For the sixth year in a row, I have tallied the number of video games I played in the last year. For the sixth year in a row, it’s an absurd amount.
But this year, my numbers have plunged. I played some 161 games but finished a mere 28 of them, down from 52 in 2010.
Did I start hating games or something? No. I just played slightly fewer games and many more games that just can’t be finished.
A Few Things to Keep in Mind
My year-end totals count the games I’ve played for fun or, simply, at home. As a games journalist, I am sent dozens of video games, some of which I play, some of which I don’t. I have the luxury, though, of playing many games without first having to decide if they’re worth paying for.
I exclude from these year-end lists games that I only play at video game industry events. I exclude all those game that I only touch at E3 or at, say, a PlayStation showcase in New York. I do include, however, unfinished games that I play at home as part of my judging duties for the Independent Games Festival. I include downloadable games that can be played on their own but omit downloadable expansions that require the base game. I list games I either started or finished in the calendar year. I don’t count demos.
The list reflects my personal taste and my professional curiosity. This year, I wanted to understand Facebook gaming better. This year, I still wasn’t very interested in playing sports games or fighting games.
I do not include playing times for the games in the list. Some of them I’ve only played for an hour; others I’ve played for dozens. I bold the ones in which I’ve reached narrative completion or some sort of credit-rolling finale. As I’ve been compiling these lists year after year, it’s become harder and harder to say I’ve finished games, not just because I’ve devoted less time to gaming (I’m not sure that I have) but because it seems that fewer games are being made that can be “finished.”
On with the list!
My 2011 Games Played/Finished List
(Games I started listed below. Finished games are bolded)
3DS
(25 games played; 0 finished)
3D Classics: Excitebike
Aliens Infestation
AR Games
Face Raiders
Freakyforms
Frogger 3D
Kirby Mass Attack
The Legend of Zelds: Ocarina of Time 3D
Madden NF Football
Mario Kart 7
Mario’s Picross (Game Boy)
Pilotwings Resort
Pokemon Rumble Blast
Pushmo
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
Ridge Racer 3D
The Sims 3
Samurai Warriors: Chronicles
Skylanders
Steel Diver
Super Mario 3D Land (Note: I finished the main quest but I don’t consider that game completion for this title; those who have played will understand why.)
Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition
Tetris Axis
Thor: God of Thunder
Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition
DS
(3 games played; 1 finished)
Ghost Trick
Okamiden
Professor Layton and the Last Specter
(6 games played; 0 finished)
Adventure World
Dragon Age Legends
Empires & Allies
Lucky Space
Mafia Wars 2
PixelJunk Monsters Online
iOS
(34 games played; 1 finished)
1-Bit Ninja
Air Pengun
Amazing Breaker
Anomaly HD
Aquaria
Async Corp
Batman: Arkham City Lockdown
Bubble Ball
Collision Effect
Connectrode
Continuity 2
Dead Space
Dream Skate
Dungeon Raid
Entanglement
Forget.Me.Not
Freddie Wong’s Flower Warfare
Grimm
Infinity Blade II
Jetpack Joyride
Knight Defense
Lilith’s Pet (unreleased)
Scribblenauts Remix
SpaceChem
SpellTower
Stem Stumper
Super Crossfire HD
Super Quickhook
Superman
Sword & Sworcery
Terrorist Zombies
Unpleasant Horse
Wind-Up Knight
Zombie Minesweeper
PC
(16 games played; 0 finished)
Note: Most of the games I played on PC, as in years past, were incomplete games I tried as a judge for the Independent Games Festival. Some of these games are assigned by the IGF; others I sought out on my own
A Closed World (unreleased)
Antichamber (unreleased)
Dear Esther (unreleased)
Emoticon vs. Rainbow (unreleased)
Forgotten Kodama (unreleased)
Ibb and Obb (unreleased)
Instance 1000
Kali 9 (unreleased)
The Last Word (unreleased)
Link (unreleased)
Molecat Twist (unreleased)
Moto (Unreleased)
Rope (unreleased)
So Many Me (unreleased)
Space Loop (unreleased)
Unmechanical (unreleased)
PSP
(0 games played; 0 finished)
None
PS3
(22 games played; 8 finished)
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
Battlefield 3
Dark Souls
Dead Space 2
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Driver: San Francisco
Infamous 2
Infamous: Festival of Blood
Killzone 3
L.A. Noire
Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7
LittleBigPlanet 2
Motorstorm Apocalypse
PixelJunk Shooter 2
PixelJunk: Sidescroller
Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One
Rocketbirds: Harboiled Chicken
Rayman Origins
Saints Row: The Third
Shadows of the Damned
Skylanders
Uncharted 3
Wii
(5 games played; 3 finished)
Fortune Street
Kirby’s Dreamland 3 (Virtual Console)
Kirby’s Return to Dreamland
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Lost in Shadow
Xbox 360
(50 games played; 15 finished)
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
Alice Madness Returns
Asteroids do Concern Me
A World of Keflings
Bastion
Brink
Bulletstorm
Burnout Crash
Captain America: Super Soldier
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Note: This is the only 2010 game I finished in 2011.)
Child of Eden
Crysis 2
de Blob 2
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero
Duke Nukem Forever
El Shaddai
Fight Night Champion (Note: I finished the story mode.)
Flotilla
Forza 4
From Dust
Gears of War 3
Homefront
Honor in Vengeance II
Hunted: Demon’s Forge
Hypership: Out of Control
Ilomilo
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Kinect: Disneyland Adventures
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
Lego Star Wars III
Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom
Miner Dig Deep
Missile Escape
Modern Warfare 3 (Note: I didn’t prestige. I finished the campaign.)
Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess
Mortal Kombat
NBA 2K11
Outland
Platformance: Temple Death
Portal 2 (Note: This is the closest I got to 100%-ing a game in 2011, finishing its solo and multiplayer campaigns.)
Rage
Red Faction: Armageddon
Renegade Ops
Rock of Ages
Section 8: Prejudice
Spider-Man: Edge of Time
Splatterhouse
Skyrim
Toy Soldiers: Cold War
Trenched (aka Iron Brigade)
The final 2011 tally is: 161 games played; 28 finished (NOTE: I originally counted 27 games finished, because I accidentally didn’t include Sword & Sworcery among my conquered games.)
That compares to:
2010… 195 played; 52 finished
2009… 165 played; 48 finished
2008… 135 played; 37 finished
2007… 118 played; 35 finished
2006…102 games played; 21 finished
https://kotaku.com/i-finished-these-52-video-games-in-2010-30842497
(Sorry, PSP. It was fun.)
