Happy New Year!

Wishing all my readers a Happy New Year! Choicest Games has made it to 2018, a special year for the blog since 10 years ago on 16 June 2008 the I published my first post! I'll be sure to commemorate the occasion once the 16 June 2018 comes along :).

Last year, I made some blog-specific new year resolutions in terms of what I was planning to achieve for 2017. But first, let us see what was actually achieved in 2017 along with some of the other highlights:

• 161 posts were published in 2017 which is less than 2016 (185 posts) and 2015 (232 posts). I also didn't publish as many reviews; only 42 reviews were published in 2017 and I didn't publish any in December! In 2016, I posted a whopping 54 reviews but in 2015 only 24 reviews were published.
• I got a new PC in April 2017!
• As part of the changes to the blog, I dropped the "Steam Games Sunday" posts in favour of doing something similar but with a greater focus on reducing my "Pile of Shame": The Pile of Shame Sunday posts started in May 2017 and so far 18 games have been reviewed, completed or cancelled (out of 902 games mind you)!
• The annual 10 Most Anticipated PC Games list was completed for 2018

This year it seems I've met most of my resolutions: I continued my "austerity" measures on games by limiting how many I bought for myself (I don't really buy games during Steam sales any more, and I only tend to get games through GOG and Humble Bundle nowadays - although despite this, the Pile of Shame is sitting at 902 games!), I managed to publish a Most Anticipated PC Games List of 2018 (again, with help from Lanna, Choona and Luke) and I continued my weekly VGM Monday segment as well as the Pile of Shame Sunday posts (which substituted Steam Games Sunday).

Unfortunately, I did not meet my goal of 52 reviews - mainly due to health issues, too much actual work to do along with social commitments (November and December is a busy time of year), falling short by 10 reviews. I may have to reduce my goal for next year to not be as ambitious since one thing I didn't account for is when real life gets in the way - not to mention many of the reviews in 2017 were for games that are "easy" to review (i.e. short, indie games that only take an hour or two to complete - or games which don't have any end). Or maybe I just need to be a bit smarter about what I review.

So what are my resolutions going to be for 2018? Well, they're going to be a lot similar except I'm going to go out on a limb and aim to publish 52 game and soundtrack reviews this year considering I somehow managed to exceed that last year:

• To again aim for 52 reviews in 2018: this time though, I'm going to ensure I alternate between reviewing short games and long games.
• To continue "austerity" measures on my Steam library
• To continue the Most Anticipated PC Games List for 2019
• To continue with my weekly segments: VGM Monday and Pile of Shame Sunday
• To complete a feature article for this year (e.g. a Top 10 list, Top 100 list, etc.) - we haven't had one for a while!