Did your pile become less of a mountain? - 2011 in review

Oh, and Metro 2033 needs to be on there, big time. I am really enjoying the book - about halfway through - but am reading it really slowly as nighttime is my reading time and rather than reading I am playing video games. I need to do something about that, as I love to read.

Just updated/cleaned up the thread description, and also added the new and improved Goodle Doc, which you can now browse via sheet (bottom left of Google Doc). It works a lot better, looks a lot neater, and is a lot easier to track and strikethrough completed games, etc.

I've transferred all info across, except for the Side Goals and Group Work. I'll add those in this evening, once the kids are in bed.

I've also added in tanstaafl and iaintgotnopants, and a tip of the hat to mrtomaytohead for adding his own in

If you've added to or modified the 'old' google doc in the last hour or so, let me know, and I'll update your changes.

I took a long hard look at my pile and came to the conclusion that I have 16(!) big AAA-titles that I already own and haven't finished and in many cases never even played once yet:

Splinter Cell Conviction (360)
Saints Row 2 (360)
Mass Effect (360)
Mass Effect 2 (360)
50 cent: Blood on the Sand (360)
Company of Heroes (PC)
Warhammer 40k: DoW2 (PC)
Crysis (PC)
Crysis Warhead (PC)
Bioshock 2 (360)
Bully: Scholarship Edition (360)
Batman Arkham Asylum (360)
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (360)
Halo (XBOX)
Battlefield Bad Company 2 (PC)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warface (PC)

My plan is to bring this list down to twelve and commit to finishing the single player campaigns on each one this year, about one game each month. Man, the quality of some of these titles. I wouldn't have to buy a single game in 2011 and have the best year in gaming ever...
Any suggestions which four I should take off my list? I'll add myself to the google doc when I'm sure about which ones to play and which 2011 titles I might buy. So far only Portal 2 looks like a must buy to me...

P.S. I'm doing the same thing with books: I'm making a physical pile with 12 books I own but haven't read...

estorino wrote:

Any suggestions which four I should take off my list? I'll add myself to the google doc when I'm sure about which ones to play and which 2011 titles I might buy. So far only Portal 2 looks like a must buy to me...

That will indeed be a stellar 12 months for you.

Maybe look at them by genre, then decide which is your favourite, and knock out a few titles that way. For example, having ME1 & 2 will be a big one, if you do them back to back, but if you like WRPGs, then you might choose that over some of the multiple FPS titles you have in that genre. Hard to answer without knowing your game tastes too well.

Failing that, leave it as a list of 16 and go for broke!

Games I already own and want to see the credits roll:
PS3
Eternal Sonata
God Of War 1/2
Goldeneye 007
Infamous
Killzone 2
NCAA Football 11 (no real "credits" here, but need to play)
Ninja Gaiden Sigma

PC
Bioshock 2
Company of Heroes (all)
Fallout 3 GotY
Indigo Prophecy
Overlord II
Reccettear
Psychonauts
STALKER SoC
Super Meat Boy
Tales of Monkey Island Ch 2-5
Thief: Deadly Shadows
The Void

Games I have played but not finished that I might want to finish:
Ghostbusters
Jade Empire
NyxQuest
The Witcher
World of Goo

Games I have beaten but will continue to play for achievement hunting, or DLC/expansion segments:
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Borderlands
DA:O Awakenings
Demon's Souls (PS3)
Disgaea 3 (PS3)
NBA 2k11 (PS3)
Rock Band 2, Lego, Beatles (PS3)
Uncharted (PS3)

Warhammer Dawn Of War II Chaos Rising

Games I own that I just need to play a little bit of(mostly from indie packs on Steam):
Altitude
Bullet Candy
Dogfighter
Everyday Shooter
Flotilla
Geometry Wars
Gish
Gratuitous Space Battles
Greed Corp
Guns of Icarus
Hacker Evolution
Jolly Rover
Plain Sight
Puzzle Agent
Super Laser Racer
Twin Sector
Uplink
VVVVVV

