As 2008 draws to a close, I find myself channelling my inner sheeple and, like everyone else, doing a "year in review" blog. I'll warn you now, this is going to be fairly long, so if you're not interested in my ramblings, please drive through. That said, let's begin, shall we?
-It's been an unprecedented year in terms of the amount of games I've obtained. In 2008 alone, I've acquired 183 games (or slightly more than 22% of my total collection). While I could pass the 1,000 game total in 2009, I doubt I'll maintain that pace.
-My completion rate has been about what I hoped for. I try to finish fifteen games a year. I "wiped the slate clean" back in the middle of 2006. Pro-rating a total of eight games for the rest of that 2006, I should have finished 38 games to this point. I am exactly there, with 19 completions in 2008.
2008 Completed Games
-Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360)
-Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (PS2)
-Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II (PS2)
-Bully: Scholarship Edition (Xbox 360)
-Open Season (Xbox 360)
-Uno (Xbox 360)
-Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360)
-NBA 2K6 (Xbox 360)
-Viva Pinata (Xbox 360)
-Madden NFL '06 (Xbox 360)
-Condemned: Criminal Origins (Xbox 360)
-FIFA '06: Road to FIFA World Cup (Xbox 360)
-Medal of Honor (PS)
-Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction (Xbox)
-Halo (Xbox)
-The Guy Game (Xbox)
-Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (Xbox 360)
-Fable (Xbox)
-Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
I suppose I could plow through Metal Gear or something so I could say I'm ahead of my pace, but I probably won't.
-My Game of the Year: Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360). While the games I've played for the first time this year include Bioshock, Condemned: Criminal Origins, Assassin's Creed, and Rock Band 2 (all of which I adored), I'm still a GTA mark at heart. While Rockstar didn't do everything I would have liked to see, they made an undeniably epic game that had a more compelling story than it was given credit for.
-My Biggest Disappointment of the Year: The Simpsons Game (Xbox 360). I thought this was going to be the one. The game that made up for all the garbage that has gotten spewed out with the Simpsons name on it (my affinity for Road Rage notwithstanding). Unfortunately, we got a mediocre platformer that was more irritating than fun.
As for 2009, I plan on cutting back on the sheer amount of acquisitions, instead focusing on knocking priority titles off of my wishlist. Paper Mario, Fallout 3, and Soulcalibur IV are early targets. I also would like to bring myself current as far as systems go. I'd like to try Metal Gear Solid 4 one of these days.
On the gaming front, Kingdom Hearts, Saints Row 2, all my music games, and various wrestling games are going to take the bulk of my time in early 2009. At some point, I need to tear through the Metroid saga and spend some more time with the other members of the Holy Trinity of Nintendo. I'd also like to see my gamerscore approach 40,000 by the end of the year.
I think that's all for now. Thanks for sticking with me. Have a safe and happy New Year's Day and I'll see you in 2009.