2011, Gaming in Review

What a year it's been in gaming for me. This is the first year I actively kept track of my gaming records and tried to beat my backlog. It was quite challenging. With help from the site
"Backloggery" I was able to keep track of my library of games and which ones I've yet to beat and complete. So let's take a look at some notable things about my backlog.

2011 was the year I took on the majority of the Castlevania Series with 18 out of the 28 Home and handheld Console Releases having been beaten with at least a bad ending. Of those 18 games
, all of the 2D Single Player Castlevanias were beaten (Classic & Metroidvania style). Because of this, I have grown an appreciation for the Castlevania Series that I hadn't before.
Previously I was of the opinion that it was a series that people enjoyed, but I didn't really pay much attention to myself. Now though, I hope that we eventually get some more Metroidvania
type games soon. As that gameplay type is quite unappreciated.

Another thing of note is that, thanks to the Humble Indie Bundle people, I have become quite the PC Gamer than I ever had before. There's a lot that can be appreciated in the Indie Game type
genre and ones that will be passed over due to it being, "Indie". Some view that in conjunction with "Hipster" and it's quite unfortunate. Gems like "Breath of Death VII" "Faerie Solitaire"
, "Audiosurf", "Trine", "Jamestown", & "VVVVVV " should not be ignored.

This was also the year for handheld emulation for me. As I went through a lot of GBA games that I've never played before and enjoyed. Like "Futari wa Precure", "Densetsu no Satfy", "Ninja
Five-O", "Kuru Kuru Kururin", & "Drill Dozer". All fantastic games.

What else happened in 2011? Well, I found the first Competative FPS that I enjoy. Team Fortress 2 has been a great experience for me. But it's also been the most energy draining. I learned
that with FPSs, I have to give my absolute all into playing it, just to keep up with everyone else. I find that after playing, I'm out fo breath, my mind is tired, and my body loosens up
after being so tense. There have been many moments playing TF2 where I almost leaped out of my chair as my character was leaping in front of my sentry to protect it, just so I could be
as competative as everyone else was. I know I can't play this game forever, it's too exhausting.

What's the plan in 2012? Maybe finishing out a Master Run of a game. I'm in the middle of both a Pokemon Emerald 386 Nuzlocke Run and a Final Fantasy I All White Mages Run. Both are quite
challenging. I'd also like to finish out a couple series. Playing through the rest of Castlevania would be nice. In time I'd like to rent the rest of non-emulatable Sonic games and
finish up that series. I also have a plan for an achievement system for old school games. Interestingly, I'm also going to try out more of Playstation Home and maybe buy a new place there.

So, 122 New Games with 149 games Beaten and around 109 of those Beaten been completed for the year of 2011 as well as beating my entire backlog. Let's tally up the score and see
a grade rating.



Grade A, not bad at all. Let's hope 2012 can be just as productive.