Games releasing in 2011 I want to get:
Batman: Arkham City
Dead Space 2
Dragon Age 2
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Little Big Planet 2
Mass Effect 3
OkamiDen
Portal 2
Team ICO Collection
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Games already available I will be purchasing discounted:
God of War 3 (assuming I enjoy 1/2)
NBA Jam
Ratchet & Clank Future
Rock Band 3
The Sly Collection
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

I, Stele, solemnly pledge to take part in the Pile of Shame monthly threads. Even if it is just for one game, I will put forth effort to clear my ever-growing pile, one game at a time.

I also pledge to do everything within my ability to restrict my game purchases to those that I've listed, and, if I should falter, will shamefully add them to the pile in full sight of this support group.

Now... any suggestions from that top list of what I should play first? I sit down at the PC, look at the Steam game list and can't really decide what to click.

Is the new version of the spreadsheet supposed editable by everyone? I can't edit it. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong.

Also, while I like the layout in general, I think a different format might be useful for the "Group Work" tab. Something to make it easier to find a co-op partner based on the specific game. Perhaps have the list of games in the first column, then the other columns would still be each Goodjers' names, but rather than a list of games, there would be an X, or maybe a note about that game.

e.g. Find Gears of War in the left hand side, then scan across. Under my name it could say "Finished, but will play", or something like that.

Lemme know what you think. When we figure out the editability issue, I can mess with it in a new tab.

As of this post, Google Doc is fully updated.

Stele, welcome on board, quite an impressive list there. The Achievement mop up, DLC, and games you want to play a bit of, I've put under the "Side Goals" section of the spreadsheet.

Garden Ninja wrote:

Is the new version of the spreadsheet supposed editable by everyone? I can't edit it. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong.

Also, while I like the layout in general, I think a different format might be useful for the "Group Work" tab. Something to make it easier to find a co-op partner based on the specific game. Perhaps have the list of games in the first column, then the other columns would still be each Goodjers' names, but rather than a list of games, there would be an X, or maybe a note about that game.

e.g. Find Gears of War in the left hand side, then scan across. Under my name it could say "Finished, but will play", or something like that.

Lemme know what you think. When we figure out the editability issue, I can mess with it in a new tab.

Try using the link in the original thread post (drop down triangle at the top if you're viewing form the second page+) and let me know how you go. If you can't edit from that link, I'm going to have to check the Google Doc Prefs. The one I posted in the main forum section earlier was just set to 'read only' while I got feedback. The one in the main forum thread description is now 'live' and can be edited (hopefully) by everyone. I also gave your group work tab a go-over based on your feedback, feel free to 'play' with it some more if you need to.

On that note, all additional information has been added into the document, yeah 4am feedings!

m0nk3yboy wrote:

...
Try using the link in the original thread post (drop down triangle at the top if you're viewing form the second page+) and let me know how you go. If you can't edit from that link, I'm going to have to check the Google Doc Prefs. The one I posted in the main forum section earlier was just set to 'read only' while I got feedback. The one in the main forum thread description is now 'live' and can be edited (hopefully) by everyone.

On that note, all additional information has been added into the document, yeah 4am feedings!

I'm pretty sure that's what I used. I tried it just now, from the first post, and same problem.

m0nk3yboy wrote:

Stele, welcome on board, quite an impressive list there. The Achievement mop up, DLC, and games you want to play a bit of, I've put under the "Side Goals" section of the spreadsheet.

Thanks! I swear I got all those PS3 games for 33-50% of their retail price. Most for $10-15. It couldn't be helped, adding to the pile. Damn Amazon.

I've avoided these threads for fear of under-performing, but what the heck. I'm playing to a list anyway, might as well make it a public effort. I am not going to speculate what games I might get some time down the road. Seriously, that's just torturing myself.

