Right across the UK, Christmas 2022 will be a time for tradition, but nowhere more so than here in Wales. For centuries, the Plygain was a part of the festivities, with Welsh people up and down the country congregating together in the early hours of the morning to sing carols a capella.
Of course, few people are prepared for a 3am march through their village or town for some midnight singing, but plenty of other Welsh Christmas traditions live on. Examples of this include the Porthcawl Christmas Day beach swim and Boxing Day Lido Swim in Ponty, the New Year’s Eve running race in the Valleys around Mountain Ash, and the traditional Calennig celebrations that see people sing in the streets in exchange for bread and cheese.
However, while Welsh festivities keep one foot in the past, the other is firmly in the here and now. That’s why many modern trends can also be seen across the nation during the Christmas period.
In recent years, one of these trends has been the growing demand for gaming. In 2020, an estimated 1.17 million Welsh men and women logged on to the gaming platform Steam, along with about 24 million of their British cousins.
This is a trend that’s set to continue for the coming years, particularly as gaming has moved from an activity you mainly enjoy alone into one that offers experiences you can share with those around you.
But which games are likely to be popular here in Wales this Christmas?
Nintendo Switch Sports
Back in the mid-2000s, Nintendo’s Wii console swept the nation. For many adults, it was their first venture into video gaming as the device was designed to encourage people to gather around their television sets to play together rather than be locked away in a bedroom, spare room, or man (or woman) cave.
With these consoles, Nintendo bundled Wii Sports, a game that was designed to show off the innovative motion-tracking functionality that the machine was based around. It was relatively simple, containing a series of sports-based mini-games for players to enjoy alone or in groups.
Following the success of this, the Japanese gaming giant has created several sequels, including some featuring its famous Mario characters. However, the closest its got to the original is Nintendo Switch Sports which went on sale earlier this year.
This new game contains upgraded graphics and many of the games found in the original, alongside new features like football which uses a leg strap to allow the game to track how you move your feet and legs.
Nintendo Switch Sports offers a mix of nostalgia, group play, and movement that fit perfectly for Christmas Day afternoons when you’ve eaten too much turkey, which is why it’s expected to be a big hit this year.
Roulette
Board and table games are big hits at Christmas, especially during that post-dinner period when excessive physical activity is hampered by one too many mince pies.
While just about all board and table games will enjoy a boost in popularity over the festive period, roulette is likely to be one of the most in demand. This is down to the fact that there are just so many different ways that you can enjoy it.
This includes in-person at a land-based casino, with many of Wales’ gaming floors expecting a boost in business in December. But, thanks to the internet, more and more people are choosing to play online due to the increased convenience and larger choice of variants that this offers.
Roulette variants are mainly centred around the number of pockets that the wheel has, with American titles having more roulette numbers than the European versions. This difference changes the house edge, requiring players to adopt a different strategy for each one.
During the Christmas period, many Welsh roulette fans will choose to set up their own mini casino at home with a wheel they bought and placed on the kitchen table. These players and their Christmas Day guests will likely have the European variant since it is the one that’s most common in the UK.
Fortnite
Fortnite continues to be one of the most popular shooting games on the planet. It’s enjoyed by millions across the UK, including many right here in Wales.
Thanks to its free-to-play nature, Fortnite is often one of the first games that many players download when they’re trying out new hardware.
Therefore, with a large number of Welsh people expecting to receive games consoles and gaming computers as gifts this Christmas, Fortnite will be another hugely popular title over the period.
