The weekend is supposed to be the time when we’re allowed to relax, kick up our feet and forget the horrendous week we had due to your boss coming over to your cube every five minutes wondering when your daily reports will be done. Not to mention our escape from our nagging, ungrateful girl-friends who never takes our feelings into consideration when choosing an eatery to spend the evening, even though the ball and chain KNOWS we HATE Thai food with a passion. Finally, when Friday rolls around, we forget all about the bottle of pills we were planning on swallowing with a bottle of Jack tonight and get ready for the moment everyone has been waiting 5-long days for: Saturday afternoon, when we wake up. Yes, the weekend is a stress reliever indeed.

However, lately it seems like the weekends are brining about more stress then there needs to be, for me. I walk into my room, full from my Reese’s Puffs or Pop-tarts, and look in wonder and amazement at the stacks of games I’ve collected over the years. Multiple platforms, multiple titles, limited time. I feel a strong sense of guilt as I gaze around at the wonder of my collection (it’s big to me, probably not to anyone else. That’s what she said…no wait...). All these games that I’ve overlooked and, in some cases, ignored completely, sit around gathering dust and neglect. And yes, as petty as that sounds, I feel bad. So much potential for excitement and intrigue is going to waste on my shelves.

And the cycle continues. Almost every week, I compulsively buy something new for my collection. A DS game here, a 360 title there; it all begins to pile up in the end. For instance, I received a copy of Blue Dragon (Xb360) as a gift earlier this year. A game I’ve been wanting to own for some time, no doubt, however, I found myself cursing the fact that I was holding it in my hands, knowing it would take months, even years, for me to even give it any attention. And to this day, Blue Dragon sits patiently on my shelf, still shrink wrapped…waiting…Sometimes I lay awake at night and still hear the screams.

My habit of starting a new game and never finishing it is a nasty one. I’ve probably only beaten about 4% of the games I own due to the fact that my A.D.D. attention span needs new and fresh entertainment almost as soon as I begin something else. Not to mention I have the odd feeling that the game is NOT complete unless I earn the full amount of percent, achievements, gems, coins, blah blah blah…So that hinders my game play considerably. If something seems too hard, I quit (it’s a metaphor for my whole life).

Therefore, my resolution for the New Year is as follows: Every game I own will be played or beaten before the end of summer in August 2008. I owe it to myself as a gamer (especially since I bought the damn things) and I owe it to the companies to let them know I have faith enough in their product to keep me busy.

So this weekend is when it starts. No rest for the wicked. If you don’t hear from me in awhile, I’ve died from exhaustion.

-JD