Games I want to complete or play enough to set them aside for good or at least see most of the content

PC:
King's Bounty
Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate edition
Dawn Of War II - Chaos Rising
Shadowgrounds Survivor
Gratuitous Space Battles
Defense Grid
Aliens versus Predator Classic
Company Of Heroes (& Opposing Fronts & Tales Of Valor)
Left 4 Dead 2
SimCity 4
ZenBound 2
Stalker Clear Sky
World In Conflict
Empire Total War
Crysis

360:
Symphony Of The Night
Space Invaders Infinity Gene
Rock Band 3
Halo Reach

PSP:
Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker
Rock Band Unplugged

PS2:
Okami
Final Fantasy XII
Shadow Of The Colossus
The Red Star
GrimGrimoire

PS3:
Demon's Souls
Stranglehold
Brutal Legend

Games I haven't even started yet but want to get into

PC:
AI War
Indigo Prophecy
Men Of War
Freedom Force
Freedom Force vs The Third Reich
Galcon Fusion

360:
Last Remnant
Condemned 2

Replaying or hunting for Achievements/Trophies

PC:
Max Payne 2

PS3:
Uncharted
Killzone 2

360:
Gears Of War 2
Dead Or Alive 4
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Garden Ninja wrote:
m0nk3yboy wrote:

...
Try using the link in the original thread post (drop down triangle at the top if you're viewing form the second page+) and let me know how you go. If you can't edit from that link, I'm going to have to check the Google Doc Prefs. The one I posted in the main forum section earlier was just set to 'read only' while I got feedback. The one in the main forum thread description is now 'live' and can be edited (hopefully) by everyone.

On that note, all additional information has been added into the document, yeah 4am feedings!

I'm pretty sure that's what I used. I tried it just now, from the first post, and same problem.

I've just 'reset' the link to the Google Doc, and repasted that into the main forum post again. Maybe clear your cache in your browser, then give the new link a go (new link, same Google Doc).

I know what you mean Steele, can't resist a sale myself, I think that's why mine got so out of hand. Top Tip, stay away from eBay too!

Welcome jlaakso, will add you in shortly. Remember, the first step in solving a problem is admitting you have one... Hemidal helped me clear over 20 titles from my pile last year, it's just a shame I added about another 40 in the same time frame. If you feel the urge to splurge, come here first. We'll dis-enable you as much as we can and keep you true to TrueHeart's Quartet of Contemplation.

OK, first bit of help from the support group.

Can I justify a $30 difference in price for the collector's edition? Given that I have committed to only buying 6 games for the year, can I go 'all out' for the one's I'm purchasing?

http://www.game.com.au/dead-space-2-...

http://www.game.com.au/dead-space-2/...

I have to admit, that replica plasma cutter is either going to be capital 'a' Awesome, or a complete letdown.

There's also some pretty sweet pre-order stuff regardless of which edition I get.

http://www.game.com.au/deadspace2

Dead Space, while cool, was not a game enhanced substantially by bonus materials. $30 is the price of another discounted game versus a bunch of stuff you don't really need. It's the game you want, not the extra stuff on your shelf.

I just bought a house and I'm really trying to curb my spending habits to be, you know, "responsible". So this year, I'm going to keep my GameFly subscription running, but aside from that, I'm really going to try to stop the spending.

IT'S IN WRITING NOW ON GWJ! THERE'S NO GOING BACK!

As such, I'll be throwing my hat in the ring with these titles to keep me busy in 2011. I'll be keeping track of everything on my website epic nerdery with some short reviews as well as on GWJ in the usual places.

