411 Games

 Curiosity gets the better of me sometimes. This whole line of thought came as a result of a post I made about my Christmas list this year. A few days after I put that up, Ashley found a Wii U in great condition on sale at a fantastic price. I bought it. She picked up a couple of games for me which were on the list. A couple of weeks later, Whitneigh gifted me another game from the list and my favorite game for the Wii. 

Adding a gaming system to my house at this point involves a level of organization and strategy. I miscalculated with the Wii U figuring it would play more like the Switch. I added it to my bedroom game shelf along with my Steam Deck and Switch. Bad move. Playing Epic Mickey or Link's Crossbow Training is completely awkward in the current configuration. The system has to make the move to the living room with my Playstation systems. 

I got myself in gear to dust and move things around, but I like have the Wii U in the bedroom for Teagan. She often comes home and plays Super Mario Maker. She can play that in the living room, but it is easy for her to just nod off in my bed while playing and still be comfortable. The couch isn't as groovy an option. I solved this dilemma simply. I ordered a second motion bar and second power cord. They cost me less than $25. Pricing accessories before investing in a system is totally a thing. It is likely why my next pistol purchase will be a Glock rather than a 1911. $14 additional magazines are a thing on range day. Incidentally, the budget friendly Taurus is pretty pricey on additional mags. I was shocked. 

I decided to move the Playstation Games in with the systems. It gave me a chance to dust them off. It also let me organize and catalog my games. I have a whole thing about keeping games in order. It isn't perfect alphabetization because titles don't work well that way. Final Fantasy XIII is following by Final Fantasy XIII-2. That make total sense. The third part of that trilogy is titled Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII. Thanks Square-Enix. Though I shouldn't complain too much. That problem is as old as video games have been around. The Legend of Zelda goes in the Ls of the NES collection. Right next to it rests Zelda II: The Adventure of Link losing me both a proper Z title and skewing the whole process. 

Don't take that as a serious complaint. Games are for playing more than looking at. As I put games into systems, out of systems, into cases, and back on shelves the order rarely holds. I take it as a pleasure when I can dust and resort the games. This go round, I went a step further. 

Ignoring emulators and abandonware that I have collected up, I decided to boot up every system and make a list of all of the games I own both digitally and in physical media. The result surprised me. The initial list is 411 games long. I don't know if that feels like a lot or a little given that I have been an avid gamer since 1987. Then I realized something. There is a difference between being a gamer and collecting games. I have not been trying to build a collection. I just play the games I enjoy. 

Still, I am also an organization nerd. My list was wrong. For example, I own Skyrim on PC, PS3, PS4, and Switch. Could I rightly say I have 411 games? No, I wanted to get closer to reality. After the list was made, I had to work back through it which was an adventure on its own. It was around this time that I realized I had a ton of digital content that I had not accounted for. I needed to boot up each system and make lists. God help me, but that was a fun part of the project. 

It is worth noting here that 411 games was not actually the correct count. That was the number I came up with on the first round. I discovered about two dozen more games that I had forgotten about which launched a different idea. I decided that working from my most modern systems backward was the easiest ways to account for duplication. As a quick example, I own God of War  for both PC via Steam and PS4. They are not technically two different games. I didn't find it fair to count them twice from a collection stand point. I counted the Steam version and made a second list of redundant games. 

The result was 358 games in the main count with 67 games I had purchased duplicate (or more) copies. At a casual count, I have purchased the first six entries of Final Fantasy on four different platforms. I have purchased Borderlands, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel on Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Switch, and finally via Steam. 

I know the list still isn't accurate for two reasons. First, I bought quite a few games digitally on my Xbox 360 and due to a recent mistake on my part my Xbox 360 isn't working. I get motivated by these little projects and put energy into them, but it wasn't quite enough to convince me to troubleshoot and repair the Xbox 360. The list is also wrong in that there are several collection games that should be counted individually. I divided out the Super Mario 3D All Stars into the three games it makes up. I didn't divide out Kirby's Dream Course into the eight games. The same is true for all of my collections on Steam like Quest for Glory or The Contra Anniversary Collection.  There are probably several dozen games unaccounted for by that if we get technical. 

