New year, new you, right? It is that time of the year where you see gyms overcrowded by people due to a New Year’s resolution, or hear just about everyone you speak to talk about how they will stop a bad habit. Well, for gamers, it is no different, as there are some New Year’s gaming resolutions that I have tried (and mostly failed) to adopt over the years.
With that in mind, there are some New Year’s gaming resolutions I think are worth looking into and maybe adopting as your own. It is definitely worth a try, as they should broaden your video game horizon for 2018 and beyond. Check out the top five suggestions below and join the discussion with your own ideas.
Playing more indie games
With so many awesome games in 2017 and with 2018 promising to be another exceptional year of big AAA titles, it is sometimes difficult to get to all the games. Titles from independent developers sometimes go unnoticed, as they don’t have the backing of big publishers, but there are some real gems out there. Since I played The Long Dark, the best survival experience I have ever had, there is this feeling that we might all be missing out on some amazing games simply because they have flown under the radar.
That’s why I did a “The five greatest games you probably haven’t played” article last year, with four of them being indie titles. Why not make your New Year’s resolution that of playing more indie games and trying out new things? You might be pleasantly surprised at the result.
My top 5 suggestions are:
- The Long Dark
- Prison Architect
- Stardew Valley
- Black Mesa
- DUSK (releasing later this month)
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Tackling that backlog
At the end of 2017, we had over a two-week break here at GMZ, so what did I do? Tried to catch up on all the awesome games I have in my gaming libraries from 2017, which I didn’t even touch the year. Games included the likes of Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Wolfenstein 2 and many more. Some gamers even have Horizon Zero Dawn and it’s brilliant expansion The Frozen Wilds in their backlog. Shame on you!
If you have a massive backlog, then maybe a great New Year’s resolution is to start playing some of them, especially if they are big AAA titles that you instantly picked up because you were excited to play them.
It is difficult to resist purchasing or even pre-ordering some games (which is what the next section of this article is about), but your backlog might already be full of gems, so why not give it a rest and play some of the titles you already own this year. If you don’t get to that backlog soon, you might just be stuck with a massive backlog forever.
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Getting off the hype train
2017 was a great year for gaming, with so many amazing titles that actually lived up to their hype. Even so, there were still multiple disappointments as well, the most noticeable for me is Star Wars Battlefront 2, as the microtransaction and progression system controversy still lingers in my mind. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to not get hyped when you see an amazing trailer at an event like E3, especially if one of your favourite developers is involved.
With that being said, it is always better not to expect too much, because then you will be pleasantly surprised when a game is above and beyond what you hoped for. However, if you do get hyped, pre-order the game and you are left disappointed, that really isn’t a great feeling, especially on your wallet.
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Esports and you
Some players might not have the skill or time that is needed to invest to become an Esports player, enter tournaments or anything like that. Well, Esports isn’t just about the players, but about the fans as well. If you are like me and simply don’t have the time (or ability) to get super-good at a specific title, then supporting a local eSports team might be just for you.
You can support teams simply by watching their matches via streams or following teams on their social media. Another great thing about Esports is that it can offer some of the most entertaining moments in gaming, ever. Watching and covering The International each year for us was the most fun I have ever had, with the most memorable moment for me in eSports history being the infamous fountain hook incident in Dota 2.
Building a new gaming PC
Now I know not everyone is a PC gamer, or even have a gaming PC. For those, maybe the New Year’s resolution should be to finally build one. The thing about PC gaming is that there is always new hardware coming out, hardware that makes a PC from last year look like a potato. The sad truth is that it doesn’t matter when you build a gaming PC, your hardware won’t be the best for long, even if you spend a small fortune.
Sure, it will run all the games at max settings for a long time to come, but there will always be that feeling of “what if I just waited six more months”. Last year, Marco actually built a gaming PC for the first time, and he said it was one of the most exciting things he has ever done.
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The end result of Marco’s efforts
It is something everyone should do at least once and honestly, a great New Year’s resolution. Just pull that trigger (and warn your poor wallet) and start building one, you won’t be disappointed in the end results, no matter what hardware manufacturers announce later the year.
Have you tried, or will you try any of these New Year’s gaming resolutions and can you think of any other ideas? Let us know in the comment section below.
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