Games in my collection I want to finish/watch the credits roll.
Final Fantasy 13
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood*
Fallout: New Vegas
Call of Duty: Black Ops*
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit*
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
Baldur's Gate II
Alpha Protocol
Back to the Future*
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game
Lara Croft: The Guardians of Light
South Park
The Maw
Rez HD
Shank
Stalker: Call of Pripyat
Half Life
Half Life: Episode 2
Far Cry 2
Crysis
Metro 2033
Starcraft 2
Dawn of War II
Empire: Total War
Psychonauts
Freedom Force
Thief: Deadly Shadows
Trine
Super Mario Galaxy 2
God of War 2
God of War 3
No More Heroes
Alan Wake
GTA4: The Ballad of Gay Tony
Tales of Monkey Island
Monkey Island 2: SE
8-Bit Hero
Blur
Split/Second
Donkey Kong Country Returns*
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future*

* indicates in progress.

2011 releases I will be purchasing.
GameFly - help me be strong!

2010 and Prior Releases I will be purchasing.
None.

Side Goals
Some WoW with friends.
Reaching level 50 in CoD: BLOPS

jlaasko you're in. I added the games you want to get into but haven't started, and the achievemnt/trophy hunting games under Side Goals, as your primary list of in progress is quite big.

Shaq Fu Thug, you're also in there too. Great reasons for being 'responsible', but don't worry about feeling too grown up. I did my first 12 months of pile only last year because we had just had our second kid and everything was being converted to the equivalent cost in terms of nappies...

Back to business. Great that you guys have taken the first step in admitting you 'have a problem', now all you need to do is start on your twelve step month plan to recovery by posting your games for this month in Hemidal's thread.

Best of luck to you both!

Added SC1 & 2 to my list - completely forgot about them, and while I've played the first 2-3 times near to the end, putting the nail in the coffin sounds like a plan. Also, SC2 is in progress, and hopefully it will run better on my laptop now that I've got an SSD installed.

Spread sheet updated as of this post.

I would like to join in and learn how to improve my zen and art of video game buying/playing. With a more restricted budget due to student loans, I need to curtail my purchases. Therefore,I am very excited about doing this, it is nice to know that there are others who are interested in, newly fortified with Holiday Steam Sale purchases and keeping their wallets closed.

I've gone through my entire game collection and have cataloged it, which has already given me a great idea of what I want to play this year. Thanks to m0nk3yboy, Heimdal, and trueheart78, and others for putting this little group together.

Here are the games I want to finish (or start and finish) this year:

Xbox 360:
Batman Arkham Asylum*
Red Read Redemption - Almost Completed
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood- Just started
Fallout: New Vegas-around 10 hours in
Fable 3- Barely Started
Alpha Protocol*
Halo: Reach*
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit- Lvl 2 Racer and Lvl 2 Cop
Dead Rising 1+Case Zero+2*
Just Cause 2*
Toy Soldiers (XBLA)- half way complete
LIMBO (XBLA)*
Castle Crashers (XBLA)*

Steam:
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition-A few hours in
Half Life 2 Complete- A few hours in
Dawn of War II-Half way complete? (Interested in Co-Op if anyone else is)
Plants vs. Zombies- on level 4-7
Company of Heroes*
Puzzle Quest 1&2*
Crysis Complete*
Torchlight-Level 20 Character
World in Conflict: Gold Edition-Some progress, but unsure as to how far

Defense Grid: The Awakening--On the last level (I know!)
The Witcher: Enhanced Edition*

Wii:
EA Sports Active NFL Training Camp*- just purchased as part of my other effort this year, to be healthy and active
Super Mario Galaxy*

Side Goals/Ongoing Games:
Master of Orion 2 (PC)- Win a game on Medium difficulty
Mass Effect 1&2 (PC)- Complete a playthrough as FemShep and possibly explore the Renegade side of the game
Super Meat Boy (XBLA)-World 2, I realize that this game is enormous and I am not good enough of a platformer to complete
Far Cry 2* (Steam)- Create my own Far Cry 2 story ala Idle Thumbs
Battlefield: Bad Company 2* (Steam)- Play some with the GWJ crew
Madden 11 (360)-Finish at least one full season in Dynasty Mode
Civilization V (Steam)-Can one ever finish this game? I assume with more DLC the game will only grow and I hope to play a PitBoss game this year when support for it is released.
StarCraft 2 (PC)-Single Player Completed, interested in occasional Multiplayer
Tropico 3 and Tropico 3 (Steam): Absolute Power-would like to finish more scenarios

