Hitman Tommy's 2014 Goals 2nd Quarter Update

We’re now half way through 2014. Figured it was a good time to review how I’m doing with the goals I set out at the beginning of the year. This past quarter has been pretty slow pickup wise and it’s probably the least amount of games I’ve purchased in a long time. Granted we haven’t been as diligent in getting out on Friday nights for our Game Hunting trips. That being said we’ve been using that time in other ways for example recording the most recent episode of the Two Crude Dudes podcast(which you can listen to below this). Anyways without further ado here is how my 2014 Gaming Goals are looking

 

Goal #1: Increase NES Collection by 41 Cartridges.

Progress: 29/41 = 70.74% 

My NES buying has been far less than it has in previous years. I picked up 19 new titles since my last goal update but the vast majority of those were from our trip to the Calgary Expo in April. Since returning from there I think I’ve found 4 games locally that I needed. It’s definitely been slim pickings as of late. The retail stores nearby have restocked their retro titles a bit more recently but the prices on the games are way more than I’m willing to pay. I’ve tried to resort to going online a bit more to see if I can get a good price on some of the cheaper games I need. But even at that in a lot of cases the cart is either shat on, missing a chunk of the label or has some other damage. I’m definitely still ahead of the game in terms of getting to my year end of 600 carts in my collection.

Goal #2: Spend more time with the Wii U

Progress: Goal Achieved, 44 hours and counting

I got back on the Wii U horse in the month of May after not really touching it in March and April. Combined with the amount I had played earlier in the year I was just over half way to passing the amount of time I’d played Wii U in 2013(as mentioned before I had got my Wii U in August of 2013 and only logged 20 hours on it before December). Then May 30^th happened and Mario Kart 8 was released. Upon playing that I knew that I was going to have no trouble exceeding 20 hours of Wii U time. It didn’t end up being Mario Kart 8 that put me over the top. The free game that I downloaded with the Mario Kart 8 promotion was Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker which I after downloading I decided to play it for an hour or two. I do have Windwaker on Gamecube but have never finished it and after playing a couple hours the first night on Wii U I quickly got hooked again and god damn 30 hours later I’m still trying to work my way through it. From best as I can tell I’ve still got some work to do to finish it so I’m estimating another 12 hours just to finish the story, never mind if I decide to go after all the treasures and shit. All I can say is thank god for the Swift Sail or it’d be another 30 hours to finish it. That being said I’m really enjoying it but it’s just eating up so much of my life right now.

Titles I played on Wii U in 2014: Mighty Switch Force, Lego Undercover, Mario Kart 8, Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker, NES Remix.

Titles I beat on Wii U in 2014: None 

Goal #3: Complete 5 Xbox 360 games

Progress: 2/5 = 40%

This goal is still at the same place as it was in March. With the increased amount of time I’ve been playing Wii U, along with everything else I have rarely touched the Xbox 360 with the exception of playing some racing games and an hour here or there. Xbox 360 definitely is one of those consoles that suffers from the “I don’t know what to play cause there’s too many friggin choices”. I really enjoy playing my Xbox but so frequently I end up playing the stupid XBLA shitters instead of a retail game that has a much better story/game experience to offer. I’ve talked about this before but it’s easier said then done. A lot of times I end up going to play it and then psych myself out and just watch a movie or end up playing 3DS or something instead.

Goal #4: Get the last two issues of OPM

Progress: 0/2 = 0% 

Still no movement on this. I saw the demo disc for one of the issues I didn’t have recently but I didn’t buy it because I don’t really collect demos. If anyone reading this has one they’d part with or comes across a copy of issue 1 and 2 of Official US Playstation magazine please let me know. 

Goal #5: Devote more time to the Blog

Progress: Ongoing

So far so good we’re coming off one of our best months here on the blog. But we had a strong beginning to 2013 as well and really tapered off when we got to the summer months. Hoping to keep things going strong into Fall.

Things are also progressing well on our other project the Two Crude Dudes Podcast. Hopefully should see episodes continue to be recorded on the regular basis for the rest of the year. And hoping that we’ll get Jimmy on one of these episodes to share some of his gaming experiences with everyone.

All in all that rounds out how my goals are taking shape going into the second half of 2014. If I had to venture a guess of which one I’ll be focusing on the next couple months it’ll probably be to beat some more Xbox 360 games. But if I keep playing Wii U the way I have been lately that may be a tall order.

Thanks for checking things out once again. Tyson and I hit the thrift shops just the other day and I finally picked up a few new games for the collection so I’ll be back shortly to share that with you.