Vagrant Rant M o v i e s . G a m e s . M u s i c . "L i f e".

This is serious business, people.

The life of someone who finds enjoyment in so many things, meaningless or otherwise, is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it’s hard to get bored, ever. On the other, it’s so easy to get distracted by shiny new things when they come along that perfectly good forms of entertainment are often left in the cold after a laughably short amount of time. Sometimes it doesn’t even matter how “good” the product is; something in our capitalist-educated minds compels us to desire what is fresh. As time goes on and the “pile of shame” grows, it gets steadily harder to find the time to get to the things we leave at the bottom.

This can be a problem for just about anyone (though, let’s be honest, a fairly insignificant one in the scheme of things), but when you’re like me and you place value in your ability to form a complete and educated opinion on every material product you experience, it can get a tad frustrating.

Videogames are particularly susceptible to this phenomenon, but any significantly hefty form of media is vulnerable to being put on the backburner, as it were, by those inclined towards the form of behaviour in question. Because I so enjoy putting things into lists, here’s one containing some of the entertainment projects I started in relatively recent times and have yet to finish (in no particular order):

THE YEAR THAT WAS 2012 IN 100 MOVIES
What: Plan to watch 100 movies for the first time in 366 days
Started: First day of 2012
Completed: 21 movies so far – 17 of them in the cinemas
Left to do: A whopping 79 more

THE LAST STORY
What: Wii game from ex-Final Fantasy people
Started: Early April, 2012
Completed: The first few sections
Left to do: Some twenty odd hours, apparently – not likely to finish anytime soon

FINAL FANTASY XIII-2
What: PS3 game from current Final Fantasy people
Started: Early February
Completed: The first two and a bit chapters
Left to do: Most of it. Why oh why do I feel the need to grind so much?

UNCHARTED: GOLDEN ABYSS
What: PS Vita launch title
Started: Late February
Completed: Three absorbing chapters
Left to do: The bulk of the game, though when I do go back I’m expecting to finish it relatively quickly

THE 3RD BIRTHDAY
What: PSP game downloaded onto my Vita
Started: Late March
Completed: Maybe two chapters
Left to do: Way too much; the game is a lot harder than I thought it would be

PORTAL 2
What: Xbox 360 puzzle game
Started: April 2011
Completed: The single player campaign, a while ago. Done half of the co-op campaign so far.
Left to do: The second half of the co-op campaign and the free downloadable content

KID ICARUS: UPRISING
What: Insane 3DS game
Started: Late March
Completed: Most of the main story, barely dented the collectibles
Left to do: Not much story-wise – I just don’t want it to end, really

BANJO KAZOOIE: NUTS & BOLTS
What: Xbox 360 Threequel to the N64 classics
Started: September 2011 (bought it in 2009)
Completed: A major chunk of it
Left to do: Collect a bunch of stuff and beat a handful of levels

MASS EFFECT 2
What: Middle chapter of ambitious Xbox 360 trilogy
Started: Still haven’t touched it – bought it in February
Completed: Nothing
Left to do: Everything – will I even get to it?

BORDERLANDS
What: Amazing co-op FPS game on Xbox 360
Started: October 2009
Completed: The main story – twice – and one DLC pack
Left to do: Three DLC packs to smash out before the sequel comes

MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC – SEASON 2
What: Surprisingly good TV show you’ll hear more about on Vagrant Rant soon
Started: February
Completed: Just under half the season
Left to do: Still a lot of bright colours to wade through

*Sigh* It’s a hard knock life.