It’s becoming a yearly tradition here at PGM to talk about resolutions.
My resolution for this year, of which only a small few days remain: 2024 Resolution: Play ALL My Unplayed PC Games + How To Create Dynamic Unplayed Steam Collection went OK, but really the year was dominated by getting back into real pinball full force, buying two modern pinball machines new in box and playing more real pinball than any other gaming year.
I didn’t find much enjoyment playing UNplayed PC games. It was much more fun playing pinball, so that’s where most of my gaming time went. It was more like work playing UNplayed PC games, which is something that has taught me to change how I buy games going forward. Not all the unplayed games I have disappointed, there were a few that brought me joy, which was the point: play through the games and find the good ones so I can play those more. Mark them and someday return to play them more.
I noticed a trend that older games tended to rise toward the top. So much that I’ve decided to spend 2025 going back in gaming time. Playing games from the past I always wanted to play more. Hopefully, I’ll beat some of these yesteryear games and/or set new high personal best scores.
This does not mean I won’t buy or pick up for free any new games as they come along in 2025, but does mean focus on newer stuff will be reduced, potentially dramatically. This more retro, classic or modern games that came out already focus will also change some of what is published here in 2025 at PGM.
Am excited for this journey, to see what games it leads me back to or on a “new” path. Your recommendations, friendly readers, on games from the past, not as much brand new or coming soon games will be very much welcomed and encouraged, including the comments section of this post, so hit me with games that are already out there that you like a lot. Which ones should be on my list to check out? Hopefully, I have some of them. If I don’t, then, yes, I might buy some of them.
Here are some more specific changes planned in 2025 by category.
Mondays – (No) Blue Monday Stream
Recently started a new Twitch stream on Mondays starting at/around 4:30am PST (GMT-8) to primarily cover games from the past. My CRT TV is setup and I’m picking a different system each week to play games on that or perhaps PC or even modern console games on the Xbox Series X, PS5 and Nintendo Switch. If you haven’t stopped by this new stream, please stop on by and enjoy a blast from … some past. It might have been a game released yesterday or 40+ years ago, it might be pinball, virtual or real, you just never know until each (No) Blue Monday stream.
It’s one way to get the work week for most people started out on a fun gaming track.
Tuesdays – NTWIG becomes RTWIG
NTWIG (New This Week in Games) will change to RTWIG: Replay This Week in Games (or maybe Retro This Week in Games, it’s a work still in progress). I thought about calling this OTWIG, standing for Old This Week in Games, but that just doesn’t sound appealing. The idea is that we will not be focusing on new game releases in 2025, instead on game(s) from the past to replay including: arcade, PC, console and non-video games.
This is an experiment and NTWIG may or may not return in future years. It’s possible the new games coming might still be included some weeks, or at least a screenshot here and there.
Pinball – Humpday Wednesdays
Humpday Wednesday pinball will return in 2025 at some point. I’ve been busy at the day job, which has taken the regular Wednesday stream on a hiatus of sorts, but the plan is to bring it back. In the meantime, here are some other pinball-related plans for 2025:
- Zen Pinball FX and M ranking continues … the goal is to create a ranking guide for all Zen Pinball tables by the end of 2025. There are 130+ tables in this collection to rank.
- Reduced Stern Insider Connected coverage: at least until Stern fixes their IC app and website, see: Stern Horribly Upgrades Insider Connected – please revert! — this means we will no longer be regularly tracking and covering monthly new IC quests, achievements, etc. Hoping to return to this at some point in the future, but with the current layout tracking is a mess and the opposite of fun.
- Real pinball will periodically be covered and streamed on Humpday Wednesdays, continuing to alternate with virtual pinball. The Humpday Wednesday streams will likely return at some point in Q1 2025, but might extend further into the year before restarting, depending on day job work commitments.
- New pinball games released in 2025 will continue to be covered in “detailed first thoughts after flipping” articles after I play them, of course.
Sunday Score Chasing Recap Show
Bradygoat and I will continue to host Season 3 of the Score Chasing Recap show starting on Sundays at 6:30am PST. Season 3 is scheduled to end on Sunday May 25, 2024 after covering 36 weeks of score chasing games. We take a summer break and then Season 4 of score chasing will begin in the fall, typically following Labor day but, like anything else in the future, is subject to change.
We have been score chasing arcade games for three seasons now. In season four, we’re working on the game list as of this writing. Yes, there will be a fourth season. And hopefully many more seasons to come. We may not always focus primarily on arcade games, however. We have covered a few PC games to date but no console games yet. This might change in Season 4. Stay tuned!
Be more selective with new game purchases
I’ve already begun the process of being more selective about what new games to buy. In 2025, I’m going to build upon this, probably buying much fewer new games. I will be buying some older games, probably in physical format. Also, I plan to go through my older game collection and sell games I have no desire to play any more, basically working on organizing the collection to be only what I want to play and/or keep for others to play.
Considering we have a ton of different console game systems this project could take quite some time to complete. Far more than a year, really, it’s a pretty ambitious project. That said, we’ll revisit at the end of 2025 and see how this went and, possibly, 2026 will present a different focus, who knows.
For clarity, this doesn’t mean I won’t be buying any new games and won’t be covering some new games coming out here on PGM, but that’s not may primary focus in 2025. We’ll see what happens.
Your turn. What’s your 2025 gaming resolution? What are you changing with your gaming plans, if any, in 2025? Share in the comments.