This is Ross' picture. Mine will come next week.
I have too many damn games. I also just bought a house and am slowly turning it into a home. Part of that transformation lies in setting up the consoles. Part of setting up the consoles is connecting them to the TV, putting the controllers next to the consoles, and, of course, putting the games in a cabinet or shelf nearby as well. What I noticed was my own stack of shame.
I have too many games. Honest. I haven’t finished them all. In fact, I’ve only finished a few. That’s kind of shameful. As in, I paid $60 for this bit of plastic and haven’t really used it all up. It’s like sitting down to a fancy dinner and only eating half. Or a fourth. Or a few nibbles. That’s wasteful, right?
In this game review business, it’s all about the latest greatest and the next big thing. I’ve always said, however, that the great game from last month or last year is still a great game. I bought Halo 3 a year after it came out, and it was the same game as it was when all my friends were playing it. Only difference was that no one I knew was playing it. This is some interesting commentary on the context of our gaming, that maybe I’ll have the time to explore further in the future. Now, however, I want to think about finishing my meals. There are gamers out there who can’t afford the newest game every month. Heck, we have a featured column here that talks about a new release every WEEK. That’s kind of insane, really. There are people in the very city I live in who can barely pay their rent, and we’re feeling entitled to a new game every week? Whoa.
So, it’s time for me to put my thoughts here to the test. Hopefully you’ll join along with me. For the next 3 months, I’m only going to play the games that I have already purchased this year. Games like LittleBigPlanet, Mod Nation Racers, Red Dead Redemption, and – holy crap – Rock Band 3. Games like Enslaved, Borderlands, and -gah – Final Fantasy XIII. I’m gonna play these games because they are NEW TO ME. I have not explored all the main content of the games, let alone all the little bits of side content and ephemera. I’m not going for completion, nor am I going to get all the DLC for each game. I’m going to play what comes on the disc, for as far as I can get in three months, and write about it as I go. I’m going to ignore the cries of the new games every day and every week and every month, and see if I feel…deprived…at the end. I hope you’ll come along for the ride, and comment on your own experiences of gaming and consumerism.
Until next week, stay tuned, and stay evil.
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