I think I enjoy gaming more in my middle age than I did as a kid. Nostalgia greatly enhances the experience of booting up a classic title. I have some fond memories for specific titles and systems. I remember playing Street Fighter II with Dwight at a picnic table at Norris Lake's camp ground. I remember trading and fighting Pokemon with Taila's Mom while she was pregnant on the Gameboy Color. I will save those and other stories for other blog posts... which I wasn't certain until recently were going to continue into the new year. 

Anyway, for the curious here is the imperfect list of my games without the duplicate list: 

Nintendo Entertainment System

1. Balloon Fight

2. Bubble Bobble

3. Castlevania

4. Castlevania II Simon's Quest

5. Donkey Kong

6. Donkey Kong Jr.

7. Double Dragon II

8. Dr. Mario

9. Excitebike

10. Final Fantasy

11. Galaga

12. Ghosts N' Goblins

13. Gradius

14. Ice Climber

15. Kid Icarus

16. Kirby's Adventure

17. Mario Bros. 

18. Mega Man 2

19. Metroid

20. Ninja Gaiden

21. Pac Man

22. Punch-Out!!

23. Star Tropics

24. Super C

25. Super Mario Bros. 

26. Super Mario Bros. 2

27. Super Mario Bros. 3

28. Temco Bowl

29. The Legend of Zelda

30. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

31. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

32. Super Mario Kart

33. StarFox

34. Street Fighter II Turbo

35. Secret of Mana

36. Mega Man X

37. Super Metroid

38. Super Punch Out

39. Final Fantasy III

40. Donkey Kong Country

41. Kirby's Dream Course

42. EarthBound

43. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

44. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

45. Kirby Super Star

46. StarFox 2

47. Super Mario World

48. F-Zero

49. Super Ghouls N Ghosts

50. Super Castlevania IV

51. Contra III The Alien Wars

Nintendo DS/ 3DS

52. Brain Age 2

53. Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings

54. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

55. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

56. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D

57. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

58. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

59. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

60. Luigi's Mansion

61. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

62. Mario Kart 7

63. Personal Trainer Math

64. Sonic Rush

Digital Purchases

65. Zelda Four Swords Anniversary Edition

66. Shinobi

67. The Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening DX

68. Super Mario Land

69. Kid Icarus

70. The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages

71. The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Seasons

72. Pokemon Red

73. Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos

74. Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom

75. Double Dragon 

Nintendo Switch

Digital Purchases

76. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light

77. Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition

78. Johnny Turbo's Arcade Caveman Ninja

79. Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate

80. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

81. Overwatch 2

82. Pac-man 99

83. Super Mario Odyssey

84. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game

85. Splatoon 2

86. Super Mario Party

87. The House of the Dead: Remake

88. The Messenger

89. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2

Cartridges

90. Borderlands Legendary Collection

91. Collection of Mana ( Final Fantasy Adventure)

92. Collection of Mana (Trials of Mana)

93. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

94. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

95. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD

96. Nintendo Switch Sports

97. Paper Mario: The Origami King

98. Super Mario 3D All Stars (Super Mario 64)

99. Super Mario 3D All Stars (Super Mario Sunshine)

100. Super Mario 3D All Stars (Super Mario Galaxy)

101. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

102. Super Smash Bros Ultimate

103. Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition

Nintendo Wii

104. Disney's Epic Mickey

105. Disney's Epic Mickey 2 The Power of Two

106. Link's Crossbow Training

Nintendo Wii U

107. Super Mario Maker 

Playstation

108. Dungeons & Dragons Iron & Blood Warriors of Ravenloft 

109. Soulblade

110. Spongebob Squarepants Supersponge

