Because simply shaking them is old hat (though I do that anyway), and I already know 90% of what I'm getting, I line them up and carefully study them...
...because even if you know what you're getting, it's fun to guess what's wrapped where.
Every present that I'm getting, not counting the stuff in the stocking. And one of those red ones I found out wasn't mine, but was for my cat...oh well. It's not in any other pics. And I got to open one last night, obviously.
DS-sized gifts are easy because the case square, is thicker than a CD case, and has an indentation on one side. Other than FF4, this should be Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness, Rune Factory 2, and Chrono Trigger DS.
PS2/PS3/Wii/Xbox/360/DVD sized gifts are a crapshoot because you don't know which one of the above it'll be, especially if you own every single one of those systems. The far right one is lighter than the others, so I'm guessing that as Fate/Stay Night DVD 5. The other two...Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness? Persona 4? Tales of Symphonia 2? Something I don't know that I'm getting?!
Books are easy to spot because they have three sides indented and one flat. Also, paperbacks are bendable, and hardcovers have a specific sound to them when you knock on 'em. The top-middle green one is two manga, probably Venus Versus Virus 3 and 5. One of the white ones is a Japanese lesson book, but I was able to read through the wrapping...should be a how to draw book in there, the Daily Coyote book, and a cookbook.
The dreated nondescript box. Usually you get these when the gift giver is too lazy to unpack things they've ordered online. DVD boxsets also look like these. You never know what you'll get form these. Anything I listed above could be in these boxes instead of separately wrapped...However, if you get the chance to open a present early, I'd go for a box, because you might get more than one thing :3
Finally, the weird shaped ones can be anything from two things put together, to a really weird shaped package, like a figure in a blister pack. The top part of this is squishy and the bottom is hard, so it has to be two things put together...It has to be a plushie and a PS2/Wii game.
