So what now?

Not too long after the first 1001 Video Games list was released came this updated edition, which replaced 21 entries with much better choices. Ridiculous decisions were still made regarding what to leave in, but that's just a personal opinion now, isn't it?

Over the course of playing, or trying to play, all these games, I've got an 8-page long list of titles that I've 'Actually gotta play/watch', be it because I wasn't able to play them first time around, or that I really wanted to play them fully when time allowed.

Some have already been crossed off. Company of Heroes, for example. Batman: Arkham Asylum. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. The highlight of this entire list of discoveries, perhaps, Yakuza 2. I'm currently going through Yakuza 5 and there's a Judgment sequel coming out soon, too, and I know I had a good time with the first one.

Some of the games are games I've completed in the past and want to see again. The Metal Gears and Grand Theft Autos, for example, but there are some brand new adventures that I really ought to sink my teeth into, in genres I wouldn't normally think about, but that this 1001 list has convinced me that I should.

But how to go about doing that?

I first thought that I'd go through them in order, oldest to newest, giving me a chance to have the updated edition of the list butt in to tell us what had been dropped by this point, and what had taken its place, but sometimes you're just not in the mood for a certain kind of game, and this should be fun, right?

Maybe I should just carry on retroactively updating the posts to tell readers what has changed in my opinion having been able to play more of the game. I don't make any attempt to indicate which old posts have changed, though, so you tend to just stumble across them.

I dabbled, for a week or two, with a post detailing what I had been playing that week, which was partly a way to say that outside of this 1001 list, I play other games, both video and tabletop, all of which are worth talking about to someone, somewhere, in some capacity. Perhaps I bring that back, and turn the Evergrowing Backlog into more of a journal and less of a journey.

In short, I don't know what I'm doing with this anymore, in a public facing way at least. Away from the blog, I'll just be doing whatever interests me. Currently playing Yakuza 5, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, and Neptune's Pride. Next week? Who knows.

What do I want to do, though?

This thing was only ever for my benefit. It gave me something to do that elicited strong reactions either way, and broadened my knowledge of video gaming, a hobby that, as time goes on, I grow distant towards.

I'm out of the loop, despite following along with interesting YouTubers and the like, but disposable income is effectively non-existent, so I'm left to enjoy what I actually have for as long as I can, or else pick something up so far down the line that it might as well be a different game to what it started life as, with players already having moved on to its sequel or more successful competitor.

There is still so much for me to get out of this project. I won't be bored by what I have left to explore. It's the telling anyone about it that starts to ask questions along the lines of "Why, though?"

A quick glance of the stats regarding traffic to this site reveals an awful lot of links coming from the seedier side of the internet, for reasons I can't even comprehend. Bots being bots, I guess? Page views came in from all across the world, though. How many were made by human eyeballs? I've no idea.

It's hard to stand out when video is more engaging, and even harder when the games you're writing about are older than most of the players are these days. As I said years ago, however, this was a personal project - anyone else looking in was a bonus.

Yeah, but answer the question. What do you want to do?

Right now, I've got lots of ideas in my head, most of them relating to board gaming, some of them relating to YouTube, but of the one idea that is related to video gaming and therefore related to this blog is the idea of writing a text adventure of some kind.

There are a whole bunch of tools to make the creation of a text adventure both easy, authentic to the old school adventures in style, or so radically different to what people think of when they see the words 'text adventure' that you can take them through a story like no other.

I'd love to make a text adventure. I just don't have a damn clue what it'd be about. But the pin is firmly in that idea for the future.

The actual future, I don't know. If the blog gets new posts, it gets new posts. It's my little corner of the Internet for as long as I want it, after all.

If it doesn't, know that I've found something to interest me elsewhere - that I'm doing whatever makes me happy that day.

Enjoy yourselves now. Game on.

The 1001/1001 Milestone Awards

That's it. It's done*. I've played** all*** 1001 games featured in the first edition of the 1001 Video Games book.

Why are there so many asterisks there?

