At the beginning of the year, I decided to keep track of all the games I completed throughout the course of the year. I included Wii, DS, 3DS, PSP, PS3, Web Browser and iPod games, just so long as they had a clear ending and a reasonable length. As the title reveals, the number of games I played in 2011 came to a very precise 50. Here they are in chronological order, with brief notes.

1. Uncharted 2 (Very fun, finished in two days, my roommates stopped their activities to watch and wouldn't let me play until they were ready)
2. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (Best combat of the KH games in my opinion, loved Leonard Nemoy, however the KH series is starting to wear thin for me)
3. Crisis Core (Sucked me in at the beginning but really dragged towards the end)
4. Ninja Senki (Awesome, little, free downloadable platformer)
5. 8bit Halo
6. Rocket Knight (PS3, kinda fun, kinda meh)
7. King's Quest Redux (Loved King's Quest when I was younger on my Apple IIgs, the witch and ogre always scared me to death, online free fan recreation is great)
8. King's Quest III Redux
9. Spider: Secret of Bryce Manor (Nice use of touch screen mechanics)
10. Trainyard Express
11. King's Quest II Redux
12. Ufouria (Kinda strange, but enjoyable)
13. Little Nemo: The Dream Master (First time I've beaten it, played it many times as a child, never knew that Nemo got a wand that could shoot towards the end!!!)
14. Castle Crashers (My wife loves side scrolling beat-em-ups, we had fun playing this together)
15. Batman: Arkham Asylum (Better than expected, looking forward to playing Arkham City in 2012)
16. Sword & Sworcery (Loved everything: the art, music and gameplay. #1 iPod game)
17. Dark Void Zero (I'm a sucker for a solid, platforming, retro throwback)
18. NBA 2K11 (Best sports game ever, beat the Jordan Challenges, classic matches with roommates, Lakers (Chris) vs. Bucks (Me), Clippers (Me) vs. Team Jordan (J-Ray)
19. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Always hits the spot, my favorite Zelda)
20. Outland (So beautiful, Jungle Tron Ikaruga Metroid!)
21. Pursuit Force (Fun concept but a few levels were beyond frustrating)
22. Hard Corps: Uprising (Why isn't it just called Contra again?)
23. Golden Axe (Crappy, free PSN game from free Playstation Plus subscription)
24. Blue Knight (I really dig good, creative web browser game)
25. Endeavor (See #24)
26. Coma (See #24)
27. Mega Man Zero Collection (My favorite Mega Man series, tight gameplay and customizable difficulty - I like harder Mega Man games)
28. Knytt (See #24)
29. AnUntitledStory (See #24)
30. VVVVVV (Cool mechanic, wish I'd know it would come to 3DS, would've rather played it on that)
31. Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (I love me some puzzles)
32. Deus Ex (The choices are so cool, killing Anna Navarre in the airplane without killing Juan Lebedev = Mind Freak)
33. Gargoyle's Quest (Played as a child, still fun but seemed easier now ;p)
34. Chronos Twins (Good use of Dual Screen, seemed somewhat rushed, art was DBZ ripoff)
35. Shantae: Risky's Revenge (A great platformer, tight controls, I'm a WayForward fan now)
36. Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (Thought this was Mega Man V for gameboy when I bought it, still loved playing through it)
37. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (Almost as good as A Link to the Past)
38. The Force Unleashed (Used cheat codes to play through it in just a few hours, I was curious about it)
39. Star Fox 64 3D (One of my favorite games ever, made better with 3D)
40. Critter Crunch (My friend introduced it to my wife and I and addiction ensued)
41. Aliens: Infestation (Very awesome, atmospheric, not enough replay value for me, still a WayForward fan)
42. 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (Surprise of the year, saw the good reviews and decided to go for it, loved the puzzles and the story was a ton of fun, looking forward to the sequel)
43. Limbo (Creepy and fun, a nice platformer)
44. Portal 2 (Portal is one of my favorites and the sequel was incredible. This game is the reason I still play video games)
45. Metroid: Other M (Aside from having to go first person to shoot missiles, I really enjoyed the experimental gameplay, I didn't like Samus freezing in front of an enemy she has faced numerous times before, though)
46. The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time 3D (Was cool in 3D but I may have played this game too many times and its charm has worn out)
47. inFAMOUS (First game that I've bothered to get the platinum trophy for, spent way too long looking for the last blast shard -swept the city while spamming the L3 button thrice, gave up then came back a week later when inspiration stuck- but I loved the game overall, especially the ending)
48. The Legend of Zelda: 4 Swords Anniversary Edition (Not as fun playing by yourself)
49. Earthbound (So charming, so good, so wonderful)
50. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (The green star challenge was uber fun)

Looking back, I can see how different parts of this year were reflected in my game choices. There was clearly a free web games era during my time in China as well as a post-China just-got-a-3DS era. I've also learned how my tastes continue to evolve. Seeing as I continue to be busier and busier every year, I find myself drawn to shorter games that maintain high quality. Too many longer games start out good but drag towards the end. I'd love a game like Shantae, short and excellent, but where there were lots of secret, fun stuff ala Chrono Trigger. That being said, I still love longer games that are compelling all the way through, such as Batman: Arkham Asylum or Fallout 3.

To close, everyone loves a good "Best of" list, so here are my top 5 of 2011.

1. Portal 2
2. 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
3. Sword & Sworcery
4. NBA 2K11
5. inFAMOUS