When I was a child, video games were a precious commodity. There was a wealth of great titles available for the SNES, but I only had a chance to play a handful of them. I cherished the ones I was fortunate to get my little hands on, and never tired of playing them over and over. There isn’t a SNES title in my collection that I haven’t beaten at least once, including some that I’ve revisited at least a half-dozen times.
Nowadays I find myself in the 18-30 unmarried male demographic, equipped with disposable income and the Internet hype machine. My free time isn’t what it used to be, but the game industry keeps chugging out more terrific games, culminating in last season’s veritable tsunami of AAA titles.
The bush I’m furiously beating around is this: I’ve accumulated a game backlog. These are games I own that I haven’t had the time to even open, sitting on the shelf just aching to be played. I’m not alone either, I see many adult gamers with eclectic tastes relegating titles to the indeterminate future. I accumulated the majority of mine at the end of the PS2/Gamecube’s life cycle, when titles that had piqued my interest could be found used for as little as $20.
With my midterms complete and reading week giving me a comfortable nine day break, I’ve decided to finally sort through some of these poor orphaned games that I’ve so consistently neglected. I’m realistic, I clearly won’t be able to finish all of them this week. However, once I’ve invested a few hours into a game, I’m much more likely to want to see it through to the end.
Here’s the list of backlog games that I’m planning to sample:
- Devil May Cry – PS2
That’s right, the original. I’m not a big fan of button mashing beat-em-ups, but this series must be doing something right to have garnered such a large following. I intend to find out exactly what that is. - Killer7 – Gamecube
Suda51’s first title to grace North America, this stylized on-rails shooter has become a real cult classic. The reviews for this game were all over the board, but if it’s even half as good as No More Heroes I’m sure to love it. - Zack & Wiki – Wii
I’ve read nothing but accolades for this game, a title that some have described as the best Wii games that noone is buying. - Hotel Dusk: Room 215 – Nintendo DS
Everybody I know who owns a DS has told me that this is a must-play. I had to scavenge a copy off eBay by the time I bought a DS myself, but I have a feeling that Hotel Dusk will be worth the effort. - Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando – PS2
A good friend of mine was selling off some old PS2 games, and Going Commando was among them. I’m not a big fan of 3D platformers, so the series had largely passed under my radar. After hearing some call Tools of Destruction the best game on the PS3 however, I thought I should give the duo a fair shake. - Beneath a Steel Sky – PC
I was recently linked to this 1994 point-and-click sci-fi adventure game. Considered one of the true classics of the era, it was rereleased a few years ago as freeware on the ScummVM. As a fan of the genre, which is seeing a revival of sorts on the DS, I thought I’d try it out.
I’ll be writing a little about each game as I progress through the backlog, so be sure to check back later this week.
