Auld lang syne
So… 2017 huh? Goddamn, have the last 12 months felt like they lasted six years to anyone else? So much has happened in 2017, too much to bother talking about here, but one of the good things to come out of it for me is I kept my gaming resolution. Last year I said I would pay more attention to mobile games and by God I did it. It wasn’t always fun but at times it provided me with some absolutely awesome experiences.
I plan to keep that going in 2018 but there is so much more I can do in the next year and that’s why I’m making a brand new gaming resolution. I’m ending 2018 with a new Switch, a backlog of Wii U games I still have to get to, a stack of PlayStation 4 titles that’s growing by the week and a 3DS catalog that’s too legit to quit. I could resolve to whittle down my backlog in 2018 but HAHAHAHAHA that’s not going to happen. Instead of beating games… I want to make one.
That’s right. My gaming resolution for 2018 is to begin development of my own game using SmileBASIC. If you haven’t heard of SmileBASIC, it is a game development program for the Nintendo 3DS that is a more advanced version of Petit Computer for the Nintendo DS. A couple weeks ago, I watched this short video on Yoshiro Kimura who I am officially naming my favorite developer of 2017. He created Dandy Dungeon and Million Onion Hotel and in this video, he talks about rediscovering his love for game development while dicking around with Petit Computer. After watching that clip I immediately downloaded SmileBASIC to my spanking new New Nintendo 2DS XL Pokéball edition.
I don’t know if what I make will be any good or if I have to talent to make anything worthwhile, but 2018 will be the year I do what I always say I’ve wanted to and make a game. That’s my resolution, what’s yours?
Josh Tolentino
My resolution from last year was to avoid spending money on games I wouldn’t play, and only to buy games I intended to play immediately. I managed to hold to that resolution this year, and while I skipped quite a few sale opportunities, the pain from not buying a game I probably wouldn’t have played until much later was outweighed by the attention I was able to give the games I did play. That said, it didn’t reduce my backlog by much, so…hah.
I’ll be switching my resolutions this year from simple self-preservation to self-improvement, starting by committing to writing more often here. I’ve let my posting rates drop quite a bit thanks to outside factors, and that’s not great. Please look forward to Japanator’s Winter 2018 Anime Preview Guide, coming Soon(TM)!
Bass
2017 has been a pretty great year for me. I was able to talk about games, even if infrequently, for a website I really like. I worked on two Ludum Dare games with friends, and both released on time. I got to play more video games than I will ever be able to again. After all, 2017 is the year I graduated and moved on to the grown-up world of full-time work, which means I’ve got a lot less free time for the entertainments.
I’m not going to accomplish more gaming in 2018 than in 2017. But something I can focus on is creating, rather than playing. My Mario Maker campaign and game jam entries gave me enough confidence to start a larger-scale game project this year. And it so happens that I have a few ideas in mind.
So my resolution this year is to build a team, plan a game out and start working on it. Wish me luck!
Peter Glagowski
My resolution last year involved writing more for the Cblogs, but as I quickly realized a few months in, I didn’t have enough time to do that. I also didn’t want to constantly be putting my ideas in front of other community members, since I got my start writing in those very blogs. That would be very rude of me to deny our community the chance to shine.
One of the things I did manage to get into this year was streaming. I started following Game Attack on a near daily basis and they’ve given me a strong desire to get into the streaming game. I already do Sunday’s on Destructoid’s Twitch, but I’d love to actually make it a career like so many people have done.
So in a double whammy (sort of), I’d like to get more involved with our community by streaming more. That is my 2018 resolution and I intend to do it pretty frequently. Hopefully, I can help spread the word of Dtoid’s awesomeness on my own time!
Marcel Hoang
By pure chance, I happen to post my resolution right after Pete’s resolution to stream more. I too would like to stream more. Of course, we’re coming at this from different directions.
I got a real taste of streaming during the Extra-Life community stream. I gathered up some teammates, revived Streamtoid, and went to town on it with Bloodborne. It was fun to engage with an audience directly while working towards a goal, whether it’s some insane speedrun or completing a difficult achievement or trophy.
Now with the arrival of Monster Hunter: World at the end of January, my urge to stream will shoot through the roof. Now that MonHun is no longer locked to a portable system but on a system with native streaming support, I want to continue streaming with an active community of hunters.
I also know a lot of friends off Facebook who stream a lot as well. From casual friends with chill streams, aspiring partners, and more than a few pro cosplayers who stream both their works in progress and games they play, I feel motivated to join them and further this network of streaming friends.
One of the more predictable choices to watch on YouTube are interesting or difficult hunts from a variety of Monster Hunter titles. I hope to soon join in on that myself and even hunt together with other people with World‘s new and improved lobby system, together on Twitch.
Chris Carter
Mine is to play more tabletop. I got into some really esoteric stuff very early on in my life, but most of the people who enjoy board games have moved — and while I’ve been using official digital conversions as a proxy, I’m not super keen to convert entirely. Having met a couple that enjoys everything from 7 Wonders to the Arkham Horror LCG Card Game, I’m now in a position to rekindle my love for the hobby.
I really enjoy the social aspect of it all, something the gaming industry has been moving away from as it eschews split-screen play in favor of having everyone buy their own copy of something.
Wes Tacos
I’ve written about my niece before (normally I’d link to whatever I had written but this isn’t the time for shameless self-promotion also did you enter my contest?), but dude she’s like 7 or maybe 8 or possibly even 6 now. I’m not entirely sure, but she’s to the age where she can hold a conversation and knows when I’m bullshitting her. Which is always.
