I have long been a player of video games since as far back as I can remember. I have been a collector for about three years. In my place of employment, people are generally astonished when they hear the sheer volume of my collection since no one is even close. I mention this because a co-worker of mine innocently asked me one day if I've played every game I own. "Of course" I replied. But it quickly occurred to me that I indeed have not played them all. In fact, I had quite a few I hadn't even opened yet. I usually set some sort of collecting goal for the year and this person and myself said if I played two a day for one year, I'd need 730. Fair enough, that's a random enough goal to shoot for that is attainable without the threat of divorce!

So, I have set off on my goal of 730, starting 2014 at just over 600 individual physical games I call my own. I do not include games my children or the few my wife own as part of my collection since they are not mine despite their presence in my house. As of this writing, I am sitting nicely at 650 with two new releases this week. (Mario Golf & Kirby Triple Deluxe for 3DS if you cared)

I got to thinking. People do crazy stuff all the time. Most of it goes viral on YouTube and then disappears after a few weeks, if not sooner. And then what? It is forgotten. Playing two games a day for a year sounds a little out there but kids do it all the time really. They may not realize they are doing it, but they are. The difference is, these people are generally only experiencing a handful of games. They play Call of Duty for two hours a day all year. Or they plop down for some World of Warcraft daily. I'm talking about 730 pieces of art.

The gaming community, or gamers more specifically, are still generally looked down upon. People hear you're a gamer and the reaction is almost of disgust. I get why. "Back in the day" gamers were what people think they are. Young kids who come home from school, park their butts on the couch, and "rot their brains" for three hours at a clip and go to bed. Rinse, lather, repeat. But this perception hasn't really changed all that much despite those same kids getting older and having families of their own. I'd like to help change that. So I'm going to find a way to make my journey beneficial to the perception.

With that said, I'll be journaling my adventure to reach my goal of collecting and then playing. I'm shooting for the collection total to be reach by then end of 2014 and to begin playing two games a day for at least 30 minutes starting January 1, 2015. While I do this I will provide links to the two charities I plan on pointing people to. It is my hope that through the simple act of playing games, I can encourage people to support some excellent causes and help show the world that we, gamers, are not just a bunch of kids in a basement playing Battlefield, but loving parents, police officers, bus drivers and so much more. I will reveal which charities in the near future.

There you have it. That is my goal for the next year and say 8 months. Feel free to pass this one on. I mean, that is kinda the point. This is just a way for someone part of the gaming community to help make the world a better place. A way for gamers to remember that we play games for entertainment, not for supremacy within the ranks. And why not help out in the meantime?

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