2011 Releases I Plan on Purchasing:
Mass Effect 3--Day One Purchase (most likely 360)
Portal 2--$40 and if it runs on my computer
Deus Ex Revolution--Depending on Reviews
Diablo III-Day One Purchase (if it comes out in 2011)

2010 Releases I plan on purchasing and at what price:
Rock Band 3 (360)-$30 or less
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (XBLA)-$10 or less
Singularity (360)-$15 or less
Super Mario Galaxy 2- $25 or less

I really like trueheart78's pledge and would like to adopt it as well:

I, Apollo0507, solemnly pledge to take part in the Pile of Shame monthly threads. Even if it is just for one game, I will put forth effort to clear my ever-growing pile, one game at a time.

I also pledge to do everything within my ability to restrict my game purchases to those that I've listed, and, if I should falter, will shamefully add them to the pile in full sight of this support group.

I also really like the GameFly cause that Garden Ninja has written and additionally want to adopt it:

GameFly & Lending Clause

Additionally, I pledge to keep my Gamefly account as the Single Disc Plan, and not increase it. I will also limit my borrowed games to, at most, one at a time. Both GameFly and Borrowing shall be used for "short games" (that is, 15 hours or less in length).

Apollo0507, you are now in The System. Thanks for the PM too, appreciated. Just remember to head over here and name and shame your pick(s) for this month. You've identified the end game, but the pile is beast best conquered one title/month at a time. Trust me...

Google Spreadsheet (I swear I'll be refering to it more consistently in the coming months) is now up to date as of this post.

jlaakso wrote:

Dead Space, while cool, was not a game enhanced substantially by bonus materials. $30 is the price of another discounted game versus a bunch of stuff you don't really need. It's the game you want, not the extra stuff on your shelf.

Thanks for helping jlaasko, but unfortunately that last bit did more to enable me than not. I have a special place for collector's stuff, I still have my limited(?) pressing of a Septim from the Elder Scrolls deluxe edition that launched. I bought it before I even had a 360!?!?

I still regret NOT having the money to buy the Arkham Asylum collectors edition too. That Batarang would have taken pride of place in my collection and would have kept the Bayonette Scarborough Fair replica company amongst all my other stuff. I decluttered my 'toy' pile with the arrival of our two little ones, and now I try and apply Pile Logic to toy collectable acquisitions too.

My eldest daughter (3 months away form turning three) was siting in my computer room looking at (but not touching) some of the nicer stuff I have. Without realising she was there, a little voice popped up behind me and announced "Daddy, you have some cool stuff". Poor little sod, stuck with a geek Dad, and she doesn't know it. I hope she doesn't change her mind once she learns 'the truth'.

Alright. I'm in. It's not so much that I spend absurd amounts of money on games, but more that there are a good number that I want to put time into and just... haven't. (Case in point: picked up Assassin's Creed 2 for ~$20. About a year ago. I really want to play it, and have put in about half an hour.)

Hopefully this will get me a bit more re-engaged with my collection.

Here are the games I want to put significant time into this year - and what I want to accomplish:
Assassin's Creed 2 - finish
Borderlands DLC: Dr. Ned, General Knoxx and Claptrap's Robot Revolution - run through the campaigns, probably solo
Burnout Paradise - not sure; at least the top level license and 85% of the cars
CivCity: Rome - all missions at least once
Cryostatis - finish
Dead Space - finish
Guild Wars - run through the campaign, probably solo
Guild Wars: Factions - run through the campaign, probably solo
Guild Wars: Nightfall - run through the campaign, probably solo
Clive Barker's Jericho - finish
King's Bounty: Crossworlds - finish
Poker Night at the Inventory - get all the TF2 items
Red Faction: Guerrilla - finish
Rome: Total War - play through the campaign at least once
Saint's Row 2 - not sure; at least all the story missions
Time Gentlemen, Please! - finish, unless I hate it
Transformers: War for Cybertron - finish
The Witcher - don't know; at least 15 hours, and then we'll see.

