I have a lot of video games that I need to beat.

I wrote about my “stack of shame” twice on my blog: in February 2011 and in May 2012. In the year between the two I made almost no progress, beating only New Super Mario Bros.

Is this important? No. Not at all. But I’ve been obsessed on and off with video games since I was a kid. And I’ve been slipping in the last 10 years. I buy more video games than I should, and beat very few of them. I’ll start one game while in the middle of another. I do the same thing with books, but my track record with games is much worse. So this blog is an attempt to keep me focused and motivated on the important things. You know, video games.

I’m also a new dad, and my leisure time is very limited and valuable. I’ve spent too much of that time in the last few months zoned out. Video games are an amazing stress relief for me¹, I just need a little oomph to keep at them sometimes.

This blog was inspired by the efforts of the CRPG Addict. My goals and rules are different, though. The main goal is to finish, if not all of the games in my stack of shame, then most of them. Here are the basic rules:

1. No new games, until some as-yet-undetermined goal is met. I will only play games that I already own.²
2. Hint guides, walkthroughs, etc. are okay. If I want to make quick progress, I’m not above sneaking peeks at these. I’ll try to keep that to a minimum where it makes sense.
3. If I remember the basic plot and context of old game saves, I can start from there (for example, when I get to Final Fantasy XIII, I’ve already made it almost to the end).
4. The game has to have an actual end. Not just a kill screen.
5. I don’t need to complete a game, just beat it. That means I don’t need to get all achievements, trophies, etc.
6. Game remakes are ok. I’m not going to insist playing the original version. For example, the first game I’m going to tackle is Final Fantasy on the PSP rather than the original NES version, though I do have both versions. I have issues.
7. I’ve got to give each game the old college try. If I truly, deeply hate it, I can give it up after 10 hours of play.
8. One game at a time.
9. This is the list.

I really wanted to get that to 10 rules, but that’s all I’ve got for now.

Anyway, as I mentioned, the first game is Final Fantasy. I started it this past weekend, but I’m not very far yet. I’ll post about it soon.