[John Mc.]

I've been going over some old lists, which I still compile of the games that I have completed. I've been wanting to clean it up a little, kind of like a gaming curriculum vitae, and as I was I started to wonder a little about how my habits and purchases have changed in the last 7 years. I kind of play games randomly, with my recent Dreamcast bender something of an example. I tend to shift from system to system, I think simply attending my aesthetic whim for the time.

My full list, that being every recalled game defeated since starting the list in 2007 or so, is at 274. I won't post it because long list is long! I did find some kind of surprising things when I looked at the numbers. Of course, this is subjective as can be, but I'm looking at this as more of a self-reflection exercise.

As much as I may complain about this last generation being hackneyed and supersaturated with mindless, meat-man shoot games, I have to eat my words! By far, the most played were from this generation, at 90. Of those, 69 were on the XBox 360. Given my time examined is contemporaneous with said generation, this isn't too surprising. I was about 35 games into the list before the first last-gen game popped up, so by looking at it I thought the PS2 would be the winner. It is a close second at 54, though! I would want to say that I'd recommend PS2 games more often, but again, I really wouldn't! I'd recommend 45% of the games I played on the PS2, which is less than the 48% from the XBox 360 (to take the top two examples). There's something charming and warm about picture and sound from the PS2, which makes for a topical contrast to the bright, vivid and brash Dreamcast (SNES vs. Genesis all over again). The XBox 360 doesn't really cross my mind as a favorite, though. I give the thing a lot of grief (slow UI, overheating, broke twice), but apparently I play it quite a bit. Maybe I should be more appreciative!

Of course, my XBox 360 was the one that worked, and when it didn't, my room mate had one. Thus, it seemed to be the apparent route by which I consumed the most recent generation. The numbers could have been different were my PS3 not out of commission for about 4 years (now fixed!). Then again, console choice didn't make a huge difference. 98% of my PS2 games were console exclusive, as opposed to 19% of my XBox 360 games and 20% of my PS3 games. I find something expendable about consoles this last generation, feeling as though little is missed by selecting one over the other. Maybe that's why I instill such personality into the PS2; the library defines it more than the hardware. Another system I also ascribe such sentiment is the Wii, which had 92% console exclusivity. The Dreamcast would have been up there too had half the damn library not been Playstation ports / ported to Gamecube (25%).

My buying practices are... healthier, to say the least. I hoarded games with the intention of playing them all, and then had nearly a house full of extraneous nonsense that several people have seen! I've gotten a lot better about this. I had purchased roughly 91% of the games from the GC/PS2/XB era, whereas with this most recent era had my rate at 51%. And that's with playing more games. I've been a lot more sociable in recent years, and friends lent me quite a few games to digest. Gamefly has also been a consistent companion; you don't really have to buy games anymore! :P Then again, I find recent games more a "consumption" experience; I eat and move on. I do this with older games as well, but find it more difficult to part with them after completing them. Perhaps this is because they don't have PC ports!

As a younger kid, I was intimidated by action games, never feeling that I was quite dexterious enough to stand up to challenges. I was also deathly afraid of failure, and for some reason this spread into a hobby that has "games" as a moniker. That changed as my list got underway, as I was trying to diversify my experiences, and so I did. Only 13% of played games on the list were straight RPGs, and active gaming is quite prominent on the list. Now I love action games; more than RPGs, as a rule. Oh god, they're shorter! Wonderfully shorter! I also welcome challenge more openly; just two weeks ago, after years of trying, I beat The lost Levels. And then, I celebrated!

I liked a few long games, though. The most time spent? 200 hours in Demon's Souls, having played through it twice. Loved every second, too! Xenoblade clocked in at about 80 hours, though it started to drag its feet toward the end. Suikoden 3 was also about 80 hours, but in retrospect a complete waste of time. Oh well! Shortest game? Sunsetriders. Played through it on a cabinet in Bloomington, IN, pumping quarters like in my youth. Can't recall how much it cost me though!

Finally, an important scale. The CAR (Consolevania Adherence Ratio) sits at 20%, meaning I played through 20% of the games reviewed in the original three Consolevania series. It drops to 18% when including videoGaiden. I've been watching Consolevania again and just find the giddy energy about it intoxicating; they really love games, and I identify strongly with their enthusiasm! Perhaps it was the only Internet game review show that mattered? >.>

So, what did I note?

I'll stop being so hard on this last gen, and try to give this one a chance too. I obviously had fun with the recent batch of systems, and it looks like my cynicism is an great example of mind over practice.

I don't need to buy everything in the hopes of playing it someday, though in some way such a practice did help me have the games to play in the first place. Even Gamefly is running dry, though; I've had Lords of Shadow in its mailer for the last 4 months. I need to send it back for something interesting, perhaps? Like the sequel?

I still have plenty to play, and it's probably more than I'll ever be able to get to. That just reinforces that I'll have to be more selective with my game choices; the backlog persists with some options there for about 10 years.

My selections in the last year seem to be breezier. My last fairly grave game was the last of the Legacy of Kain series, about a year ago. It's been blue (or Game Boy monochrome) skies since.

My tastes in games continues to evolve (RPG and patience to almost instant gratification now), and with reflection the future seems bright (for better or worse). The work on smaller games developers tends to agree with my aesthetic tastes, but I've not really explored it yet I need to get a decent PC and see what has been happening in this "indie" world; I think that'll be the best way to enjoy this new gen with big-budget releases and indie gems (of which I have a whole other backlog).

I'm naturally looking for any recommendations on that front! Anyone else notice how their taste's might have evolved since, say, select button opened?

[Rud31]

I will read this post soon but will say you inspired me also to keep track of every game I play.
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[Mr. Mechanical]

Interesting post!

I should probably start doing this but maybe not. I might go insane!

I don't know if my gaming tastes since the start of SB have evolved so much as calcified. I still like pretty much the same kind of stuff as I did back then only now I like it more I guess.

I still try to be open to trying out new stuff here and there as well, if it tickles my fancy.
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[BenoitRen]

It's not surprising that most of the list is from the previous generation when it was started in 2007.
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Get Xenoblade Chronicles!

[username]

I always used that backloggery site to keep track of all the games I've owned or am playing. Not sure if it helped me notice any trends but it makes me more conscious of all those steam sale games I picked up and never bothered trying.
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[BenoitRen]

Okay, I've read the entire opening post now.

My tastes haven't changed, but SelectButton did broaden my horizon. Games I wouldn't have considered before I gave a try and enjoyed.
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Get Xenoblade Chronicles!

[The King]

I completed 6 last gen games on 360/PS3.
They were Gears of War, Metal Gear Solid 4, Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising, Left4Dead, BioShock, and Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2.
The first four I enjoyed a lot, Bioshock was ok, I didn't really like Modern Warfare 2.

Of the games I played but didn't finish;
I had a good time with Gears of War 2 Horde Mode.
I liked Mirror's Edge but reached 'I get it' before reaching the end.


Reflecting on it, I had a really good time with the first two Gears of War games. Playing wall-sized Gears of War and Gears of War 2 was awesome.
I have positive memories of playing online multiplayer (Warzone/Execution) and also couch co-op (GOW1 campaign, GOW2 Horde).
MGS4 FINALLY gave me closure on the awkward cliffhanger that was MGS2, it felt like such an 'end'. I felt like I could have quit videogames right then and there, and been satisfied.

If there ever is a time when I don't play videogames at all I hope I misremember MGS4 as my last game.
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