I've only finished four games this month since I haven't been in the mood for much gaming, or anything else for that matter. I managed to hold my spot in second place in the competition though. :|

Games beaten - 12

• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All
• Super Paper Mario
• Advance Wars: Dual Strike
• Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
• Hotel Dusk: Room 215
• Tales of Vesperia
• Magna Carta 2
• Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island
• Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis
• Advance Wars
• Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

Competition chart

You guys in the competition check and make sure your count is correct. I tried to pay attention, but I'm easily distracted and could have missed someone's update. :P

I'm nearly out of spending money. Good thing spring is almost here so I can get back to work. Even with limited funds, I bought all of this earlier for a grand total of $12. Gotta love flea markets and yard sales. ^_^

I'm off to Florida on Friday for a family reunion. You guys stay out of my stuff while I'm gone. O_O

I think I've already beaten more games this year than I did the last. I mean, I played plenty of them last year, but I don't remember beating too many of them since I jumped from one game to another. I've been working on handheld games recently since I can curl up in bed under the blanket and play them. :P

I finished 8 games by the end of January, as planned, though the 8th game wasn't Glory of Heracles. It was Advance Wars, which I finished yesterday, and then Advance Wars 2 today brings the total to 9. They were so short that I really don't know why I didn't finish them ages ago. Ron was teasing me about completing my games so fast, so I took a picture after beating AW2 as proof. I may start doing that with all the games I beat. xD

Since my last blog, the number of competitors has grown to nine people. It was at ten, but one of them dropped out since he doesn't have much time for gaming right now. Now it's mostly members from the RPG Temple and one outsider. I made a chart to keep up with it all.

Games beaten - 9

• Advance Wars: Dual Strike
• Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
• Hotel Dusk: Room 215
• Tales of Vesperia
• Magna Carta 2
• Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island
• Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis
• Advance Wars
• Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

Now to get back to Glory of Heracles, and maybe start a console game.

Only six games completed so far this month, which is kinda disappointing. While it's much better than my usual completion rate, I don't think it's enough to reach my goal of beating at least half of my owned games by the end of the year, especially with all the new ones I'll be buying. I must play more games next month. O_O

Games beaten - 6

• Advance Wars: Dual Strike
• Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
• Hotel Dusk: Room 215
• Tales of Vesperia
• Magna Carta 2
• Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island

I'm playing Glory of Heracles and Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis at the moment, so maybe I can get them finished by the end of the month and bring my total to 8. Oh, and there's yet another friend entering the competition, so that makes 4 now. I'll call him Mystery Man A since he doesn't like people keeping track of him. He's someone that some of you know though. :P

Now onto my purchases for the month. Yeah, not very much this time. Just bought Glory of Heracles and a few volumes of manga I found for cheap. My younger brother gave me the Final Fantasy game. I'll be happy when spring gets here and I'm no longer broke.

Right now, the total for all the games I want (that are listed with a price at Amazon, anyway) come to $1,214. I'll probably wait to get some of the games until the price on them drop, so it will actually be less than that. Until I start work again, I won't be buying much anyway. I doubt I'll buy another game until March, when Lunar comes out.

With my gaming time increased, time spent watching anime has been decreasing. I still make sure to watch the latest episode of Durarara! as any sane person should. If you don't know it, then shame on you. It's by the creator of Baccano! And if you're not watching it, you get out of my blog right now! O_O

Last but not least is the IGN For Haiti Charity Event. I may not have much money at the moment, but it won't hurt me to donate a little. It will also be interesting to see what gets auctioned off.

I've just finished compiling my list of games to buy, with some being released this year, some without release dates, and some I'm not even sure will be localized. A few on the list are other genres, but it's clear to me that this is a year for RPGs. Ignoring all the games that are yet to be confirmed for a U.S. release and even those without release dates, that's still an impressive list for the first half of the year. Who knows how many more will be added to the list as the year goes on. One thing's for sure — I need to find some more work to be able to afford all of these.

