I have a confession to make.
I have something to tell everyone. I guess you could call it a confession, but either way, it’s something. I really am quite ashamed, given my “nerd status” or whatever you kids call it these days, as well as the fact that I’m an associate at a certain popular retail store that specializes in electronic gaming. I hate to say that some of you may think differently of me after this gets out, but I’m willing to deal with that just to get this off my chest. Those of you who wish to live your life without knowing this horrible truth about me should stop reading right about now.
Or now.
I’ll give you a few seconds to break away.
Okay, now you really should leave. Seriously.
Before 2010, I had never finished a video game. I know this is horrid catastrophic news, and you probably think so much less of me, but it gets worse. Before July 2011, I had only beaten one. As of a few months ago, I have beaten two video games. Only two. IT JUST KEEPS GETTING WORSE. One was Sonic and Knuckles for the Sega Genesis.
I have proof!
But wait, there’s more. I didn’t even play it on the Genesis. I played it on the Playstation 3, thanks to Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection. I’m not sure you understand the gravity of the situation. I was able to save and quit for days at a time, not just pause the game and turn the TV off, hoping the system didn’t overheat and explode. I think that might be cheating.
The only other game I have successfully played through completely was Portal 2. I don’t mean “completely” as in I’ve gotten all the trophies (because hell, I’m only 28% through if you go by those), I just mean I’ve gotten to the end of the storyline and have finished the game. I haven’t even finished the first Portal.
Basically, I feel like a fraud. I do love video games. I really do. I buy them with the intention of playing them, and I do start. It’s just that for whatever reason they don’t keep and hold my interest. I bought Alice: Madness Returns, and it came with the original American McGee’s Alice. I started playing that (Because you can’t expect me to play a sequel before finishing the first. PORTAL DOESN’T COUNT.) on normal. Terrible mistake. I thought I could handle normal. I ended up getting stuck right before getting to the Vale of Tears and quit. A month or so later I picked it back up again. Couldn’t do it. I restarted the game on easy and am in the Vale of Tears finally. I haven’t played it in a few weeks though. I have a feeling it’ll be awhile. Part of this may be due to the lack of achievements given for completing the various tasks in the game. I seem to be motivated by these achievements. I know they really don’t mean anything at all and I don’t get real life trophies, but they make me feel good, damnit! I feel like I’ve done something!
Strangely enough, I feel a part of my lack of motivation is due to the games themselves. I’ve had issues navigating a certain part of a game, having to replay multiple times, and then just end up rage quitting. I’m not saying games shouldn’t have tough elements in them, though. I’m just making excuses for myself. Meanwhile, there are things the gamemakers could include. Case in point: Borderlands.
I’ll be so far into a game, finally beat one of those really hard parts, but I won’t be up to a checkpoint before for whatever reason, I have to leave the game. All of my progress, lost. So thank you, Borderlands, and please have this for Borderlands 2.
I wish there was some way I could keep from getting discouraged or distracted. I’m currently still working on Metal Gear Solid 4, Fables I, II, and III, Assassin’s Creed, Epic Mickey, L.A. Noire, Portal, Half-Life 2, CoD: Black Ops, and Oblivion. Actually, those are just the ones for current generation platforms. I have all the games from the NES, Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and various handhelds that I’m nowhere close to finishing.
I think I have a motivation problem.
Now that I think about it, it took me about 5 months to write this post.
