Christmas 2011 was an all-timer for gamers

Summary

• 2011 is often forgotten when it comes to legendary years in gaming, but it's easily one of the best.

• This was especially true for all the players like myself who had to wait until Christmas to play everything.

• Skyrim is just the beginning of one of the most stacked holiday seasons of all time.

Over the past few decades of gaming, there have been a few select years that are often referred to as “all-timers”. 1998, 2007, 2018 and 2023 all immediately come to mind, but there is one year that I don't see getting enough respect for how legendary it was – 2011.

As much as I love the years that brought us Banjo-Kazooie, BioShock, God of War and Alan Wake 2, they all pale in comparison to the bonanza of games that launched the same year that Charlie Sheen, and everyone else, was 'winning': Gears of War 3, Dragon Age 2, LA Noire, LittleBigPlanet 2… and I haven't even gotten to really still good.

While anyone lucky enough to be an adult in 2011 could probably buy whatever they wanted, that wasn't the case for me. As a 12-year-old at the time (yes, you're old), I had to put all my eggs in Santa's basket and hope he was as much of a gamer as I was.

Still, even though I wasn't old enough to switch to a Gamestation (yes, you are really old) and had to wait to play everything until the last six days of the year, even I knew what a milestone year for gaming 2011 was. So let's take a walk down memory lane and remember that Christmas beats all Christmases.

The RPG to end all RPGs

Kicking things off with a dragon-sized gimme here, but arguably the biggest Christmas game of 2011 was The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. I mean, come on, we're still talking about it more than a decade later, especially with Bethesda re-releasing it every other day.

Although we're moments away from Skyrim: Extremely Special Edition, No Really We Mean It This Time, the first edition was truly something special and one that all players have sunk into throughout the holidays. Bonus points for having lots of snow.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Ho-ho-holy crap

What didn't do it even has a drop of snow but somehow managed to be the perfect holiday game is Uncharted 3, which took Drake to the Rub' al Khali for his most personal and preemptive journey in the series until A Thief's End arrived.

Although the weaker part of the Uncharted tetralogy, its blockbuster action gameplay, simple but satisfying multiplayer component and accurate assessment that sand is the worst thing ever created cemented it as another highlight of any gamer's Christmas.

Rayman's origin

The best games of 2011 for those with good taste

Skyrim and Uncharted 3 may have been the biggest games of 2011, but for the real gamers out there, Rayman Origins was the limbless horse to bet on. In fact, it's still one of the best things to come out of Ubisoft in the last two console generations, twice as much as the second most recent Rayman game to release.

I bounced between many games during 2011's Crimbo, but some of my favorite memories from that year come from the lifeless Rayman Origins and experiencing pure platforming perfection. And again, bonus points for the seasonal snow levels.

An Xbox, if they were still mad about the PSN outage

Pour one out for the PlayStation Store

Unfortunately, one of the most notable things to happen to the gaming world in 2011 was the infamous (no, not that) PlayStation Network outage, which lasted a full 23 days and gave Xbox fans plenty of ammunition for the big green box that could.

While Sony eventually offered some free games (which funnily included inFamous) to try and repair the damage, it was like putting a bandage over a bullet hole. Many players took the holiday as a chance to switch sides entirely, and who could really blame them?

A Kinect, if they relied a little too much on the Xbox

Eye for an eye toy

PlayStation may have had a rough time in 2011, but at least Xbox came out swinging in response, right? Unfortunately, the grass wasn't much greener in Microsoft's field, as the Kinect certainly proved.

Sure, there was some fun to be had with Kinect Sports and maybe even Kinect Adventures if you were optimistic enough, but most people thought Kinect was a buggy mess that never lived up to its potential. Not each The Christmas gift was a blast during the year that Will and Kate tied the knot.

A Nintendo 3DS and Super Mario 3D Land

Ah, the era of 3D gimmicks

When Kinect pushed gaming technology backwards, Nintendo was there to push it forward again with the 3DS. While the neck-snapping DS successor actually came out in early 2011, not every gamer was able to pick it up back then.

With that in mind, the 3DS was a perfect Christmas present in 2011, and was almost certainly matched by the handheld's best game – Super Mario 3D Land. Failing that, Mario Kart 7 and Ocarina of Time 3D were also good options. Just be glad you didn't get Sonic Generations.

Battlefield 3 or Modern Warfare 3

Battle Of The Threequels

While Xbox and PlayStation struggled to maintain their player bases in 2011, a much bigger battle was fought between Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3. If you were unlucky, chances are you had to choose which shooter threequel Santa left under your tree.

So what was it – Modern Warfare 3's fast twitch shooting or Battlefield 3's city leveling? The choice, dear readers, was up to jolly old Saint Nick, but I think it's fair to say that players had a great Christmas playing online regardless of the choice.

Battlefield 3 was the better choice, for what it's worth.