your Christmas film collection? What was your earliest Christmas gaming memory? Let us know in the comments below!
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