• Sands of Destruction - 1/12
• Glory of Heracles - 1/18
• Mass Effect 2 - 1/26
• Shadow Of Destiny - 1/26
• White Knight Chronicles International Edition - 2/2
• Star Ocean: The Last Hope International - 2/9
• Shiren The Wanderer - 2/9
• Ragnarok DS - 2/16
• Last Rebellion - 2/23
• Lunar: Silver Star Harmony - 3/2
• Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey - 3/9
• Final Fantasy XIII - 3/9
• Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver - 3/14
• Spectral Force Genesis - 3/16
• FRAGILE DREAMS: Farewell Ruins of the Moon - 3/16
• Mimana: Iyar Chronicle - 3/30
• NIER - 3/30
• Monster Hunter Tri - 3/31
• Infinite Space - 3/31
• Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love - 3/31
• Record of Agarest War: Reappearance - 4/27
• 3D Dot Game Heroes - 5/11
• Hexyz Force - 5/25
• Resonance of Fate - 5/31
• Arc Rise Fantasia - 6/22
• Valkyria Chronicles 2 - 6/30
• Persona 3 Portable - 7/6
• Final Fantasy Versus XIII
• Golden Sun DS
• Atelier Rorona
• Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie
• Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
• Dragon Quest X
• Fable III
• Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll
• Ar tonelico III
• Tales of Graces
• Trinity Universe
• C|assic Dungeon
• Zettai Hero Kaizou Keikaku
• Prinny 2: Dawn of the Great Pantsu War
• Disgaea Infinite
• La Pucelle Ragnarok
• Phantasy Star Portable 2
• Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
• Estpolis: The Lands Cursed by the Gods
• Etrian Odyssey III
• Luminous Arc 3: Eyes
• Okamiden

That part was from my new blog at wordpress. I started a blog there for friends from other sites to read. This will still be my main blog though... maybe. GS needs to fix that stupid thing that causes sty|e and c|ass to be censored. =_=

So if you can't tell, Valkyria Chronicles is my most anticipated game. Then comes Zettai Hero, though I have no idea if or when it will be released here. I won't be getting a lot of these as soon as they're released, and will wait for a price drop instead, but those two will be pre-ordered for sure.

Oh, here's the stuff I got in December. Mostly anime I bought myself, along with DQ V that Ron sent me (thanks again Ron), a limited edition guide for the horror that is FFX-2 from my brother, and that Game & Watch game from Club Nintendo.

Competition progress -- Three games finished so far.

• Advance Ways: Dual Strike
• Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
• Hotel Dusk: Room 215

My friend Max (AzelKosMos), has joined the competition as well. Prepare to be destroyed along with the others! O_O

With one of my New Year's resolutions to beat at least half of the games I own, I decided to make it more interesting by challenging a friend (SavoyPrime) to see who could beat the most games this year. I was talking about this competition to one of my other friends (Curtis_Bundy), and he wanted to compete as well. So I'm in two separate competitions, yet I may not be much of a challenge. Anyone that knows me knows I have the bad habit of leaving games half-finished. xD

I'm motivated at the moment though, and finished Advance Wars: Dual Strike yesterday, making it the first game I've completed this year. Now I'm working on Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, as well as Tales of Vesperia. Though it seems I have a strong start, when spring comes, I don't see myself sitting around playing too many games. I'll have work, and I want to do a lot more hiking this year too. Better play as many as I can before then, I guess.

Anyway, I'll be keeping track of my gaming progress at my backloggery, as well as doing a blog at the end of the month to show my progress. Anyone sniffing around my backloggery may notice a lot of games marked as beaten on the 1st. Ignore those, as I was just updating it from last year on that day. The 4th marks the actual starting point. Good luck to my opponents, and may the best gamer win. :P

I know you're probably only doing this to humor me, Ron, but I'm still going to destroy you. O_O

I've decided to make a few resolutions. Whether I stick to them or not is questionable though. :P

• Beat at least half the games I own. Right now I'm at 162/446. My situation only looks to worsen with all the upcoming releases though.
• Hike the GA part of the Appalachian Trail. Pretty sure I'll get this one done.
• Be friendlier to people. Yeah, I don't see this one happening, but who knows.

