Game Over

For the few of you that follow this blog closely, you probably noticed that I haven't posted since January 1st. This isn't because I haven't been playing video games. Sadly, it's because I've decided to stop writing this blog.

There were many reasons for this. Mainly, it's because I'm going through many changes in my personal life, so there's less time to write. Also, I feel like I've accomplished what I wanted to with this project.

The idea was to have an avenue for me to practice writing on a regular basis. It was also to keep a kind of record of the games I've played and to have fun getting nice screenshots or videos to accompany my posts. Over the years, I think I've improved a lot. It's quite evident if you read my first post. This project has improved my writing, my organization skills and my creativity. It also helped me learn how to schedule things and helped me be more productive and efficient in my day to day life.

Starting in January 2011 with Halo Reach and ending in January 2018 with A Boy and His Blob, I've played a LOT of video games during the life of this blog. Here are some crazy stats about my playing habits for that period.

• I have seen the credits for 175 games on 10 different platforms
• Completed the most games in 2014, with 41, and the least in 2011 with 16
• Platforming games are apparently my favorite, as I've completed 30 of those, with the closest runner-up being adventure games with 21
• As of this writing, this blog has received 284 753 unique views. That's approximately 111 per day
• January 2017 was the month with the most traffic, at 8759 unique views
• Inexplicably, my most viewed post was Crazy Taxi 2, at 533 unique views
• The most popular search that redirected people to my blog was "M60", a machine gun that I used a lot in Call of Duty, with a total of 528 searches
• The vast majority of my views came from the United States, at 227 185. The second closest was Canada at 15 951

It's been one hell of a ride. Video games are important to me, they are my favorite hobby by far and I love a lot of video games of various types. However, there are a few franchises that have taken up a bit more space than others in the last few years. Here's some fun stats about the games I've completed since the beginning of this blog.

• 12 games with the word "Mario" in their title
• 7 Halo games
• 5 Assassin's Creed games
• 4 Zelda games
• 4 Metroid games
• 4 The Walking Dead games
• 3 Forza games
• 3 Grand Theft Auto games
• 3 Uncharted games
• 3 Killzone games
• 3 Call of Duty games
• 3 Batman games
• Journey, twice

Journey isn't the only game I've bought more than once in that time either...

• Journey - PS3, PS4
• Rocket League - PC, PS4, Switch
• Overwatch - PC, PS4
• Mario Kart 8 - Wii U, Switch
• Costume Quest - PS4, PC

I've also completed a number of remastered games or re-releases

• Mario vs DK - GBA version on 3DS
• Super Metroid - SNES version on Wii U
• Metroid Fusion - GBA version on 3DS
• Mario Kart 8 - Remastered on Switch
• Flower - Remastered on PS4
• The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX - GBC version on 3DS
• Halo 1-4 - Remastered on Xbox One
• The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - GBA version on 3DS
• Super Mario Bros - NES version on 3DS
• Limbo - Remastered on PS4
• Journey - Remastered on PS4
• Super Mario Land - GB version on 3DS
• Super Mario World - SNES version on 3DS
• Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse - Remastered on PS3
• Chrono Trigger - PS1 version on Vita
• Day of the Tentacle Remastered - Remastered on PS4
• Metroid Samus Returns - Reimagining of GB version on 3DS

Of all the amazing games I've played, a few of them stood out as modern masterpieces, or games I regret not playing earlier. In this time, I fell in love with Metroid, Bethesda's big RPG's, Overwatch and Rocket League. 

I also felt many strong emotions... So here's a list of games that made me cry.

• Journey
• The Walking Dead Season 1 & 2
• The Last of Us
• Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons
• Gone Home
• Child of Light
• Valiant Hearts: The Great War
• Life is Strange
• The Last Guardian

Playing video games is often a solitary experience, but my daughter has been a huge part of it through the last few years. Here are some of the games that we enjoyed the most together. She wasn't even 1 year old when I started and she is now 7 years old.

• Journey
• Pikmin 3
• Pokemon Y/X and Sun/Moon
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
• Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze
• Skylanders Giants
• Child of Light
• Hohokum
• Costume Quest 1 & 2
• Flower
• Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
• Sunset Overdrive
• Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
• Never Alone
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
• Rayman Legends
• Skylanders Swap Force
• Yoshi's Woolly World
• Far Cry Primal
• Ratchet & Clank
• Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
• ABZÛ
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Bound
• Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
• Super Mario Odyssey

Video games are a great way to discover new music. Here are the games that had a direct impact on my music library or stood out from the rest in terms of music.

• Afro Samurai
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Journey
• Syndicate
• Sound Shapes
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Wipeout 2048
• Hotline Miami
• Child of Light
• Hohokum
• Sunset Overdrive
• Axiom Verge
• Forza Horizon 2 & 3
• Final Fantasy XV
• Watch Dogs 2
• Super Mario Odyssey

Another cool thing about video games is that with technological improvements comes the ability to wow the player. Here are the games that made my eyes glitter as I admired their beauty and technical achievement.

• L.A. Noire
• Trine
• Uncharted Golden Abyss
• The Last Of Us
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Pikmin 3
• Killzone Mercenary
• Wipeout 2048
• Killzone Shadow Fall
• inFAMOUS Second Son
• Child of Light
• Hohokum
• Destiny
• Driveclub
• Gunman Clive
• Sunset Overdrive
• The Order: 1886
• Batman: Arkham Knight
• Yoshi's Woolly World
• Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Bound
• Super Mario Odyssey

This is a bittersweet goodbye, as I really love writing, but I can't afford the time required to do it in this format anymore. I'm definitely going to keep writing, but it will be something different with less pressure to write daily. Gamer's Log Daily is dead, but my love of video games and writing isn't going anywhere.

Thank you for being along for the ride! 

A Boy and His Blob

Date played: January 1st
Platform: PS4

My daughter and I were looking for something to kill time New Year's day and it's been a while since we played with the friendly alien blob, so we took on the final world together. We played about 5 or 6 levels, most of which revolved around using the cloning jelly bean.

A Boy and His Clone?

When Blob eats the clone jelly bean, he turns into a copy of the boy that copies everything I do. This creates some pretty interesting scenarios for puzzles and challenges. Interestingly, together, the boy and his clone can move objects that were previously too heavy. We missed a few hidden treasures, so there's a few bonus levels we haven't seen yet, but we did reach the final boss!

Unfortunately, we ran out of play time and had to leave the boss for another day!