My 2015 in Gaming: Climbing Everest

One major theme defines 2015 for me with regards to my gaming hobby:

I am not going to buy any more new videogames.

At least, not until I get through enough of the games I already own. And I do mean that. I'm going to be hard on myself this coming year. I'm going to dedicate myself to playing through the library of games I already have until I feel satisfied before I buy into new games.

Let me go back and explain myself for a second.

I own a lot of videogames. Since I finished my PhD, got married, and started a real career, I've had the expendable income to start amassing a fairly impressive videogame library. But the problem is, the income that led to this library's creation comes with a reduction in leisure time that results in not being able to play as many games in the same amount of overall time as I used to. This, in itself, shouldn't be a big problem. In fact, it should be fantastic--it should mean that I can always be playing great games in what scarce amount of free time I have for my gaming hobby.

But this year, I've learned that despite my high class tastes with regards to games, a few real disappointments have taken my valuable gaming time (Watch Dogs and Destiny in particular). I've realized that I have a game library hundreds deep with a number of games that I really want to put more time into. And I've decided that in the coming year, in 2015, I'm going to do something about it.

I've decided to enact a plan for the coming year of gaming that I'm going to try to adhere to that will see me through playing all those game I own but have not yet played. First, I want to lay out some ground rules.

The Rules

1. I will play only games I already own until I have amassed enough "finished" games to justify another purchase.
2. "Enough" in this case is an arbitrary number, but I am going to start at the number ten and see if it seems appropriate, then adjust as necessary.
3. "Finishing" a game means that I feel I've "completed" the game to my own personal satisfaction. It doesn't mean reaching the end credits. It doesn't mean spending at least X number of hours on it. It means I feel like I can move on, and it can vary from game to game.
4. Non-narrative games and games without a defined end point can be included, but "finishing" them only requires that I feel like I've played enough for the given session.
5. I will create a list of games that I already own that I will start playing through immediately to accomplish these goals.
6. I will sort the list in the order in which I intend to play the games, but the order can be changed at any time.
7. There are games in the list that I've played some amount of and which I think I should "finish".
8. Titles that I get from Playstation Plus are exempted from the "no new games" policy, but can and will be added to the list if they're games I want to play.
9. Regularly blog about what I'm playing.
10. Review each game I "finish" and post it publicly.
11. Free games and multiplayer games I already own can be played, but need to be added to the list if they're missing.
12. Free-to-play mobile titles should be added if they're being played like or in place of "core" games.

The List

I have a very large list of games, many of which I may never play. I will consider some of them to be a lost cause at this point. For example, I got a copy of King of Fighters XIII through Playstation Plus and while it represents a game I've never played, I do not hold enough interest in it at this point to bother with it. Therefore, it will not be included on my list and I will not hold myself to playing it before I can continue on through my list.

Without further ado, and in no particular order (yet), my list:

• Final Fantasy XIII-2 (incomplete)
• Lightning Returns (incomplete)
• Heavy Rain Director's Cut (not yet started)
• ICO (restart)
• Shadow of the Colossus (restart)
• Last of Us Remastered (incomplete)
• Need for Speed Rivals (incomplete)
• Killzone Shadow Fall (multiplayer)
• Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS
• Super Mario 3D World (incomplete)
• The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD
• ZombiU
• Scribblenauts Unlimited (incomplete)
• Metroid Prime Trilogy
• Metroid Other M
• The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
• Xenoblade Chronicles
• The Last Story
• Monster Hunter 3 Ulitmate (incomplete)
• Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (incomplete)
• Infamous Second Son
• Wolfenstein: The New Order
• Little Big Planet 3
• Little Big Planet 2
• Destiny (incomplete)
• Dragon Age Inquisition
• Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze
• Bayonetta
• Bayonetta 2
• Hyrule Warriors (incomplete)
• New Super Luigi 2 (incomplete)
• Fantasy Life (incomplete)
• Bravely Default (incomplete)
• Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (incomplete)
• Captain Toad Treasure Tracker
• Need for Speed Most Wanted U (incomplete)
• Peggle 2 (incomplete)
• God Eater 2
• Uncharted 3
• Uncharted Golden Abyss
• Gravity Rush (incomplete)
• Limbo
• Proteus
• Wipeout 2048
• ModNation Racers
• Velocity 2X
• God of War HD (incomplete)
• God of War 2 HD
• Unit 13
• Sine Mora
• Dead Nation
• Pixeljunk Shooter Ultimate (incomplete)
• Surge Deluxe
• Luftrausers (incomplete)
• Pixeljunk Monsters Ultimate HD (incomplete)
• Stealth Inc.
• Don't Starve
• Dokuro
• Machinarium
• Final horizon
• Persona 4 Golden
• Dragon's Crown
• Muramasa Rebirth
• Zero Escape: Virtues Last Reward
• Disgaea 3
• Dragon Fantasy
• Soul Sacrifice
• Rainbow Moon
• Hohokum (incomplete)
• CounterSpy (incomplete)
• Escape Plan
• Thomas Was Alone (incomplete)
• Guacamelee!
• Dustforce (incomplete)
• NES Remix (incomplete)
• Earthbound
• Megaman X
• Megaman X2
• Megaman X3
• Advance Wars
• Duck Hunt
• Trine 2 Enhanced
• Toki Tori 2+
• Runner 2
• Shovel Knight (incomplete)
• Mario Golf World Tour (incomplete)
• Donkey Kong Country Returns (incomplete)
• Kid Icarus Uprising (incomplete)
• Dillon's Rolling Western (incomplete)
• Mario & Luigi Dream Team (incomplete)
• Mario and Donkey Kong Minis on the Move (incomplete)
• Crashmo (incomplete)
• Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Dual Destines (incomplete)
• Liberation Maiden (incomplete)
• Hitman HD Collection
• Theaterhythm Curtain Call
• Project X Zone (incomplete)
• Etrian Odyssey IV
• Etrian Odyssey Untold (incomplete)
• The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
• Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
• Metroid Fusion
• Far Cry 4
• Borderlands The Pre-Sequel! (incomplete)
• Skyrim (restart)
• Far Cry 3
• Far Cry Blood Dragon
• Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm
• Tales from the Borderlands
• The Walking Dead (incomplete)
• The Walking Dead Season 2
• The Wolf Among Us
• Trials Fusion (incomplete)
• Mirror's Edge (incomplete)
• Gunpoint (incomplete)
• Reus
• Valiant Hearts
• Child of Light
• Broken Age
• Darksiders
• Frozen Synapse
• Dishonored
• Batman Arkham Asylum
• Batman Arkham City
• Call of Juarez Gunslinger
• Dear Esther
• Dust An Elysian Tale
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Gone Home
• Massive Chalice
• Planetary Annihilation
• Metro 2033
• Metro Last Light
• Quantum Conundrum
• Sweet Lily Dreams
• The Stanley Parable
• The Tiny Bang Story
• The Witcher Enhanced Edition
• The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition
• To The Moon
• The Fall
• Microsoft Flight Simulator X
• Gratuitous Tank Battles

The Path Forward

I discussed this plan with a good friend of mine. He told me that I should let it all go. That I should start fresh, old games be damned. Just start good habits now and forget about all the stuff I spent money on in the past that I didn't get my buck's worth out of.

I just can't bring myself to do it. My list of games has a number of truly excellent games on it. And it consists of all games I really wanted to at least give a good try to. So I'm dedicating this next year to getting that done, new releases be damned. I'm not banning myself from new games all together, but I am requiring that I complete a substantial number of games I already own before I do so.