Welcome, one and all, to the final rather pointless but equally monumental The 1001/1001 Milestone Awards, the finish line of this trip through video gaming history, stretching all the way back to The Oregon Trail and Pong.

It has been many a year since I first put keyboard to blog post window and I've discovered an awful lot of games that I just didn't bat an eyelid towards when they first entered my view - if they even did at all, of course.

I've got some ideas for what will happen next, but for now, this post is all about the final batch of 50 video games vying for our attention, starting with UFC 2009: Undisputed and taking us through to Alien Zombie Death, all competing for the top spots of a rather biased Top Ten.

Let's get The Indifferent Five out of the way first. Games that are aight, I suppose. Take them or leave them, up to you.

Alien Zombie Death, PomPom Games

Cogs, Lazy 8 Studios

Reflect Missile, Q-Games 

Swords & Soldiers, Ronimo Games

Zen Bound, Secret Exit

Congratulations one and all, if only for avoiding the next category.

Yep, you don't want to be the answer to the question What Was That 1 Even Put On The List For? It was actually a little tough this time out because while I did have a good few grumbles in this batch, they weren't quite the fault of the games in question, and the titles did deserve to keep their place.

Apart from one, obviously. One that wasn't much of a game in the traditional sense, and one that might cause nightmares for those who spend too long with the little rascal...

What Was EyePet Even Put On The List For?

What is it even?

What do you replace EyePet with then? This was a little tricky too because I wanted to choose a game on the assumption that I was replacing games in the same time period as the first 1001 list was written, so my cut-off was early 2010. I was also trying to find games that didn't make an appearance in the second edition, either, but luckily for me, one title did leap out at me as an answer to You Forgot What?!

Yes, the servers have long since been shut down, and so too has the studio behind MAG, or Massive Action Game if you want to get specific, but for a time it was my first-person shooter of choice.

The PC gamers might have scoffed at it having 256 players, but when you come from a console background where 16 or 32 is the norm, having game modes tailored to 64, 128, and finally 256 players was a little mindblowing for many.

I've got great memories of it, including playing alongside some of the devs, on their lunch break, I think, as we redlined the opposition on one map (meaning the enemy just couldn't get out of their spawn area without facing a wall of incoming lead). I even got the Platinum trophy, though I have a hunch it was after they reduced some of the requirements for the other trophies, so it's like scuffed platinum or something.

Anyway, those were the good old days, and their time has long passed.

You know what isn't long passed? The games that make up the Top Ten list, and you can play them all without relying on multiplayer server support. I think. I don't check multiplayer stuff too often, I just can't compete with the youth anymore.

Is this Top Ten going to make much sense to an outsider looking for an objective ranking? Nope! On with the list.

10: Plants vs. Zombies, PopCap Games

It's simple, the end of a level gives you something new to try in the next, it's real easy to immediately dive into the next level with your new seeds, what's that? I've been playing for how long?

9: Neptune's Pride, Iron Helmet Games

I really want to play this with people I know, but that probably requires them to play a practice game for a month to see if they're on board with the idea...

8: Mass Effect 2, BioWare

This is almost a placeholder entry. It's not the 8th best game of the batch at all, it's higher than that, but as I've not technically played it, I can't technically rank it. Not that that has stopped me before, I suppose, but let's give these other titles a chance to shine before Mass Effect 2 overtakes them.

7: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Nintendo EAD

The best Zelda, the best mode of transport. 'Nuff said.

6: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, Yuke's

It's just dumb fun, isn't it? Though it's cinematic dumb fun this time around, which is an interesting change.

5: Wii Sports Resort, Nintendo EAD Group No. 2

Some of it could be ignored, the rest of it really shouldn't. Best Nintendo Wii game? Best outside of anything with Mario on it, at least?

4: Shadow Complex, Chair Entertainment, Epic Games

I don't quite know what it is that I really like about it, but I really like something about it enough to want to keep exploring.

