My 2011 Gaming Resolutions

As usual on the first day of the New Year, I publicly reflect on my Gaming Resolutions. 2010 was a reasonable year in terms of consumption; 14 games were crossed off The List, but only 10 were added. (Please note: The List does not cover my occasional iOS purchases. You can decide for yourself whether that’s a cop-out or not)

And that last number scares me a little.

I call myself a gamer, but I only bought ten new games in a calendar year? Worse still, three of those are from previous years, and one title is in there twice. What’s going on?

Well, I admit that my focus on the numerical size of The List may have been a bit too harsh… but what I want to do is reduce the surface area of my attention somewhat, allowing myself to focus on the current generation of consoles without guilt. I certainly spent much of the last two months of the year hammering away on the 360 with scant regard for anything else; I’d love to continue doing so, without the nagging voice at the back of my head telling me I should be playing something on the Jaguar instead.

That was certainly the intention behind last year’s Resolutions; so, how did I do?

…to leave 2010 with The List pared back to… oooh, let’s say 64. Because it’s a nice number :)

Verdict: Oh… sooooo close. As late as November, I recall mapping out how I’d hit that magical number; a bit of Super Galdelic Hour, a Paper Mario wrap-up, and maybe Geommie Wars 2? Or ODST? Sadly, none of my plans came to pass, and I finished the year with The List a slightly slimmer 67. A Conceded Pass, at best.

…to keep on top of stuff obtained through the year. Last year’s goal of 60% seemed reasonable at the time, but was hurt by a flurry of purchases late in the year; let’s aim for 50% in 2010.

Verdict: OK, let’s fire up the spreadsheet… ten new games, four completed… 40%. Fail. At least I got all the Achievements for another three of those outstanding games.

…to not go overboard in the purchasing stakes. In retrospect, there’s a couple of titles that were picked up this year that… you know… were probably a little too retail therapy-ish.

Verdict: I think I may have gone a little over the top on this one, to be honest. Ten new games isn’t a lot, but at least there were only two impulse purchases within them; the rest were deeply considered. I’ll award myself a Pass here, but an unhappy one.

…to make an impact on every platform.

Verdict: I gave this a bash, I really did. I knocked ChuChu Rocket! off the Dreamcast, gave Ballistic some serious effort on the Nuon… but the other side of the coin is that I didn’t fire up the Jaguar at all, nor did I play a single Gamecube game. The intention was there, but not the execution. Fail.

…to not give up so soon.

Verdict: You know what? I’m giving myself a Pass here, because I think I persevered pretty well with some of these titles.

So, overall, 2010 was pretty damn average on the Resolution front. “Must try harder,” reads the report card. “But enough of that, Pete!” no-one cries; “What are your no-doubt seemingly-realistic, yet heartbreakingly-unattainable resolutions for 2011?”

Well, I’m glad that you asked. In 2011, I resolve…

  • …to leave 2011 with The List pared back to 50. No shit. I’ve just pulled that number out of my arse, and I’m sticking to it.
  • …to keep on top of stuff obtained through the year. Again. Last year’s goal of 50% was completely reasonable, yet I missed it. Try harder!
  • …to make an impact on every platform. Again. But do it this time!
  • …to clear up some of the doubles. This will feed in nicely to the pruning of The List indicated above; after all, I’ve got two copies of No More Heroes 2. Three copies of Jet Set Radio! Two copies of Ikaruga… ummm, let’s not fret about that one too much ;)
  • …to clear up some of the lingering 360 titles. There’s a bunch of games in which I’ve acquired all the Achievements, but haven’t crossed off The List. Ninety-Nine Nights needs a bit of OCD collection lovin’, Rez needs some 100% levels. Let’s get some of those wrapped up, yeah?

So there you have it – my targets for the next year. Feel free to comment on these, or your own, resolutions… and wish me luck. I’ll need it :)

5 thoughts on “My 2011 Gaming Resolutions”

  1. Good luck with all that… you’ll need it!

    I think you know my resolution already… to play more of the games I’ve already got, and to get my 360 completion rate up to at least 30% by the end of June. I’m going to try and buy very few games this year… I buy far too many because they’re cheap when I don’t really want them.

    I think my goals are all achievable… and I’ll revisit that completion percentage at the end of June (or earlier, if I hit the 30% before then).

  2. Cheers Paul :)

    With your list, though, I reckon it’d take all of a month to get to your requisite 30% ;)

    As for your “buy less games” commitment… that’ll last until the first big sale. Or swapsie. Face it, you’re doomed ;)

  3. As for the 30% thing… it’s mainly that because of time. I’m out of the house at 6:30am five days a week and often don’t get back until after 7pm. By the time I’ve eaten and both kids are in bed, I’m usually about ready to go to sleep myself!

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