Monday, February 6, 2012

2011's New Year's Video Game Resolution - Failure, or Success?

Coffee Beans
     Remember January 4, 2011? If you don't, that was the day I posted my "New Year's Video Game Resolution". What was my New Year's Video Game Resolution for last year?
     I simply said, "...that I won't purchase any NEW or USED video games in 2011, until I finish my backlog of video games on my current generation consoles."
     The image below is what my backlog of video games looked like in January 2011:

The Brew
     So, did I stick to my resolution and complete all the games? Here's the list from above, and the updates:

  • Dementium II - I beat the main campaign, and saw the credits roll.
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops - Finished the single-player campaign, and saw the credits roll.
  • Resistance: Fall of Man - Finished the single-player campaign, and as the other games above, saw the credits roll.
  • Endless Ocean: Blue World - Finished the main campaign, and saw the credits roll.
  • Greg Hastings Paintball 2 - Finished the main campaign, all three tournament brackets, and saw the credits roll.
  • Medal of Honor: Vanguard - Finished the single-player campaign, and saw the credits roll.
  • Metroid Prime Trilogy - I don't think it even entered my Wii in 2011, and I didn't keep it on my list. It was the only one I originally said, "I'm not sure if I count this one", because I had already completed Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and traded that game off when I learned about Metroid Prime Trilogy releasing, and purchased Metroid Prime Trilogy for $20 at Best Buy when they had it on sale.
  • Monster Hunter Tri - Completed the missions in the single-player campaign/story, saw the credits roll...but have not (didn't count it) seen/beat all the online monsters.
  • Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip - Took this off my list as well, as I didn't purchase this one, and it was a gift to me from Mrs. Coffee for Christmas one year. I justified this one being removed from my list, because it was not a game I purchased, and instead received it as a gift.
  • Tenchu: Shadow Assassins - Purchased this on a whim one day from GameFly when they had a firesale of sorts on used games, got it for $5 with shipping. Beat the campaign and saw the credits, had never played a Tenchu game before this one, and definitely thought the ending was strange.

     So, I "justified" not completing Shaun White Snowboarding and Metroid Prime Trilogy in 2011, due to one being a gift (see another example below) and the other having a Wii game I had already completed before (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption).

     Now, the question you may be wondering is, "Well Coffee, did you make it the full year without purchasing a game?"
     Simple answer. No. Technically though...sort of. Let me explain.

Filtered Thoughts
     Back in November, Best Buy had a major sale on some video games. One of those games was Metroid: Other M. Best Buy was selling the game for only $4.99. When I saw the sale, I immediately sent Mrs. Coffee an email with a link to the game/sale on BestBuy.com, twice! I wanted to make sure she got it. I figured for $5, it could be a stocking stuffer/Christmas gift surprise, and even told her, "If you do get it for me, don't tell me."
     Well, seeing Metroid: Other M for only $5 was tempting, especially considering I was operating CoffeeWithGames more frequently during then, so I purchased a copy with the justification that I would use it as a giveaway on the site one day. Mrs. Coffee noticed I had purchased the game, and let the beans spill that she purchased me a copy of the game as well. Unfortunately, due to Best Buy being run by idiots, in my humble opinion, her order was canceled/not fulfilled.
     So, Metroid: Other M was the only game I purchased in 2011, but my reason for purchasing it was not originally as a self-purchase. Will the giveaway still happen? Yea, but whoever wins it, won't get the game sealed and brand new...you can thank Best Buy's terrible business practices for that!