3: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, Relic Entertainment

One of the great discoveries of this 1001 list for me. I do need to brush up on my strategy before facing any more Ork war bosses, though.

2: Skate 2, EA Black Box

It shows its age these days, but it's as close as anyone can get to being an actual skateboarder without seeing blood. Sweat definitely makes an appearance while playing, and tears might not be too far away either in some challenges.

A few of these games could have found themselves in the top spot, especially factoring in recency bias and the like, but I opted to give the number 1 to a title that has proven itself to stand the test of time. It's not the best of the series, but Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the best at the time of writing the 1001 list, and as I said then, you've just got to play them all.

And now we come to the very last Topper Than That 10 list, a running leaderboard of the best of the best. It has been rock solid for many a Milestone Award post, often with only a single new entry. This is the last time anything can muscle their way onto the list that defines who I am as a gamer if anything - it's certainly not an objective fact, but I'll fight for every one of these titles...

10: Portal, Valve

This was a triumph. I'm making a note here: "Huge success."

9: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Naughty Dog

No Fortune, no Thieves. And I prefer the greens of the first game, I guess.

8: Assassin's Creed II, Ubisoft Montréal

You know you've lost the will to follow along with the AC series when UbiSoft announces something or other and you can't even be bothered to click through to the article to find out what it is. The future of the series? Give me the past, when it was great.

7: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan

Have there been any new discoveries of ridiculous tiny details? Any more absolutely bizarre videos of Monkey-masked Santa Snake? No? Why not?

6: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Rockstar North

YouTube suggested some videos about the history of VC speedrunning. I wanted to play some VC.

5: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Rockstar North

It then suggested some videos about the history of SA speedrunning, because now I'm into the rabbit hole and digging deeper. I wanted to play some SA too.

4: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Nintendo EAD

And still, it serves as the one link to the early home consoles. Surrounded by the big boys, this champion defies the odds and inspires us all.

3: Front Mission 3, Square

It's been too long since I've even seen mention of a mech game, in or out of video games. That's got to change. Looking forward to stomping around in this one.

2: Killzone 2, Guerrilla Games

The aesthetics, though! Mmmmmmm.

1: Metal Gear Solid, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan

It is, put simply, the game that changed the game. And I really want the board game based on the game that changed the game, but noooooo, we can't have nice things, can we? Sort it out, someone, please.

Boom! No change at the top. Nothing good enough to crack into The Topper Than That 10, which means The 1001/1001 Milestone Awards, and therefore the 1001 list, are done and dusted. That's all there is to it****. I guess I'll have to find something else to do.

Don't know what, though.

I think I might go for a walk.

Yeah. That sounds nice.

* Nothing is ever finished, only abandoned.

** Does emulating count as playing? Does playing for ten minutes count as playing?

*** I haven't been able to get all games. Platform exclusives, arcade cabinets, games literally lost to time... I tried, honest.

**** Or is it?

Alien Zombie Death

Pew pew pew, just like the good old days.

The 1001 list is a mostly chronological trip through video gaming. While it appears here and there to lump together similar games, more often than not it's a case of highlighting notable titles as and when they get released, allowing us to follow along with the developments and look back at where we've come from.

That basically means that we're not going to end on a carefully selected bang - not unless you're the type of person who loves the PlayStation Portable and the teeny tiny downloadable titles you could find for it, titles like Alien Zombie Death.

The controls are simple. The graphics are appropriate for the file size. The gameplay evokes titles from a long time ago. But I've come so far in this 1001 list that it'd be silly to end it like that. Let's fire it up and see what it's made of. Maybe we'll end with a bang after all.

Neptune's Pride

The almost-final frontier.

It may not look like much, but Neptune's Pride has already been awarded one of the highest achievements a game can have on a PC. No, it hasn't been installed on the C Drive, it's a web-based game, and it has gotten its tab pinned. Can you believe it?

Well, it would probably help if I explained what Neptune's Pride was. In short, it's a 4X game set in a randomly generated galaxy, full of aliens with one goal: own the majority of stars.