She’s also to the age where she can actually play a video game at a more or less competent and consistent level. She also has basically every gaming system I have. Can you believe this bitch is 6 or maybe 7 or possibly 8 and has a PS4, PS3, SNES, 3DS, Switch, and a Wii U? I mean, shit, I don’t even have a Wii U! She mostly uses it for Minecraft, but still.
Having just gotten her Switch for Christmas, and having owned a PS4 for like three years now (seriously), I think it’s time to help usher her into gaming from an old fart’s perspective. So this year I want to focus a little less on my own gaming goals, and a little more on sharing my hobby with my niece. I want to get her interested in more than just Minecraft and Super Mario, and try to get her a little more well-versed in stuff like Shadow of the Colossus and Final Fantasy. I want to share with her some of my favorite games, and why they mean so much to me. And really, I want her to grow up not feeling weird about being a gamer like I did. There was still a stigma attached to sitting at home playing Sega Genesis when I was her age; I don’t know if that stigma still exists, but I do want her to be proud of spamming Knights of the Round like the cheap shit I am. I mean, like the cheap shit she is.
So, if you’re still around in ten years’ time, I hope you’ll give Addy Tacos a nice, warm welcome to the Destructoid Community.
Rich
2017 was a pretty good one for me. I got to start writing here at Destructoid and even knocked out a ton of my backlog, something I swore I would do last year. I even managed to start streaming for Destructoid’s Twitch channel on Thursdays and Saturdays, but I’d still like to do more.
Simply put my resolution is to get more involved. Engage with the community more, write more often, and most what I most hope to do is get involved with the video team.
I’ve been here for about six months now and you’ve all done a wonderful job of making me feel like a part of the community, so thanks for that and with any luck you’ll be hearing a lot more from me in 2018.
Pixie The Fairy
Ever since The Royal City of Rabanastre raid was added in Final Fantasy XIV, I’ve been leering my copies of games pertaining to Invalice. I’ve always had a fondness for the setting, art, and tone of games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story, but to date, I’ve only finished FFXII.
Back when many of these games released I still had not developed the patience needed to stomach things like character permadeath or Matsuno’s tendency toward long-winded exposition and excessive cutscenes.
Several Fire Emblems and Metal Gears later, I think it is time to fix that. So I’ll be delving into as much Invalician fare as I can take from any platform I can find it on. And I’ll replay FFXII, too.
I have a full set of Invalician Samurai armor now, so I feel somewhat obligated to make this my resolution. I will become a loremaster of Invalice and know all the hidden histories
Nick Valdez
I don’t know, play the games I keep buying?
Salvador G-Rodiles
For the longest time, I’ve been trying to catch up with The Legend of Heroes: Trails/Kiseki series. Each time I attempted this goal, something got in the way of my progress. Last year, I ended up receiving a PS4 as a hand-me-down from a close friend, which put a halt to my journey. As I started to find the time to continue my quest, I ended up receiving Persona 5 as a birthday gift. Because of these unexpected events, my experience with the series was limited to Trails of Cold Steel, half of Trails of Cold Steel II, and Trails in the Sky’s Prologue.
Originally, my resolution for 2017 was to finish every English Trails game. Unfortunately, I only managed to beat Trails of Cold Steel II and Trails in the Sky. While having two titles left to tackle doesn’t sound too bad, each installment can take 50 to over 100 hours of your time. This is based on your investment with its world since every NPC reacts to each story beat, and there are a couple who go through character development. As a person who fell head over heels with West Zemuria’s regions, I go out of my way to learn about every inhabitant, along with reading each area’s books and newspapers.
As we get ready to start 2018, my gaming resolution is to finish Trails in the Sky SC and Trails in the Sky the 3rd. Even if responsibilities get in the way, I’ll fulfill them while I do my best to catch up with my new favorite RPG series. Since their predecessor contained a theatrical play that might top Final Fantasy VI’s iconic opera scene, I’m expecting the “Liberl Saga’s” last two games to blow me away. Also, I’m looking forward to spending more time with the man who’s more charming than a certain spoony bard.
If I accomplish this objective early, I’ll extend my goal to cover the other English Nihon Falcom games I haven’t played, such as Ys VIII and Tokyo Xanadu eX+. Of course, this will only apply to the ones on the consoles I own. But first, I need to see if Aidio’s blessing is on my side.
Jonathan Holmes
Well, I definitely want to quit playing Nintendo Badge Arcade. After 3333 badges, all from free plays, I feel the fates are telling me to quit. If you turn the number 3333 on its side, it looks like four butts stacked on top of each other, so that must count for something.
But what will I play instead? Who the heck knows. I’m hoping to find more portable games that I can play with my kid, but he’s still only two years old, so it may be a little while longer before he really gets the hang of using his fingers and thumbs to make a thing move on a screen while also pretending to actually be the thing he sees moving around on said screen at the same time. Most of us here take the ability to both physically control and emotionally relate to a foreign virtual object that only exists on the other side of a video display for granted, but for toddler, that’s some “Neo seeing the underlying code that all things are made of” level of enlightenment we’re talking about.
One thing is for sure, I’m not playing any more huge open world games. If Breath of the Wild can’t get me to appreciate the genre, then I must be a lost cause.
So in short, I resolve to not collect any more badges and to not purchase any more open world games, and instead try to find more games to play with my kid.
If the next GTA ends up being a badge-collecting co-op adventure made for pre-kindergartners, I’m totally fucked.
