In Third Person

The Metroid series of games have carved out a weird niche in my memories. I've always felt that the games were really cool and I've always wanted to play them through to completion, but I never do. In many cases, I never get far at all.

When the original came out, I rented it just because I thought the box art was cool. Keep in mind I was probably in Kindergarten at the time I first played it. Back then, I thought that being able to travel left, right, up and down was cool, and the ability to roll up into a ball was neat, but I never got the point of it. I was too young to comprehend how to actually play the game and navigate the world. To me, I ran around and shot monsters until I got bored.

It wasn't till I got older and tried Super Metroid when I finally understood what the game was about. I played through the opening sequence at some event with Super Nintendo systems set up and thought it was awesome. Having world maps also helped me out greatly. I still find it amazing that kids navigated through the entirety of the original Metroid without a map. I've even heard personal stories of people who would draw their own maps on graph paper in order to get through. I only got to play the game for a few minutes at that event, but I really liked what I tried.


I wouldn't buy my first Metroid game until Metroid Prime came out on the Gamecube. The reviews for the game were sky-high. I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to jump into the series at the same time as everyone else. From what I played of it, I thought it was spectacular. I loved how expansive the world was and how air-tight the controls were. I really felt like I was a lone bounty hunter exploring the galaxy. What ultimately killed the game for me though was the same thing that stopped me from playing the first Metroid: navigating the world. Even with the map and the assists, I got to a weird point very late in the game where I had no idea how to actually get to the marker on the map. I would go on to buy the second Metroid Prime game, which I never even opened.

Since then, I have tried to go back to both the original and Super Metroid with no such luck. I still suffer the same problem that I do in every other Metroid game, even with maps and assists. I get lost to the point that I can't play these games anymore. Not to condemn the games, because I know many gamers who have loved and beaten these and other Metroid style games. Maybe I just suck at this style of gameplay that features back-tracking and requires a stronger sense of direction. However, I've beaten both Bioshock and Batman: Arkham Asylum, which do feature Metroid-style elements to it when it comes to navigating the world. Maybe Samus Aran and I just weren't made for each other.

Along with a bunch of holiday cheer, Santa blessed me with a number of video games to play. As a video game enthusiast, I can't complain about my loved ones giving me more games to play. I don't think that part of my gaming habits will ever change.

Unfortunately, other parts of my life have changed dramatically since the days of Super Nintendo games under the Christmas tree. I finished school. I started working. I'm blessed to have a great girlfriend. More and more of my time is going into other aspects of life, which eats away at my video game playing time. Thus is the act of growing up, I guess.

For most people my age, that's fine. They get by on a game or two every now and then and it's more than enough to get by. For me, as a gaming enthusiast/man-child, I've always kept my fingers on the pulse of the medium. I am an avid consumer of gaming media, such as websites, blogs and podcasts. Ever since I started working in 2001, I've developed a habit of picking up every game I'm interested in at launch. The hype train just builds for me to a point where a game I want becomes a game I need the day it comes out.

All of this combined, I'm in a position where I have more games than I have time to play. The younger me (as well as many other video game fans out there) would probably think that it would be awesome to have too many games to play. However, it's not the most economical lifestyle choice in the world to make. Also, as a gamer, I know I'm missing out on some great experiences that are right under my nose, yet keep looking over.

In fact, I have games that I've owned for years that I've never played. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, is only one of many games that I own that have barely or never been touched. I plan on writing about a bunch of these "Pile of Shame" games in the future. Not even thinking realistically about it, I picked up a copy of Dead Space at a heavily discounted price thinking it was a good deal. The problem is, I've already got a lot to play on my plate and it could take months realistically for me to get around to it.


So what am I to do? Unfortunately, I can't lock myself my basement and stop time so that I can stay caught up on everything I want to play. I couldn't just stop buying new games outright and work from the beginning either. At this point, If I were to just work my way chronologically back to the present, I would fall behind on a number of this year's releases that I would want to play now. I could try and play multiple games at once, but I've found that when I try and play through more than two games at a time, I don't get anywhere in any of them. I'm struggling as is with Assassin's Creed 2 and Borderlands, which are both long games.

In the grand scheme of things, it's not really a sad reality. There are millions of people who would kill to be in my nerdy shoes. But as someone who loves the medium as much as I do, it does make me feel a bit sad inside that I can't find enough time to just sit on the couch and enjoy everything. I always say to myself that I'm going to make a conscious effort to get around to older games, but I never do. Maybe I'll actually take the time to make it happen this year.