That's pretty much it. No reason to make other silly resolutions I definitely wouldn't stick to, like buy less games. xD

I was working on a blog that reviewed the things that happened around here this year, but it was so depressing that I scrapped it. I'll just say it's been one hell of a bad year, and I really hope the next is better. No sense in dwelling on past events when I have the future ahead of me. I will take over the world this year. Join my army now and perhaps you will be spared during my conquest. O_O

First off, I need my armies to pillage and plunder, so I have war funds. Which I will actually end up using on games instead of outfitting my army. Especially since 2010 is going to be The Year of the RPG. I need lots of money. Out of the 46 RPGs listed there, I want at least 29 of them for sure. =O

My Wii had to be sent away for repairs, because the GPU was screwed. This is the second time it's messed up, and I no longer had a warranty. I went after Nintendo until they agreed to repair it for free though. No way was I paying $75 to repair something when I barely even play it. Why is it screwing up when I only play it once a year and leave it unplugged the rest of the time? >_>

Here's my silly little Christmas tree and my gifts to myself. There were no games I really wanted this month, so I splurged on anime. I also bought myself the box sets of Spice and Wolf (season 1) and Baccano! but they haven't arrived yet. Oh, and here's Nintendo R.O.B. He's ready for Christmas too. xD

Happy holidays to everyone! I'm probably going to vanish over to my mom's on Christmas morning and then spend the night up at their cabin. Then we're doing a Christmas dinner with some family on Saturday. I should be back after that though. You guys pile up some gifts under my tree for me so I can open them when I get home. O_O

Here's the list of upcoming games I want, at least so far. I may end up getting FFXIII and Resonance of Fate for my PS3 instead, but for now, I thought I should have them listed as 360 games so it doesn't feel left out. :P

Most of these games have a U.S. release date, and those that don't are games I expect to eventually be released here. The dates were gathered from various sites and so may not be 100% accurate. Now each of you buy me a game off this list!

Oh, and games I have pre-ordered will show up in red... Ron. >_>

Xbox 360
MagnaCarta II - Oct 13, 2009
Final Fantasy XIII - Q2 2010
Resonance of Fate - Q3 2010

PlayStation 3
Demon's Souls Deluxe Edition - Oct 6, 2009
Last Rebellion - Q4 2009
White Knight Chronicles: Wave of the Ancient - Q1 2010
3D Dot Game Heroes - ???
Rorona no Atelier: Arland no Renkinjutsushi - ???
Trinity Universe - ???

PlayStation Network
Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment - Oct 31, 2009
Record of Agarest War - Nov 9, 2009

PlayStation Portable
Persona PSP - Sep 22, 2009
Adventures to Go - Sep 22, 2009
Half-Minute Hero - Oct 20, 2009
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony - Q4 2009
Growlanser PSP - ???
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep - ???
La Pucelle: Ragnarok - ???
Senjou No Valkyria 2: Gallia Ouritsu Shikan Gakkou - ???

Wii
Muramasa: The Demon Blade - Sep 8, 2009
Harvest Moon: Animal Parade - Oct 20, 2009
Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love - Nov 10, 2009
Arc Rise Fantasia - Q1 2010
Fragile: Farewell Ruins Of The Moon - Q1 2010
Dragon Quest X - ???

Nintendo DS
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days - Sep 29, 2009
Laevatein Tactics - Sep 29, 2009
A Witch's Tale - Oct 6, 2009
Nostalgia - Oct 20, 2009
Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island - Oct 27, 2009
Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands - Nov 10, 2009
Phantasy Star 0 - Q4 2009
Sands of Destruction - Jan 10, 2010
Infinite Space - Mar 31, 2010
Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver - Q2 2010
Golden Sun DS - TBA 2010
Luminous Arc 3: Eyes - ???
Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie - ???
Dragon Quest IX - ???
Blood of Bahamut - ???

Since several of my fellow RPG Temple members are doing this today, I thought I would join in. I've completed 129 games in total, with 87 of them being RPGs. Some may argue games like Harvest Moon aren't RPGs, but since RPGamer says they are, I shall list them as well.

