Trying Again
So…that didn’t happen. With the best of intentions, I planned to write about games as I was playing them in 2023. And then I was distracted – either by the games I was playing or by life itself. It’s a little like the problem of big open-world games themselves: without a clear focus and a plan to follow, intention alone doesn’t end up resulting in anything, because there’s too much stimulus on the periphery that draws attention in multiple directions at once. So, like those games with dozens of icons vying for attention, I kind of got lost in the process and just sort of stopped. The remedy, also like those games, is to focus and actively work against distraction.
To that end, although I still want to talk about the games I’m playing as I’m playing them, I also have several ideas for specific things to talk about here over the course of the year. I’m going to focus on that list of topics, even growing that list as the year wears on, and try to make this blog a larger focus in the new year.
Fortunately, 2023 had a plethora of big game releases. And not just big games, or lots of them, but lots of good ones too. This year saw the release of enough award-winning titles that Geoff Keighley's annual award show seemed insufficient to cover it all. Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy XVI, and so many more solid games came out in 2023 that it’s difficult to even try discussing them all. I won't be able to hit them all (nor would I want to, actually), but there’s plenty to mine for critical thought over the next 12 months. And that doesn’t even cover games that didn’t come out this year, but I finally played. Marvel’s Midnight Suns, for example, is one that I’ll be thinking about for quite a long time to come.
Both a failure to focus and a ton of top-notch distractions have me thinking about abundance as I write this. I’ve written before about attention, or lack thereof, and the way our lives are seemingly built for distractions these days. We tend to think of distractions as minor, or perhaps things that take away from the good things in our lives. Having too many games to play (especially good ones!) feels like another layer to that, though. The abundance of good things may not seem like a distraction at first glance, but when it leads to indecision or inaction towards pursuing what we really want, it’s the same result as the desire to mindlessly scroll through social media. Previously I wondered about the idea of taking things one step at a time, managing attention bit by bit, and hopefully building up good habits around that in order to achieve a goal. And I do think that is still a valid approach. But if the last year has taught me anything, it’s that the lack of action on a plan – even the best one – is going to result in nothing actually getting accomplished. Recognizing a problem is a solid step one. Coming up with a plan to address it is a solid step two. Now I’ve got to act on it.
So if the problem is a lack of focus (whether that’s because of too many good things in life), and the solution is to create some structure that will force me to focus, then I need to act on that plan.
It’s going to be a big year. Lots to do. Lots to play. Time to get cracking.