2006 Final Tally: 35

While 2006 may not have wrapped itself up just yet, I have decided to retire from gaming for the duration. I finished off The Thing last night finally and it seemed a good enough way to go out. Fortunately, my backlog didn't explode over Christmas as I was afraid it would. The two games I received I'm anxious to tear into but since they're both 40+ hour affairs (easily twice that in Final Fantasy XII) I decided to let things end now and spend the rest of the week reading and burning off my Netflix queue.

For the curious, the following is the list of everything I finished this year:

Ratchet: Deadlocked (PS2)
Quake 4 (PC)
Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
Space Rangers 2 (PC)
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (PS2)
Sin Episodes: Emergence (twice) (PC)
The Godfather (Xbox)
State of Emergency 2 (PS2)
Half-Life 2 (PC)
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (PS2)
Psychonauts (Xbox)
Half-Life 2: Episode 1 (PC)
Destroy All Humans! (Xbox)
Pitfall: The Lost Expedition (Xbox)
Rogue Trooper (Xbox)
Commandos: Strike Force (Xbox)
Age of Empires III (PC)
Titan Quest (PC)
007 Nightfire (Xbox)
Secret Weapons Over Normandy (Xbox)
Brothers in Arms: Road To Hill 30 (Xbox)
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood (Xbox)
GUN (Xbox)
Just Cause (Xbox)
Black (Xbox)
Robotech: Battlecry (Xbox)
Run Like Hell (Xbox)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2)
Reservoir Dogs (Xbox)
Destroy All Humans! 2 (Xbox)
Call of Duty 3 (Xbox)
LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (Xbox)
The Sopranos: Road to Respect (PS2)
Voodoo Vince (Xbox)
The Thing (PS2)

As you can see, there are more than a few back catalog titles on the list. It's actually taken me two whole years to burn off 90 percent of my backlog and I love that it's nearing completion. Here's the caveat for 2007:

A lot of what remains are role playing games which, by default, clock in at 40 hours or more. I'm including Bully as an RPG as well even though it doesn't necessarily fall into that category. But as I look at all of that I feel proud to have accomplished a sort of purge that removes a ridiculous amount of distractions from my life. While I do enjoy this hobby, I would at some point like for it to go back to being a "hobby" and not "a way of life" which is what it's become for the last two years.

This next year looks to be a defining year for a lot of reasons though and I'm anxious for it to start. The biggest one is that I turn 30 come February and don't think My Fair Lady isn't counting down the days to that particular date. While I've never been big on birthdays, particularly my own, I can't help but feel a special fondness for hitting the big 3-0. Maybe it's the thought of growing older or being a true "adult" for the first time but whatever this odd feeling is it remains a welcome one.

My Fair Lady and I also plan on looking for a house this spring/early summer as we're tired of living in apartments/condos. This depends on several factors but if a few things fall into place as they should come March then we should be all set to go for a house and pay off our debts at the same time. So how will all of this affect my gaming?

In the immediate future there won't be much of a change, however around March things may start shifting. If all goes as planned (though honestly when does it ever?) then constant gaming should shift back towards film watching which is where it belongs. It's helpful that the majority of my backlog consists of RPGs because those require constant attention for such a long time that I won't be blowing money on games that I won't finish for another two years.

Vicious Cycle = On the cusp of being broken.