No, I didn't accidentally fall through a time slip and went back to the year 1999 - a pleasant thought to tell you the truth but I rather be propelled into the future if I can do some time travelling. I am, of course, talking about the amount of games that I have in my game library. "2,000 games" sounds grand does it not? And I am just 7 games away from achieving that landmark.
Honestly, it feels really nice to have the amount of games that I have now. There are two ways to look at this - 2,000 is a celebration for me but my harshest critics see this as a new low point in my life. I bet everyone has one or two negative people in their lives who always see that the glass is half empty - yes, I have them too. The biggest piece of criticism I usually get is that I have too many video games that it should already last me a lifetime of gameplay - which is probably true, World of Warcraft itself would last for another couple of years - so it is ridiculous to keep adding more to the amount when I should be playing and completing all the games I already own at the moment before I would even think about buying a new game. No matter how many times I have explained my modus operandi when it comes to video gaming to these folks, they still insist that I am being unreasonable with this particular hobby. I really do understand the point that was being made and where it came from but it just doesn't sit well with my situation. I am a bit of an odd hybrid of gamer + collector because I certainly enjoy the idea of playing and mastering a game but at the same time, it seems like the number of games I own is growing faster than the amount of time I have to play them. It irks me whenever someone refers to me as a collector before acknowledging me as a gamer because my response to that is always the same: I am a gamer who coincidentally buys a lot of games during his gaming adventure. The basics of my daily gaming life have always been the same: I play what I feel like playing at the moment, even if that means that I don't get to play games that interest me until years after I bought them and I love being able to select from so many options. I am a control freak, what can I say.
I wonder which game will become my 2,000th game. Will it be a Nintendo DS game? A PlayStation 3 game? A PC game? As you can see though I am not necessarily rushing to get there. The number doesn't impact my buying habits. Heck, I haven't even picked up Uncharted 2 yet. I am not in a hurry to get that game either - the first one was mediocre and judging from what I have seen and played with this sequel, it is pretty close to the original in terms of fun factor. As I have mentioned before, the graphics are stunning but you have to love how a game's hype will turn your average gamers into mindless worshippers: people really need to realize that just because a game has the best graphics to date, it doesn't make that game the best game ever made. The hype generated from the media is so powerful these days that it is even capable of turning something as oblique and obtuse as the PlayStation 3's Demon's Souls into a craze here in North America - now that's a miracle - even though the game is as unforgiving and complicated as From Software's other gaming greats like Evergrace and Forever Kingdom on the PlayStation 2. As a matter of fact, those games have similar feel and gameplay to Demon's Souls but that didn't get them anywhere close to the casual audience when they first came out. Apparently, the people at Atlus' marketing department have done their job very, very well. I know I am rambling a bit, but yes I am looking forward to game number 2,000. I have to start thinking about the kind of special treatment that the lucky game will receive from me when I finally have it in my hands.
Honestly, it feels really nice to have the amount of games that I have now. There are two ways to look at this - 2,000 is a celebration for me but my harshest critics see this as a new low point in my life. I bet everyone has one or two negative people in their lives who always see that the glass is half empty - yes, I have them too. The biggest piece of criticism I usually get is that I have too many video games that it should already last me a lifetime of gameplay - which is probably true, World of Warcraft itself would last for another couple of years - so it is ridiculous to keep adding more to the amount when I should be playing and completing all the games I already own at the moment before I would even think about buying a new game. No matter how many times I have explained my modus operandi when it comes to video gaming to these folks, they still insist that I am being unreasonable with this particular hobby. I really do understand the point that was being made and where it came from but it just doesn't sit well with my situation. I am a bit of an odd hybrid of gamer + collector because I certainly enjoy the idea of playing and mastering a game but at the same time, it seems like the number of games I own is growing faster than the amount of time I have to play them. It irks me whenever someone refers to me as a collector before acknowledging me as a gamer because my response to that is always the same: I am a gamer who coincidentally buys a lot of games during his gaming adventure. The basics of my daily gaming life have always been the same: I play what I feel like playing at the moment, even if that means that I don't get to play games that interest me until years after I bought them and I love being able to select from so many options. I am a control freak, what can I say.
I wonder which game will become my 2,000th game. Will it be a Nintendo DS game? A PlayStation 3 game? A PC game? As you can see though I am not necessarily rushing to get there. The number doesn't impact my buying habits. Heck, I haven't even picked up Uncharted 2 yet. I am not in a hurry to get that game either - the first one was mediocre and judging from what I have seen and played with this sequel, it is pretty close to the original in terms of fun factor. As I have mentioned before, the graphics are stunning but you have to love how a game's hype will turn your average gamers into mindless worshippers: people really need to realize that just because a game has the best graphics to date, it doesn't make that game the best game ever made. The hype generated from the media is so powerful these days that it is even capable of turning something as oblique and obtuse as the PlayStation 3's Demon's Souls into a craze here in North America - now that's a miracle - even though the game is as unforgiving and complicated as From Software's other gaming greats like Evergrace and Forever Kingdom on the PlayStation 2. As a matter of fact, those games have similar feel and gameplay to Demon's Souls but that didn't get them anywhere close to the casual audience when they first came out. Apparently, the people at Atlus' marketing department have done their job very, very well. I know I am rambling a bit, but yes I am looking forward to game number 2,000. I have to start thinking about the kind of special treatment that the lucky game will receive from me when I finally have it in my hands.
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