I need to start my article with a bit of a confession: I'm not a "New Year's Resolutions" kind of guy.  I tend to think such things are empty promises people make to themselves without any real intent to follow through, so I generally don't make them myself.  I understand why people do so, because they want to make some kind of perceived positive change in their life, and that gives them a goal to strive for.  But, without a carefully laid out plan, a well conceived idea, or something/someone to keep one motivated, it can be hard to stick with such things beyond the end of January.  Be that as it may, I don't begrudge those who resolve to better themselves.  Indeed, we should all aim for such a thing.

Now that I've said that, I'm going to turn the tables and say that I'm making some changes this year, and I hope to stick with them as much as I can.  Call them "resolutions" if you wish, but for me, I just need to do some things differently this year.  I need to deepen my relationship with my wife, and my God.  I need to commit more to my church.  I need to lose some weight - a goal which, as I write this, comes after my first workout of the year (go me!).  And as for my gaming, there are a number of things I want to do differently.  Here's a short list of things that I want to accomplish this year, from a gaming perspective.



1.  Finish what I've started  -  This is easier said than done, but it's something I've been endeavoring to do for a couple years now, and I feel like I'm making progress.  I've mentioned it before, but I bought Final Fantasy VII back in 1999, and after 3 valiant, but failed attempts to play through the whole game, I shelved it for years.  I picked it back up about 5 years ago, and made it roughly half-way through, but still fell out of it.  About 2 1/2 years ago, I started playing it again, and though I took a break from it close to the end, I went back and finally beat it.  It was a triumphant event for me, and one that has inspired me to be better about finishing games I'm playing.  I don't finish every game, as some games don't necessarily warrant the time to play them to completion, but as many games as I can finish, I plan to.  I'm trying to do that with RF Generation Community Playthrough games as well, though my track record thus far hasn't been great.  Still, it's something I'm working toward.


2.  Be less concerned with total completion  -  I feel like the end of the first resolution segues nicely into this one.  I've never been a stickler for 100% completions, so while I admire someone like The Completionist for his dedication to reaching 100% completion on games; I just don't have the time to invest in that kind of pursuit.  However, more recently I have wanted to do more in some of the games I've been playing.  I attempted a full, 100% complete of Super Mario Bros. a couple years ago, and in my (as yet incomplete) playthrough of Xenoblade Chronicles, I have been accepting more side quests and missions than perhaps necessary, and elongating what is already an epic, lengthy quest.  So while I want to "get my money's worth" from each game I buy, I own enough games now to where I don't have to play each game to exhaustion in order to extract "fun".  I just need to play while it's still enjoyable to do so, and put it away when it's not.


3.  Stop yelling at the TV/Rage-Quitting  -  This is a bad habit I've developed over the last 5 or 6 years, since I started to get back into gaming.  Sure, everyone's guilty of this from time to time, and occasionally when my wife and I would binge on Diablo II on Saturday's, we'd both occasionally yell in disgust when a bit of lag caused us to die deep in a dungeon, making it very difficult to go and retrieve our items.  But in the last few years, I've really become a curmudgeon, getting more and more frustrated with each death, lamenting each time I make a boneheaded mistake, and rage quitting after the 8th time I died in the SAME. EXACT. SPOT.  As a foster parent, I know that this behavior isn't setting a good example for the kids, and when my wife and I can finally adopt a baby of our own, (it's something I know I will need to change) I can be a good example for my child.  Besides - it's just a game, right?  Exactly!  No time like the present to try and cut down severely on the amount of rage I'm spewing forth each time my on-screen character expires.

4.  Play more games!  -  Again, easier said than done.  As some of you who follow the "Small Scores" thread may be aware, I live in an area where hardcore collectors are few, and most of them are slowing down as I'm ramping up.  So every time I drive the 60-70 miles or so to a major community near me, I take every opportunity to stock up on more games.  Especially now that PS2 and Xbox games are so dirt cheap, it's hard to argue against picking them up, especially if they're at least decent games that I can get 5-10+ hours of enjoyable play out of with the primary campaign.  That said, I've grown my collection by A LOT over the last year and a half since I joined RF Generation, and have (as of this writing) surpassed the 1,200 game mark.  I could probably put myself on a game buying moratorium and continue to play through what I have for the next 5 or 6 years, and not exhaust my collection for sheer content and play time.  With the dwindling amount of time I have to play, this seems like an easy choice, but the collector in me wants to continue to accumulate games, in hopes that I'll stumble across great gems that are highly sought after, universally lauded, or hidden gems that are absolute must-play games.  That continues to drive me to collect, and I need to dovetail upon that collector's instinct to get more, and use that as an excuse to play more, so these treasures don't just collect dust on my shelf.


5.  Write about games more!  -  With my Game Boy Guru project, it's easy for me to have something to write about, as long as I keep playing through my Game Boy carts.  However, I play other stuff as well, and I should be inspired to write about those games also.  Not only will it give me more content to fill my blog here at RF Generation, but it will help me revive my long-dormant personal blog, help me stay on track more with my GBG article stream, and possibly give me additional content to submit to other sites that doesn't necessarily fit with any of the places I already submit content to.  Writing about the games I'm playing helps me formulate my thoughts about them more completely, so when I discuss such things in forums, on social media, and in person, I can be much more well-spoken about such things.  I don't want to come across as a know-it-all, but I do want to be informed and have my thoughts already gathered before I start speaking about them and sound like a fool because I can't even name the main character, or pronounce the game's name correctly.

6.  Play more of my game systems and change it up more often  -  I've been guilty of "honing in" on certain systems during certain times.  Lately, it's been my Wii U, my original PlayStation, my Xbox (mostly emulation), and my NES.  Were it not for my Game Boy project, my Game Boy systems would be getting very little love, if only because it's just as convenient to emulate those games on my PSP, and don't even ask me about some of my other sadly neglected consoles.  For a handful of them, the last time I booted them up was during, or for, a RF Generation monthly playthrough.  So while I need to play the "new" games I buy at full, or near-full retail price, and want to continue to experience some stuff while online features, bug fixes, etc. are plentiful, I need to be playing my Saturn more, or giving my SNES some love.  And as my boxed Genesis cart collection grows, I need to continue to play some of those games.  Once I get my Game Gear systems fixed and screens replaced, I will want to put some time into them as well.  I just really need to diversify some of my game-time between long-term play goals (large modern games with save features), and quick burst game sessions (retro pick-up-and-play games) so that I can get a more varied experience, and play more of my collection.  I just need to experience more of what I have so it doesn't feel like they're just sitting on the shelf gathering dust.

I know that as a person, and a gamer, I'm not perfect.  But I can still strive to be better, to do more, to be a better person, a better gamer, and someone who continually appreciates the blessed situation he is in.  I have a roof over my head, food in my belly, a job that pays what I need to keep my head above water, and money enough to sometimes buy video games that I can play and enjoy when I'm not doing the more important things in life.  I just want to stop and smell the pixelated roses a little more, so I can fully appreciate their beauty.  Hopefully, if I can take some of my own advice, and these things will help me do just that.

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