111. Tenchu Stealth Assassins

112. Vampire Hunter D

Playstation 2

113. Disney's Stitch Experiment 626

114. DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution

115. Karaoke Revolution

116. The Powerpuff Girls Relish Rampage

117. Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights

118. Soulcalibur III

119. Spongebob Squarepants Revenge of the Flying Dutchman

Playstation 3

Discs

120. Anarchy Reigns

121. Injustice Ultimate Edition

122. Lollipop Chainsaw

123. Mortal Kombat

124. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

125. Soulcalibur IV

126. Soulcalibur V

Digital Purchases

127. Wild Arms

128. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

129. Tekken 2

130. Medievil

131. Mortal Kombat II

132. Rampage

133. Warhawk

134. Lemmings

135. Qbert v2.0

136. Joust

137. Super Stardust HD

138. R-Types

139. Warhawk

140. Street Fighter Alpha

141. Street Fithter II Turbo HD Remaster

142. Castlevania Chronicles

143. Marvel vs. Capcom 2

144. Zombie Apocalypse

145. Burn Zombie Burn!

146. Frogger Returns

147. Dracula - Undead Awakening

148. The Terminator

149. Street Fighter Alpha 2

150. Tomb Raider

151. Silent Hill

152. Rampart

153. Echochrome

154. Mega Man 10

155. Mega Man 9 

156. Parasite Eve

157. Dead Nation

158. inFamous

159. Angry Birds

160. Parasite Eve II

161. Chrono Cross

162. Trine

163. Choplifter HD

164. Final Fantasy Tactics

165. Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection

166. Max Payne

167. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD

168. Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins

169. Ducktales Remastered

170. Vagrant Story

171. Xenogears

172. Soul Calibur V

173. God of War II HD

174. God of War HD

175. Qbert Rebooted

176. Dark Souls II

177. Soul Calibur II HD Online

178. Syphon Filter

Playstation 4

Discs

179. Call of Cthulhu

180. Destiny The Taken King Legendary Edition

181. Marvel Spider-man

182. Mortal Kombat XL

Digital Purchases

183. God of War

184. Grand Theft Auto V

185. Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition

Playstation Vita

Digital Purchases

186. Super Stardust Portable

187. Tetris PSP

188. Darkstalkers Chroncile: The Chaos Tower

189. Killzone Liberation

190. LittleBigPlanet PSP

191. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lion

192. Super Stardust Delta

193. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

194. Dissidia Final Fantasy

195. Dissidia 012 duodecim Final Fantasy

196. Dead Nation

197. God of War Collection

198. Deadman's Cross

199. Desert Ashes

Steam

200. Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX

201. Among Us

202. Aperture Desk Job

203. Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY Edition

204. Batman: Arkham City GOTY

205. Batman: Arkham Knight

206. Bayonetta

207. Borderlands GOTY

208. Borderlands GOTY Enhanced

209. Borderlands 2

210. Borderlands 3

211. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

212. Burn Zombie Burn

213. Castle Crashers

214. Castlevania Advance Collection

215. Castlevania Anniversary Collection

216. Chrono Trigger

217. Conan Chop Chop

218. Contra Anniversary Collection

219. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

220. Crazy Taxi

221. Cuphead

222. Cyberpunk 2077

223. Dark Souls Remastered

224. Darksiders Genesis

225. Dead Cells

226. Dead Rising

227. Dead Space (2008)

228. Dead Space 2 

229. Dead Space 3

230. Devil May Cry HD Collection

231. Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition

232. Devil May Cry 6

233. DmC Devil May Cry

234. Dragon's Lair

235. Dragon's Lair 2: Time Warp

236. Dungeons & Dragons Chronicles of Mystara

237. Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance

238. The Elder Scrolls: Arena

239. The Elders Scrolls III: Morrowind

240. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

241. The Elder Scrolls V; Skyrim Special Edition

242. Fieldrunners

243. Final Fantasy

244. Final Fantasy II

245. Final Fantasy III

246. Final Fantasy III (3D Remake)

247. Final Fantasy IV

248. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

249. Final Fantasy V

250. Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster

251. Final Fantasy VI

252. Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster

253. Final Fantasy VII

254. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade

255. Final Fantasy VIII

256. Final Fantasy VIII Remastered

257. Final Fantasy IX

258. Final Fantasy X/ X2 HD Remaster

259. Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age

260. Final Fantasy XIII

261. Final Fantasy XIII-2

262. Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII

263. Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition

264. Five Nights at Freddy's 

265. Grand Theft Auto III

266. Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition

267. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

268. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

269. Hades

270. Injustice 2

271. Journey

272. The Journeyman Project 1: Pegasus Prime

273. Left 4 Dead

274. Left 4 Dead 2

275. Little Nightmares

276. Mega Man Legacy Collection

277. Mortal Kombat 11

278. Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139…

279. Nier: Automata

280. Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection Sigma

281. Ninja Gaiden: master Collection Sigma 2

282. Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection 3 Razor's Edge

283. Oxygen Not Included

284. Pathfinder: Kingmaker

285. Plants vs. Zombies Game of the Year Edition

286. Portal

287. Portal 2

288. Quest for Glory Collection

289. Race the Sun

290. Resident Evil

291. Resident Evil 0

292. Resident Evil 2

293. Resident Evil 3

294. Resident Evil 4

295. Resident Evil 5

296. Resident Evil 6

297. Resident Evil 7 Biohazard

298. Resident Evil Resistance

299. Saints Row 2

300. Saints Row The Third

301. Saints Row IV

302. Sky Force Anniversary

303. Sky Force Reloaded

304. Soul Calibur IV

305. South Park: The Fractured But Whole

306. South Park: The Stick of Truth

307. Space Ace

308. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

309. Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition

310. Street Fighter V

311. Strider

312. Tales of Arise

313. Tales of Berseria

314. Tales of Symphonia

315. Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition

316. Tales of Zestriria

317. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge

318. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection

319. Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcolm 3

320. Ultimate Street Fighter IV

321. Usagi Yojimbo: Way of the Ronin

322. Warhammer: End Times Vermintide

323. Warhammer Quest

324. Weird West

325. The Witcher: Enhanced Edition

326. The Wither 3: Assassin of Kings Edition

327. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Epic Games Store

328. Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin

329. Centipede Recharged

330. Total War: Warhammer

331. City of Brass

332. Rogue Legacy

333. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

334. XCOM 2

335. Insurmountable

336. Terraforming Mars

337. Jotun: Valhalla Edition

338. Prey

339. Redout: Enhanced Edition

340. Bioshock: The Collection

341. Wolfenstein: The New Order

342. Maneater

343. A Game of Thrones: The Board Game Digital Edition

344. Car Mechanic Simulator 2018

345. Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

GOG.com

346. Diablo +Hellfire

347. Warcraft Orcs & Humans

348. Warcraft II Battle.net Edition

Battle.net

349. World of Warcraft

350. Diabllo Immortal 

351. World of Warcraft Classic

352. Diablo II Resurrected

353. Diablo III

354. Starcraft Remastered

355. Starcraft II 

Xbox 360

356. Hitman 2

357. Max Payne 2 The fall of Max Payne

358. Saints Row

I am very tempted to put myself on hiatus for buying new games until I play through all (or the bulk of) all the games I already own. In tracking my activities this year I was surprised at how few games I complete. It averages out to one game about every two weeks. 

What I didn't track was all of the games that I picked up and loved playing for a little while. I only put something on the list when I "beat the game." I suspect if I tracked properly and kept time I would have dozens or even hundreds of game. For example, I can put hours in Super Mario 64 without ever trying to complete the game. As a matter of fact, I gave up my Super Mario Bros. series play through because of frustration with a rolling snow ball. I never could finish that level. Like, I have done it once, ever. 

I am thankful that video games are such a part of my life. It is a joy getting to share that love with my kids and family. 

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