I finished more than 50 video games in 2010. I did not plan to. But here's the list.
As I've done for each of the past four years, I've assembled the list of games I started playing for fun during the preceding year — some 195 of them — and then bolded the ones I finished.
The Necessary Preamble
My tallies went up since 2009, though I had expected them to fall. I've been busier with work and home life. I may not have kids, but I am married. I figured all that would translate into fewer games played. Nope.
As always, the list of games I started playing is imprecise. I try to only include games I've played for fun, which means I exclude games I only played at press events (finished ones like Gran Turismo 5 and unfinished ones like The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword). I do include any game I played at home, though some of them, to be clear, I only played because I had to for work (Fighters Uncaged, I'm talking about you!). I include games I've played for only an hour (or as long as it takes to get one's fill of Extreme Baby Maker) and games I've played for weeks.
The main point of the list is to look at what I've finished, since that list is more definite. These "finished" games are games in which I reached some sort of narrative end or final level in a linear sequence. I did not 100% complete these games. And, with games like Photo Dojo where completion is a debatable status, I erred on the side of considering the game not finished.
Two things to note: 1) As a games reporter, I get most of the games I play mailed to me, which makes trying this many games economically easy. 2) I wind up playing the most games on platforms that have good download systems and lots of free games and free demos — iPad, iPhone and Xbox 360.
My 2010 Games Played/Finished List
(Games I started listed below. Finished games are bolded)
DS
(played 15, completed 5)
(played 23, completed 1)
(played 26, completed 1)
(played 20, completed 0)
NOTE: Many of these were games I played as a judge for the Independent Games Festival's 2010 awards. I've excluded the dozen or so games I played for the 2011 awards, as that judging is ongoing.
1. AaaaaaaAAaaaaaAAAaaAAAAAAAAAA!! - A Reckless Disregard for Gravity
2. Bejeweled 3
3. Civilization V
4. Closure
5. Cogs
6. Doom (Here's a good place to point out that any game, from any year, that I first played in 2010, goes on this list. So, yes, 2010 was the first year during which I played Doom.)
7. Faultline
8. Farmville
9. Heroes of Newerth
10. Killjet
11. Nidhogg
12. Miegakure
13. Monaco (Technically played this unreleased Independent Games Festival on my Xbox 360 via special code.)
14. Owlboy
15. Rocketbirds Revolution
16. A Slow Year
17. Starguard
18. Trauma
19. Vessel
20. Zuma Blitz
(played 3, completed 2)
(played 24, completed 10)
(played 62, completed 21)
(played 22, completed 12)
The final 2010 tally is: 195 games played; 52 finished
That compares to:
2009... 165 played; 48 finished
2008… 135 played; 37 finished
2007… 118 played; 35 finished
2006…102 games played; 21 finished
(Sorry, sports and racing games. I didn't play many of you for fun.)
