I Finished These 27 Video Games In 2011

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 27 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)

  1. 3D Classics: Excitebike
  2. Aliens Infestation
  3. AR Games
  4. Face Raiders
  5. Freakyforms
  6. Frogger 3D
  7. Kirby Mass Attack
  8. The Legend of Zelds: Ocarina of Time 3D
  9. Madden NF Football
  10. Mario Kart 7
  11. Mario’s Picross (Game Boy)
  12. Pilotwings Resort
  13. Pokemon Rumble Blast
  14. Pushmo
  15. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
  16. Ridge Racer 3D
  17. The Sims 3
  18. Samurai Warriors: Chronicles
  19. Skylanders
  20. Steel Diver
  21. 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.)
  22. Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition
  23. Tetris Axis
  24. Thor: God of Thunder
  25. Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition

DS

(3 games played; 1 finished)

  1. Ghost Trick
  2. Okamiden
  3. Professor Layton and the Last Specter

Facebook

(6 games played; 0 finished)

  1. Adventure World
  2. Dragon Age Legends
  3. Empires & Allies
  4. Lucky Space
  5. Mafia Wars 2
  6. PixelJunk Monsters Online

iOS

(34 games played; 0 finished)

  1. 1-Bit Ninja
  2. Air Pengun
  3. Amazing Breaker
  4. Anomaly HD
  5. Aquaria
  6. Async Corp
  7. Batman: Arkham City Lockdown
  8. Bubble Ball
  9. Collision Effect
  10. Connectrode
  11. Continuity 2
  12. Dead Space
  13. Dream Skate
  14. Dungeon Raid
  15. Entanglement
  16. Forget.Me.Not
  17. Freddie Wong’s Flower Warfare
  18. Grimm
  19. Infinity Blade II
  20. Jetpack Joyride
  21. Knight Defense
  22. Lilith’s Pet (unreleased)
  23. Scribblenauts Remix
  24. SpaceChem
  25. SpellTower
  26. Stem Stumper
  27. Super Crossfire HD
  28. Super Quickhook
  29. Superman
  30. Sword & Sworcery
  31. Terrorist Zombies
  32. Unpleasant Horse
  33. Wind-Up Knight
  34. 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

  1. A Closed World (unreleased)
  2. Antichamber (unreleased)
  3. Dear Esther (unreleased)
  4. Emoticon vs. Rainbow (unreleased)
  5. Forgotten Kodama (unreleased)
  6. Ibb and Obb (unreleased)
  7. Instance 1000
  8. Kali 9 (unreleased)
  9. The Last Word (unreleased)
  10. Link (unreleased)
  11. Molecat Twist (unreleased)
  12. Moto (Unreleased)
  13. Rope (unreleased)
  14. So Many Me (unreleased)
  15. Space Loop (unreleased)
  16. Unmechanical (unreleased)

PSP

(0 games played; 0 finished)

None

PS3

(22 games played; 8 finished)

  1. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
  2. Battlefield 3
  3. Dark Souls
  4. Dead Space 2
  5. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
  6. Driver: San Francisco
  7. Infamous 2
  8. Infamous: Festival of Blood
  9. Killzone 3
  10. L.A. Noire
  11. Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7
  12. LittleBigPlanet 2
  13. Motorstorm Apocalypse
  14. PixelJunk Shooter 2
  15. PixelJunk: Sidescroller
  16. Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One
  17. Rocketbirds: Harboiled Chicken
  18. Rayman Origins
  19. Saints Row: The Third
  20. Shadows of the Damned
  21. Skylanders
  22. Uncharted 3

Wii

(5 games played; 3 finished)

  1. Fortune Street
  2. Kirby’s Dreamland 3 (Virtual Console)
  3. Kirby’s Return to Dreamland
  4. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
  5. Lost in Shadow

Xbox 360

(50 games played; 15 finished)

  1. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
  2. Alice Madness Returns
  3. Asteroids do Concern Me
  4. A World of Keflings
  5. Bastion
  6. Brink
  7. Bulletstorm
  8. Burnout Crash
  9. Captain America: Super Soldier
  10. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Note: This is the only 2010 game I finished in 2011.)
  11. Child of Eden
  12. Crysis 2
  13. de Blob 2
  14. Dead Rising 2: Case Zero
  15. Duke Nukem Forever
  16. El Shaddai
  17. Fight Night Champion (Note: I finished the story mode.)
  18. Flotilla
  19. Forza 4
  20. From Dust
  21. Gears of War 3
  22. Homefront
  23. Honor in Vengeance II
  24. Hunted: Demon’s Forge
  25. Hypership: Out of Control
  26. Ilomilo
  27. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
  28. Kinect: Disneyland Adventures
  29. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
  30. Lego Star Wars III
  31. Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom
  32. Miner Dig Deep
  33. Missile Escape
  34. Modern Warfare 3 (Note: I didn’t prestige. I finished the campaign.)
  35. Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess
  36. Mortal Kombat
  37. NBA 2K11
  38. Outland
  39. Platformance: Temple Death
  40. Portal 2 (Note: This is the closest I got to 100%-ing a game in 2011, finishing its solo and multiplayer campaigns.)
  41. Rage
  42. Red Faction: Armageddon
  43. Renegade Ops
  44. Rock of Ages
  45. Section 8: Prejudice
  46. Spider-Man: Edge of Time
  47. Splatterhouse
  48. Skyrim
  49. Toy Soldiers: Cold War
  50. Trenched (aka Iron Brigade)

The final 2011 tally is: 161 games played; 27 finished

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

(Sorry, PSP. It was fun.)

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