Who, if anyone, will work together and remain at peace until the inevitable backstabbing must occur? How will your galactic empire develop? What aspect will it flourish in? Wealth? Science? Huge numbers of warships?

I don't have a clue, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

Chime

Charity begins at home?

Source // Steam

What is Chime? It's a little bit like Tetris, only not really, and it's a little bit like Lumines, but not that either. It's musical, but it isn't, and it's about making shapes with unusual puzzle pieces, sort of.

What I do know is that it's just a tad addicting, so let's find out why.

Heavy Rain

Jason.

Source // MobyGames

As technology progressed, video games started to look more and more like movies, not just in the graphics department, but in the storytelling, too. They're both visual mediums, and the language of film and television can easily be brought over and used in cutscenes. But what happens with the gameplay? Can gameplay be cinematic, or is it jarring to watch a scripted scene and then be dumped back into a first-person shooter, for example?

Again, technological progress can allow your gameplay to look identical to your cutscenes to help blend the two together, but can we do better than that? Can we create the ultimate interactive movie and truly blur the lines between cinema and gaming?

Well, David Cage has already tried it with Fahrenheit, and the next attempt is with Heavy Rain, which follows the case of the Origami Killer. Will he be caught before he kills again? Who is he anyway? What other horrors must our heroes face? Popcorn optional.

Army of TWO: The 40th Day

"How hard is it for you NOT to kill somebody?"

Source // PlayStation

Here's what I know of Army of TWO: The 40th Day before playing it: two masked mercenary dudes bro their way through whatever warzone they find themselves in, and they wear customized riot masks.

Here's what I didn't know of Army of TWO: The 40th Day before playing it: it's the second of three Army of TWO games. How did this concept get three whole games out of it? What are video games even doing in the 2010s?

I don't know where I first heard of Army of TWO but I can safely say I wasn't too bothered about whether I played it or not, and so I didn't. Should I have not missed an opportunity to buddy up and take on the world while donning a weird mask?

BioShock 2

Who's yer daddy?

BioShock never captured my attention back in the day, and sticking a number on the end and releasing BioShock 2 didn't really do anything to help change that either.

For whatever reason it was, I just wasn't interested in diving beneath the waves and shooting through the ruins of Rapture. Was it the setting that didn't engage me? Were there just too many first-person shooters that I was interested in playing instead?

It wasn't until playing BioShock for this 1001 list that I finally got around to seeing what the fuss was about (and quickly realizing I'd have a better time if I installed the Remastered version instead), before concluding that while it didn't floor me, I could see it was a solid game to play.

Is BioShock 2 more of the same, or is there more to this underwater paradise that needs to be investigated? Without wanting to resort to 'diving right in' again, let's get our feet wet once more.

Mass Effect 2

"Just once I'd like to ask someone for help and hear them say, 'Sure. Let's go. Right now. No strings attached.'"

I do try to show off a game in its opening image, but I must admit that this isn't exactly the best depiction of BioWare's stellar space RPG sequel, Mass Effect 2, and there's a good reason for it - I'm still yet to play through Mass Effect.

Gutting what didn't work from the first game and cramming the space left over with hours and hours more dialogue between you and the many characters you'll meet across the galaxy, Mass Effect 2 is introduced to us in the 1001 list as the streamlined, story-lead game of science fiction adventuring.

Is streamlining an epic RPG possible? Have we lost anything in the decision to focus on what's important? Is there enough room in the galaxy for all of these characters to coexist? Let's get stuck in already.

VVVVVV

So tempted to make this entire post a string of V's...

Looks a little old, VVVVVV, doesn't it? It's meant to, being heavily inspired by Commodore 64 titles like Jet Set Willy. It's almost like the 1001 list has decided to remind us where video games came from, all those decades ago.

How far have we come? We've come all the way from brutally difficult platformers to... brutally difficult platformers built on nostalgia for brutally difficult platformers. Lovely. Well, let's hit 'run' on this one and see how quickly we end up face first in a spike trap.