Following 2018, 2019 gaming wise has been another slow gaming year, and like 2018 compared to previous years my game purchases and consumption of said games, hasn’t been the highest. I did add a PSP to my collection, as well as a PS Classic, and Atari handheld. Of course last but certainly not least I added a long awaited Moon Patrol arcade machine to my collection without much time to play it. 

In the retro gaming world its been a mixed bag, but overall pretty quiet. We’ve gotten a number of PnP systems, Arcade1Up is still churning out systems, and the hobby still has it’s mixed ups and downs on prices. Hugues Johnson a host of the former The Retro League returned to podcasting with the Retro Game Club Podcast, giving many former listeners a new hub for retro gaming. 

To a gamer and collector though, New Years is as much a new beginning, as it is in other areas of life. So the hopes are that 2020 will perhaps be a more cheerful and eventful year for the hobby. With that said though I’d like to do my annual review of last years resolutions and how they stacked up, and develop some new ones for 2020.  

Past Resolutions for 2019

Just as with my personal life I’m always uncertain as to whether or not you should recycle unfulfilled resolutions from a previous year or years. In one sense it’s a sign of perseverance to do so since it shows your willing to chase down a goal even if you don’t succeed right away, and in another it’s like the unfulfilled goal just gets pushed aside and not taken seriously, that or they weigh you down like the Albatross from Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. If you look online at this time of year, or even in the magazine rack at your local grocery store I’m sure you will see many opinions on how to achieve resolutions. With all that said here was my stab at my 2019 gaming resolutions:

SNES at 70, 80, 90, and maybe 100 – I have 58 games cataloged, and 17 more waiting to be tested in played. If I ever get to them it places me near 75, still 25 short of the 100 goal I set years ago. 

Backloggin’ It – I have a Odyssey 2  with games that is unplayed, and Colecovision, Intellivision, SNES, NES, Atari 2600, PS1, Saturn, and a few others in the unplayed mix. As a matter of fact it’s time to bring back the backlog spreadsheet, and plan time to play through. Goal 0 unplayed games in backlog as of December 31, 2019. However my ending count is about 116+ games still needing to me played, yikes!

Get a Moon Patrol cabinet – Mission Accomplished and loving it, just wish I had more time to play it.   

Midwest Gaming Classics (again) –  Done, its where I got Moon Patrol

Another Gaming Convention – I attended two other conventions VGS (Video Game Summit) which I covered in an earlier article, and MineFaire which I also covered.

X-Arcade Time –  My machine finally got moved inside to my basement, I got to work on it a bit but haven’t had a chance to work on it again since I remodeled my office.  

NoiseFromTheBasement.Com – I worked on this and even moved over my content from Diary of an Amatuer Record Collector, it’s still a work in progress. 

2020 Gaming in the Year Ahead

Like any hobby gaming is something real life demands you put down at the drop of the hat for more important things. Sure I feel a lot of guilt for having a pile of games and projects I just can’t get to, but I know sometimes other things are more important. To say the least, I’d like to do a more serious return to gaming in 2020 than I’ve had in 2018 and 2019. 

Backlogging and 8-Bit Fridays – Combo-ing my backlog reduction with my 8-bit Fridays has been a great way of killing two birds with one stone. I get to reduce my overall backlog, and also build content with the games I cover. Although 8-bit Fridays aren’t the bulk of my blog content I’ve always felt they are a good way of sharing a gaming experience. Much like 2019 my goal is to reach 0 games backlogged by NYE 2020. 

Finish and Fix – The X-Arcade, and my Retron 5 both need some attention. The X-Arcade mostly to get it fully setup working, and the Retron to out and out fix it’s system update issues (even though its not an online system).

Midwest Gaming Classics (again, again) – We had a real blast in 2019, pretty much because my pockets were a bit more full than in previous years. We still got stuck there an extra night do to snow, but we had fun. 

Basement Time – Its time to get serious about getting my basement done, and turn it into a true rec room. 

SNES at 100 – Still reaching for the stars on this one

Another Pinball or Arcade Machine? – We will see what MGC offers this year.

Ok, so its not much but its something to look forward to. Thank you all for reading, and have a happy New Year. BTW, feel free to share your own resolutions below.