GB/GBC [8]
Harvest Moon GBC
Harvest Moon 2 GBC
Pokemon Blue
Pokemon Red
Pokemon Yellow
Pokemon Gold
Pokemon Silver
Pokemon Crystal

GBA [13]
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Fire Emblem
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town
Lunar Legend
Pokemon Emerald
Pokemon FireRed
Pokemon LeafGreen
Pokemon Ruby
Pokemon Sapphire
Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon
Summon Night: Swordcraft Story

NDS [13]
Disgaea DS
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Harvest Moon DS
Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness
Hoshigami: Ruining Bue Earth Remix
Luminous Arc
Luminous Arc 2
Pokemon Diamond
Pokemon Pearl
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
Suikoden Tierkreis
Summon Night: Twin Age

N64 [4]
Harvest Moon 64
Paper Mario
Pokemon Stadium
Pokemon Stadium 2

GCN [5]
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life
Harvest Moon: Magical Melody
Pokemon Colosseum

Wii [1]
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

PSP [5]
Astonishia Story
Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
Generation of Chaos
The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion

PS1 [8]
Final Fantasy Tactics
Lunar: SIlver Star Story Complete
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
Suikoden
Suikoden II
Thousand Arms
Threads of Fate

PS2 [23]
.hack//Infection
Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia
Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana
Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny
Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm
Dark Cloud 2
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories
Final Fantasy XII
GrimGrimoire
Growlanser Generations
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland
La Pucelle: Tactics
Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome
Phantom Brave
Rogue Galaxy
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
Suikoden III
Suikoden IV
Suikoden V
Suikoden Tactics
Ys: The Ark of Napishtim

PS3 [2]
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice
Valkyria Chronicles

360 [5]
Enchanted Arms
Eternal Sonata
Fable II
Phantasy Star Universe
Star Ocean: The Last Hope

And I thought I never really beat that many games. My list can actually compete with those of the other Temple members. =O

Since I haven't blogged about games in a while, I thought I would put up my list of games I want to get so far this year. Yes, I know some of them don't have a release date yet, but I'll be waiting to snatch them up if they are released this year. :P

DS

• My World, My Way - 2/3/09
• Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon - 2/16/09
• Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride - 2/17/09
• Legacy of Ys: Book I & II - 2/23/09
• Blue Dragon Plus - 2/24/09
• Avalon Code - 3/3/09
• Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume - 3/17/09
• Suikoden Tierkreis - 3/17/09
• Pokemon Platinum - 3/22/09
• Infinite Space - 3/24/09
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time - 3/24/09
• Lux Pain - 3/24/09
• A Witch's Tale - 3/31/09
• Steal Princess - 4/21/09
• Sands of Destruction - 8/12/09
• Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days - 8/31/09
• Phantasy Star 0 - 10/1/09
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
• Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier
• Knights in the Nightmare
• Princess and Knight

PSP

• Star Ocean: Second Evolution - 1/20/09 (falling behind on my purchases)
• Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? - 2/17/09
• Phantasy Star Portable - 3/3/09
• Mana Khemia: Student Alliance - 3/10/09
• C1ass of Heroes - 4/7/09
• Crimson Gem Saga
• Disgaea 2 PSP
• Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2

Wii

• Rune Factory Frontier - 3/17/09
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time - 3/24/09
• The Little King's Story - 5/15/09
• Arc Rise Fantasia - 6/30/09
• Muramasa: The Demon Blade - 7/15/09
• Phantom Brave Wii

Xbox 360

• Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection - 2/10/09
• Star Ocean: The Last Hope - 2/24/09

PS3

• Cross Edge - 3/24/09
• White Knight Chronicles

PS2

• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2 - 5/12/09
• Mana Khemia 2

Games in red have already been completely paid for. I'm trying to only buy games with pre-order bonuses until I'm done building my place and have more cash. A couple of exceptions are Suikoden Tierkreis and Cross Edge...I'm buying those right away no matter what! Then I plan to go back and buy the rest of the games on my list. Oh, I do have another game I'm expecting this year, one that I pre-ordered way back in May of last year and it has been delayed over, and over, and over again. It's Puchi Puchi Virus, set to release in September of this year. I'm beginning to wonder if it will ever be released. At least I already got my Prinny stress reliever. :P

Ok, so am I missing any games? Don't say RE5, I'm not interested. xD