     While I completed nearly every game originally listed, there are a few other games I completed in 2011 that were not on my New Year's Resolution list. They are:

  • Donkey Kong Country Returns - Mrs. Coffee gave this to me as a Christmas gift in 2010, and we completed the game last year together. We played through the entire game cooperatively, with much yelling/screaming, but we had a blast with it. I left this off my "backlog" list, because it was given to me as a gift. I wasn't really thinking about Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip being a gift when I originally made the list, but after I realized it was a gift, it wasn't a high priority for me to finish/rush through.
  • New Super Mario Bros. Wii (again) - When Mrs. Coffee and I visited family over the Christmas holiday, a friend of mine brought his Wii over to my parents' house and Mrs. Coffee, my friend, and I played through the game in about 3 hours. It's incredible how quickly you can complete it if you know the cannon shortcuts! Unfortunately, Mrs. Coffee had left the room when we were on the final stage (forget why now), and my friend and I ended up completing the level without her playing it.
  • Kirby's Epic Yarn - We borrowed this from our neighbors, and played through it together. Mrs. Coffee enjoyed the game a great deal, and even completed her own single-player file of it, with almost 100% of it completed.
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - This was provided to me by Activision back in November, and I completed the single-player campaign and found the story/game-play to be very enjoyable. You can read some of my initial impressions of the game HERE.
  • Super Mario Bros. Virtual Console - I beat this in December, one night when we had some friends come over and we were taking turns attempting to beat it.

     Out of the original 10 games I listed, I completed eight of them, seeing the credits roll. For all of 2011 though, I beat 13 games.
     In short, I sort of fulfilled my 2011 New Year's Video Game Resolution, and I sort of failed it (thanks to Best Buy).

Questions
     What do you think? Was my justification on removing Metroid Prime Trilogy and Shaun White Snowboarding from the list good enough?
     Are there any games I played/completed in 2011 that you would be interested in reading my impressions about?

16 comments:

  1. It's good to see you posting again, Coffee - we missed you!

    Could you tell me more about your experience with Tenchu. I've never played a game in that series, but it intrigues me. Critics tend to complain about some strange bugs and control systems, but I get over those easily if I get into a game.

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  2. Excuses, excuses. You know how to beat every single NES game before you can buy a new game!

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  3. *You now have to beat every single NES game before you can buy a new game.*

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  4. ROFL @ Charlie

    Agrees w/ Games - good to see you posting.

    @ Games - I only ever played the first Tenchu and really liked it. I have meant to pick up more since - it just hasn't happened yet

    @ Coffee - a good list of games. I still am a bit jealous with your Metroid Prime Collection find. Played the first one some, never beat it. Never played 2 or 3.

    So, what are you playing now?

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  5. You will be forgiven but you must buy mass effect....ALL OF THEM....Do it. You know you want to...or Fallout New Vegas...heck yeah

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  6. At least your backlog is small. Mine is too big to post in one sentence.

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  7. Your going to love Donkey Kong Country! I am on the same page as Stikester there are so many games that I have not finished the list could continue on for days. I'll be brave and admit it now only played 5 hours of my Skyrim to date.

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  8. It's been kind of crazy with some PC issues, which were preventing me from doing the typical data posts, but that has now been resolved...for the moment.

    As for Tenchu, didn't really experience any strange bugs in it, and the controls were decent enough, but didn't make me feel like a ninja really. I'll try to get some thoughts and/or a video together on it.

    Thanks for the comment!

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  9. If you purchase me a NES and every single NES game, I will accept your challenge. :)

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  10. Well, January consisted of me trying to play/resolve some PC issues; which I will mention in a post later tonight.

    I have several games that I'll be starting up this week though.

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  11. I have not played either Mass Effect game, or any of the Fallout games either.
    I know some around here enjoyed Fallout 3 a good bit, but I think ONE had some issues with a game breaking glitch in New Vegas if I'm thinking correctly.

    Thanks for the comment and following, my wife likes the coffee background on your site!

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  12. Well, I kept my backlog to THIS generation of consoles/handhelds that I own...so only the PS3, Wii, and Nintendo DS.

    I didn't count last generation, if I did...I wouldn't have come close to even finishing. Many Xbox and PS2 games that I barely played.

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  13. Actually, my wife and I already played/beat DKCR. That was one of the games from last year that we played through together, and we enjoyed it a lot.

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  14. Eee. computer issues. sort of sounds like my average work day. Don't envy you there - I know how irritated I get with electronics issues around my house too. Looking forward to more posts soon, bud.

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