Each and ever year we make resolutions that rarely ever get done, and by the end of the year, we’re not only thinking well, that was a waste of time, but we start on making new ones.
So, anyhow, it’s 2010, and to put a spin on New Year’s Resolutions, I thought I would share some of my ideas on how I could improve my video game, entertainment, and internet habits in one way or another.
Now, traditionally, I think I always made ten on a list, but you can have however many you want. Some of them are ones I plan to follow, others are just there but will likely never happen, and some are ones I thought that I would share that are actually other people’s resolutions.
Here goes:
- Write more articles and reviews
I write these on old and new games that I play every year, and I have been doing so for years, although only online since about 2008. I need to step it up and get more articles and reviews published.
I always promise myself that I’ll do this. AAA is the one blog I’m most active on, and I’ve tried to start other blogs but I hardly ever post on them. Part of me thinks, meh, just have everything on one blog as just one big mash-up, but I’ve also been thinking of diversifying and starting other blogs and websites dedicated to different topics and niches.
- Write for another site or blog
I usually don’t like being told what to do, and that’s why I run my own blogs and do my own thing, but I always see other people on some blogs who write for multiple different blogs. Whether they get paid or not for doing so, I don’t know, but I guess it could help with exposure, and you can get backlinks and more traffic.
- Get other people to write for my blogs
Once again, I don’t know whether they’d get paid, but I’ve thought about this too. Sometimes I like to take a day or two off, and there are so many stories out there that it’s hard to cover on my own. That’s usually why I take just one or two big stories that interest me and post that each day, and in addition to that I sometimes have more original stuff on the blog as well.
I’ve been thinking about doing this, mainly because over at prosody.co.uk, where James Newton hosts the video game blog carnivals every now and again…well, that’s just it: it used to be practically every month, but then it went to every other month, and the last carnival was in October 2009. I was thinking about hosting my own sometime. I’d set up a separate e-mail address and then people could submit their posts and stuff and I could do a post about it every month or every other month, featuring the best ones, like the top ten or something. That would help me get some traffic as well as for others.
- Join some more affiliate programs
I’ve got a few affiliate programs going, and I’ve thought about expanding for some time by joining some others. I’m hoping that when it comes to this blog, maybe one day Steam will start a program. How cool would that be, seeing as Steam has 70% of the digital distribution market? But like some say, it’s run by Valve, so what are the chances…
- Play some bad or average games
This is just one of those hypothetical resolutions that probably won’t come true. Each and every month we comb the video game reviews for “good” games, and ignore the rest. A good video game is often considered as one that gets 90% and over in a review, and the rest is just mediocre fluff or rubbish that nobody’s interested in. I dare myself, and I dare you to play a “bad” game, and make up your own mind as to whether you like it or not. You might be surprised that it really does come down to your own opinion. Most say that Wolfenstein was boring, others say it was rubbish. I actually didn’t mind it at all.
I once said this in a forum thread, that I refer to “old” games as classics, and was subsequently jeered at by all the other posters, seeing as they were all into the latest and greatest. But to learn to really appreciate what we have today, you should go back and play some of the old games, not just to see how ugly they look by today’s standards, but what it was like to play the actual game; when FPSs and RPGs were new and MMOs weren’t even around. You might even be impressed at how advanced and beyond their time some games actually were. Have a look at System Shock and compare it to Doom, and you’ll see what I mean.
- Get into social networking and bookmarking more
I just joined Facebook the other day, and Twitter several months ago, as well as Digg, but I must be honest, social bookmarking as a whole just makes me kind of nervous and like I’ve heard others say, “I hate social networking”. I know there’s a difference between the two, but I didn’t want to have two separate points on the list.
- Play an MMORPG or a multiplayer game
A smile crept across my face when I read an article last year about a group of people who don’t do online gaming, like in World of WarCraft, and what have you. What!? Yes, there are people like that on this earth. I guess you could argue that they have lives and what have you.
But I have to be honest, I haven’t played WoW and for the five plus years it’s been around, I’ve generally just ignored it. As for multiplayer, again, I haven’t played multiplayer for a long while now. I engaged in LANning a lot when I was younger, at the computer academy at school, but that was different. You could just walk in, sit down, and hook up a game and play. When I was invited to a LAN party, I usually avoided the whole situation, because I didn’t want to have to unplug my whole rig and take it to the place, then bring it back and it doesn’t work properly. It’s happened to me.
Multiplayer on PCs can be kind of frustrating like that.
I’ve played on a PlayStation, and various other consoles over the years, but I haven’t actually owned one. I know…
I’ve had plans to buy either a PS3 or an Xbox 360 for years. The whole console controller affair turned me off, but I mean, with a PS3 I read that you can plug in a keyboard and a mouse, seeing as FPSs and RPGs are usually my games of choice.
Besides, in regard to my point on PC multiplayer, multiplayer on consoles is generally easier as you can have another person just pick up a controller, plug it in, and away you go. I imagine it would also be a lot more hassle-free to buy games and such for a console what with the upgrading nonsense when it comes to PCs. It’s been years since I’ve upgraded my rig, and it shows in my games, whereas with consoles, they have more longevity, if you know what I mean.
Recently it was said that the Xbox 360 wasn’t even half-way through its lifespan. So it might still be around in 2015. Although, sometimes the graphics on a console version aren’t as good as the PC version – if there is one, what with console exclusives like Uncharted 2 or Gears of War 2… or Killzone 2… or Halo 3: ODST. You get the idea.
- Play an indie or free title
We all go on about the major releases. Those are the only ones that make the most anticipated lists. But what about the indie titles, the free games, the mods that sometimes get talked about on the side. A lot of love and effort goes into these games, and it’s not about the money, like with major developers with their publishers and licence games and so on.
I read this on a forum recently where this guy said it was pretty self-explanatory. And it is. Porn is cool for a while, but eventually it becomes a nasty little habit, and you find you can’t live without it. Ron Jeremy, the famous, bald, little porn star with some large equipment, claims that video games are worse for kids than porn. Well, Ron, I think if anyone was ever exposed to some of your self-sucking situations, that would likely scar a kid for life more so than a game would. Sorry, but it’s true.
What are Your Video Game/Entertainment/Internet Inspired New Year’s Resolutions for 2010?
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Yes, today, January 20th, in 1960, Will Wright was born. He turns 50 today.
