Have you played Portal? After exactly one hour and thirty-seven minutes I finished it. I feel inspired. Motivated.
What I’m about to do may be the most difficult thing I will ever do when it comes to playing video games. I’m not going to increase the difficulty, not going to play blindfolded, and not even play with the controller upside down.
I’m going to finish a game. I’m going to finish a couple of games. Actually, it’s a slew of games. A list.
A plethora.
You see, I think most gamers harbor a deep, dark secret. One that’s hardly mentioned in everyday conversation, internet chatter, or even done for video game reviews: gamers don’t finish games. The video game industry itself has created this festering monster. Too many games, too many systems, and too much street cred is at stake for a gamer to fall behind the times. Everybody has to be playing the latest and greatest.
At the time of this writing Bioshock was released just over a month ago. It’s old news. Halo 3? Two weeks. Are you still playing? Regularly? Like most 13 year olds on Live? Gamers jump from one game to another riding the waves of one release after another. In 2007, I was no different. Or 2006, 2005, 2004…
This fall…this next year it will be different for this gamer. I’m going to finish every game I own that I have not finished. Every last one. Tony’s “playing now” post a couple of days ago really struck a cord with me. I have too many games that I spend too much money on that I hardly ever finish. All to often I fall prey to the current fad. I’ve tried this once before and I failed after only 2/3 of a game. One game.
The games I’m going to list cover every game I own that I have not finished. Now, some of these games don’t have an endgame and others have various difficulty settings. I’ll list what I consider to be game finishing requirements for each title. There’s now a moratorium on new games and the battle with old begins. On to the list.
My strategy is one of endurance and I’m going to try and pace myself. The first thing would be where to begin. I won’t play any other games until I finish one.
Gameboy Advance
- Final Fantasy VI – defeat the final boss
Nintendo DS
- Contact – defeat the final boss
- Dragon Quest Heroes Rocket Slime – defeat the final boss
- Hotel Dusk Room 215 – endgame
- Pokémon Pearl – defeat the final boss
- Puzzle Quest – defeat the final monster
PSP
- Jeanne D’Arc – endgame
- Killzone: Liberation – endgame
- Final Fantasy Tactics – may be the freebie. I owned the original.
- Loco Roco – endgame
360
- Cars – all races
- Burnout: Revenge – all races
- Stuntman: Ignition – career mode
- Lost Planet – endgame
- Halo 3 – campaign
- Lego Star Wars II – 100%
- Forza 2 – all races
Wii
- The Legend of Zelda – endgame
- Metroid Prime 3 – endgame
- MLB Power Pros – success mode
- Super Paper Mario – endgame
I’m not even going to classify PC games right now. I am owned by the Orange Box. Pure Brilliance. Finishing it (again) will be no problem.
Now, it’s time to unload your secrets. Time to let your pain go. What do you need to finish?
I wish you luck, that is a pretty long list of catch-up. I know that this would never work for me – I still haven’t even beaten the Halo 2 campaign.
Of course I’ve already publicly declared my endgame incompetence 😉
Wowsers, Nat. That is indeed a lofty goal and commendable. I feel the same way, though. I don’t finish enough games. I wanted to finish Bioshock before Halo 3, but things happened and I haven’t made it back to Rapture. Maybe this week!
You’re an inspiration to us all. Looks like you’re close on most of these. You’ll have to keep us up-to-date on your progress.
Oh, I both envy you and fear for your sanity.
I would love to do what you’re doing. On the one hand, I do really try to finish a lot of the games that I do own but the steady influx of games means that I often have games that I really want to play (Dead Rising, I’m looking at you) that just don’t get the playtime they deserve.
I’m going on a 3-4 month game-buying break come the beginning of the new year and am really looking forward to only having the games in my collection to work on.
Xenosaga 2 & 3, I’m coming for you, bay-bee!
you wrote this on oct 13, how many have you completed yet?
You should do a follow up post