Alan Wake (XBox 360)
Lost Odyssey (XBox 360)
Super 8 on DVD
A toaster oven
A 12-month wall calendar of lolcats
$25 gift card to Best Buy
A bag of salmon filets
Socks
A big heavy-duty flashlight
Assorted candy, nuts, and snacks
Assorted practical gifts (soap, shampoo, towels, deodorant, air fresheners, etc.)
My cousin wimped out and didn't participate in our yearly gift war, which is lame. He also told me that he just doesn't want to do it anymore, which is extra super lame. Next year will be the 10th anniversary of the tradition (we started in 2003), so I convinced him to do just one more next year and then we can call it quits. I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but I have 12 months to devise an appropriate finale to our decade-long gift battle.
This year, I got him three things (sort of). For years now, he has been borrowing my copy of Vandal Hearts while I have been borrowing his copy of Valkyrie Profile. Well, I bought another copy of Vandal Hearts for myself and wrapped it up along with his copy of Valkyrie Profile. The third gift is a burned CD with video game and anime music and stuff. All three gifts were wrapped up and taped side-by-side to a piece of plywood. Then, I surrounded each gift with 24 nails (six on each side) that I hammered in right next to the gift at a slight angle, creating a sort of nail prison around each one. He had to pull them out with his hands and teeth to free his gifts. (He was in pain by the end of it. Yes, I cackled. Just a little bit.) He got his copy of Valkyrie Profile back, and once he extricated Vandal Hearts, I just took it from him and told him to keep the copy that he's been borrowing for all these years.
