A while back, just before Mass Effect and GTA IV (My video gaming skills have allowed me to evolve past time keeping methods of mere mortals), I told my girl friend of all the major titles I was looking forward to purchase. She took one look around my room, just happened to see I was sleeping on a bed made out of Radiant Silvergun copies, and said: "Why do you want to buy new games? You have all these games… Why don't you just play the games you have here." Soon after berating her on proper video game culture and telling her how many things were wrong with what she just said... I began to hear a quiet voice in my head. Not the one that demands the flame's eternal passion to be quenched. (I still ignore that one) but rather… it was one that told me.... maybe I have just a few too many games...

I had never sold my games. I felt as though they were a part of me and this life of video gaming that I had chosen for myself. Disowning even one would reduce my stature as a video game player. However… my stalwart resolution prevailed, and I began my journey into unfamiliar territory with the mistakes. Further in, I began throwing out the promising, yet unfulfilling titles out. And at the very end of the cave I dove into the completed, enjoyed, but will never play again pile. I drove to the gamestop, handed the games over, was told I'd be receiving about 34 dollars store credit, and signed away. I was expecting a shockwave of guilt, regret, loneliness, heart ache, and pain to hit me instantly. I braced for impact... but nothing came. Could it really be that easy?

What happened next is still a blur to me. I was a mad man with an axe, a crazed lumber jack with his chainsaw hungry to get its teeth wet. And with one mighty swing I decimated a forest of games into a pile of timber ready for the fire. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes: GONE! I hate stealth action! Beyond Good and Evil: GONE! I didn't see what was so appealing any way! GTA III: GONE! Your excuse for camera control infuriated me! Magna Carta: GONE! (Art book and all) Even I have limits when it comes to anime and JRPG protagonists! I soon found my self surrounded by a sea of store credit. Enough to pre-order all the games for this holiday season, pick up quite a few used games, and even purchase the ridiculously over priced Pikmin 2.

But I wasn't in it for the money. I was in it for the peace of mind. For the first time in a long time, I felt a sense of freedom. A freedom that I hadn't felt since I appointed myself as a replacement for new age Atlas that carried the world of video games on his back. The guilt of having copies of games that I'd never play again, the games that had been weighing me down, quickly vanished into memory only to be recalled so that I may never walk this path again.

Even now... after selling 60~70+ games, I still consider my self a hardcore gamer. I know now what I should have known all along. I didn't need to crawl on the floor using my elbows to reach the next bit of food in the hopes that it'd taste better than it looked from afar. Not every game needs to be bought, not every bought game needs to be kept. Now... I need only wait at the diner table to carefully select my extravagant meal. A game seemingly prepared specifically for me to feast and indulge my self upon to my heart's content.