With how much time off people ususally get around the holidays, you're gonna need some games to fill up those long hours.  And in this 12 day series interspersed up until Christmas, I'll be bringing up games released in the past year that will be sure to keep you occupied into the wee hours of the morning whether you're wasting away your vacation pay, or are just taking a break from school.  Now, I realize that playing through all 12 of these games would be quite hard and take up possibly the entire months of December and January, but hey, if you have the time, why not take it.  These are the games, in the my opinion, that should be taking up all of your time this Christmas time regardless of their review scores on any site, because gaming is all about having fun and this game, and the ones to follow will provide you days and weeks of entertainment.
For the first game to grace the list, we're gonna travel back to the month of April for Grand Theft Auto IV.
Being a long time fan of the series, I was pretty excited for this title and it definitely didn't disappoint in the least. With a thoroughly long campaign to run through, a host of mini-games to play in between missions, and an online component to boot, this title definitely has at least a good 50 hours of gameplay in it for you this holiday season. 
Taking a much more serious tone than the previous games in the series, the developers at Rockstar left behind the craziness and brought upon a sense of realism into the fray all built into the metropolis of  Liberty City, which is closely modeled after New York City.  You can easily see the great lengths the developers went through to create a robust city with a great amount of detail down every street and corridor.  And even though you can't walk into every building you see, you can venture to any rooftop with a helicopter and look across miles of terrain and survey the sights and the living city as it makes its way from day to day.
So, with this 12 day series, I'll be throwing in a pros and cons list of the each game that's on the list to let you know possible likes and dislikes that you may come across and maybe help you make a more informed decision about how you want to spend your time this holiday season.  So, starting with this game, here they are....
 
Pros:
+ Long Single Player Campaign
+ Realistic Environment thanks to Euphoria Engine (Living/Breathing City)
+ Great Graphics and Sound (Music & Voice Work)
+ Multiplayer Component that extends life of game
Cons:
- Minor Graphical Glitches
- Combat in small corridors can be troublesome
 
In my gaming opinion, the pros easily outway the cons here and if you're a fan of the series and haven't picked up this title, do yourself a favor.  If you've already played through the game once, give it another run through, and if you're looking to kill a 40 hour work week, look no further, but be on the lookout for the next game in series as we make our way closer to Christmas....
And I can't understand why it won't show the picture, so sorry about that..