2011 Releases I Plan on Purchasing:
Diablo III
No more than $30/Steam sale (What? How can I know what I want until I see it? ;))

I, Chumpy McChump, solemnly pledge to take part in the Pile of Shame monthly threads. Even if it is just for one game, I will put forth effort to clear my ever-growing pile, one game at a time.

I also pledge to do everything within my ability to restrict my game purchases to those that I've listed, and, if I should falter, will shamefully add them to the pile in full sight of this support group.

Here's hoping...

I still can't edit the spreadsheet. I have tried clearing cache, and three browsers on three machines (Firefox and Konqueror on my Linux laptop, and Firefox and IE on both my Windows laptop and my work machine). No go. Has anyone else tried? Are you having the same problem, or does the internet just really hate me? Am I missing something (like a button that to turn on edit mode, or something)?

I can't edit the Google doc either...

OK guys, I think it was a hidden check box I needed to tick. Give it a try now. It was set so that anyone with the link could view, but the option to edit was described as a global variable in the dialogue box, not just link users specifically.

Give it another try, this should be rectified now (I hope). I wonder how mrtomaytohead got past this? It came up with his gmail id as the last person to edit, and I've noticed a few Anonymous User XXX viewing messages pop up. That could be the only difference I could think of.

Let me know how you go

EDIT:
Just to make sure the sharing took effect, I also went through and upgraded Garden Ninja to Intern and then saved... Congrats!

m0nk3yboy wrote:

I wonder how mrtomaytohead got past this?

Maybe because I was signed into my G-Mail account?

Totally got blindsided by the fact that Torchlight and BG&E HD are due out on XBLA in the next few months. Considering I already own the first for the PC and the second for the PS2, buying XBLA versions actually doesn't feel bad. I'm rather excited, honestly.

Is this technically "pile creep"? I don't know... it will cause me to finish one game on my list (even if I will own it for 2 systems) but add another one right along with it. But again, they're both awesome...

Then again, I'm ridiculously close to the end of Torchlight on the PC — I may just wait for an XBLA sale on it, but if I buy it day one, I'll do my best to have the PC version wrapped up by then.

BG&E on XBLA? Hmm.... do I buy it for a third time...

trueheart78 wrote:

Considering I already own the first for the PC and the second for the PS2, buying XBLA versions actually doesn't feel bad. I'm rather excited, honestly.

Really? The fact that you already own the games makes you feel better about buying again? That's just weird.

trueheart78 wrote:

Is this technically "pile creep"?

Is this thread purely about number of distinct games? If so, carry on, Double-Dipper!

Operation Anchorage down! On to the next one!

One down 49 more to go. I knocked off Heavy Rain today. I'm going to play it one more time for trophies but that shouldn't take much time since I can apparently just skip around to whatever chapter I need to play.

Chumpy_McChump, I've entered you into the system.

Garden Ninja
, nice to see that you added some more titles into "Group Work", guess that tick box in the GoogleDoc was the solution we all needed.

Congrats SallyNasty on getting one marked off the spreadsheet!

iaintgotnopants
, nice work. That's one more than me so far

Double dipping, interesting question... We won't ask for Bonus' opinion on this (he's on his 4th play through of Batman: AA in it's fourth incarnation). I guess 'technically' it is pile bloating, but if it is an easier format for you to complete the title on, then that is OK. At the end of the day, if you enjoy it enough to buy it twice, then more power to you. Maybe as a compromise, and in keeping with the spirit of the thread, hold off on getting either until they are DOTW titles. That way you reduce the cost component associated with getting them, and if you TRUELY want to experience their gameplay, fire them up on the systems you already have them on.