My Collection: Yes, I really own that many games... :D

• Tracked List = Collection + Wish List
• Now Playing = Games in my Collection that I have not beaten, i.e. my 'backlog'. Yes, your guess is correct... this list is growing at a pace exceeding my rate of completion, and therefore has reached a critical mass that I will probably never catch up with. Nevertheless, it is a useful tracking tool. What can I say? I love owning exceptional examples of interactive entertainment, preserving them in pristine condition for posterity!

My Ratings: These scores are NOT indicative of how 'good' I think the game in question is based on a technical and artistic merit spectrum. They are scored based on the following criteria.

• I only rate the games in my Collection if I have 'beaten' them, i.e. completed the story or completed all 'main' objectives.
• The scores reflect an attempt to quantify and objectify something extremely subjective: the personal overall enjoyment I experienced while playing the game. An admittedly foolish attempt on principle, however in context, meant to be practically useful. Ideally, the scores are intended for someone to be able to glance at the list and see that the games grouped together are those that I enjoyed roughly the same.
• I dislike the common system of skewing scores upward. When people do this, the numbers lose their objectivity, which should be the purpose of assigning a number anyway. A '5' should not mean the game is crap, it should mean it stands up as an example of the typical videogame, which is functional and enjoyable, if uninspired and unexceptional.
  • '1' indicates I did not enjoy any aspect of playing the game. You won't see this score because I would not complete such a game let alone keep it in my Collection.
  • '5' is the middle of the spectrum, thus indicating that I did enjoy the game enough to complete it, even if it was not spectacular.
  • '10' does not indicate that I think the game is perfect by any means, but rather that it was so enjoyable, it in fact greatly influenced my life.

Chrono Trigger serendipitously brought me charging back into videogames after I had been growing away from them. Xenogears introduced me to Freud, Nietzsche, and some of the most powerful illustrations of love I have ever seen. The technical opus that was FFVII left me more in awe as I played it that any other form of entertainment, ever. Each game with this score is one that I wax nostalgic about, and holds a very special place in my sappy heart.

So on this scale, an excellent game that I enjoyed very, very much would be an '8'. Some of the best games in a console generation would fall between an '8' or '9'.