Well, the site is still in progress...over the past two months, I've updated the Every Game Played logo. Originally, I had brought the infamous Goomba back for the logo (I've always liked the Goomba and used it as a mascot of sorts on the old site) but figured having a goomba as part of the section logo may be a bit too much and may result in Nintendo, well being Nintendo. So, I've modified it and replaced the Goomba with an orangutan. That also has meaning for me, but I'll save you guys from the boredom of having me explain during this entry. Maybe if folks are curious, I can explain it later. I've made the logo so that it adapts to whatever color scheme I decide to use...below are examples of it in a few different colors, along with a look of what a typical page may look like...

I'm also considering removing the "goomba" awards and replacing them with something else. I haven't figured out what yet, though. The "Brown Blooper" award has always been a favorite of mine, so I may test my luck with that one. I also want to create a new award for me to spotlight games that I love, but games that aren't exactly all-time classics. Games like Chulip and Deadly Premonition would be recipients of this award. I haven't come up with a name for that award yet...I'll come up with something eventually. I'm in no rush.

As far as website progress goes, the hope was to have this finished and published by July 4th...but like I feared, I'm simply not there yet. Not even close, honestly. That's the downside for this being a hobby site and not a source of income...my job and real source of income kinda limits how much time I can devote to the site. Once the big update is complete, though, it should be smooooooooth sailing. Smoother than a laxative through a fasting fellow's belly, as the kids say...Maybe not that smooth, but you get what I'm saying. My new "realistic" goal, is October 10, 2025...that'll be the five year anniversary to when I published the website originally, so it'll also be a nice date for a fresh coat of paint. Honestly, my mindset is that wherever I am, finished or not, I’ll probably launch/publish what I have at that time and go from there.

Since the last blog entry, I've added many more consoles and sections to the website. I've also added roughly half of the games from the list into the "new" list...and I'm going to stop with the list for the time being. Basically, I've decided to change the list itself, and as a result, the order is going to change. Up until now, the list has basically been me just placing stuff where I felt they fit. My mind works best seeing stuff visually, and by removing boxart and screenshots to improve load times on the list, my mind isn't wrapping around everything like it has done with the old-style list. Soooo, I'm going to use the "average score" to rank the games going forward. Tiebreakers will be my preference. My score is included in the average score, so even when there's no need for a tiebreaker, my preferences are still being represented...just not represented enough to me to determine exactly where games will place. I figure I can always do a separate "Top 100 Games" list of just my personal preferences at a later date, if I feel like it down the road.

A good motivator for me going forward, after the update is complete. is the new site format. Since each platform has pages of A-Z, for some consoles/handhelds, I'm going to have a lot of empty pages. It's making me want to get some games played and reviews written so that at least one review is on each page. This will likely help dictate what games make my 2026 New Year's Resolution list here on Completionator, as well.

With the new format, I'm also thinking that I may do away with the "add in groups of three" rule that I've used since 2020. Since the focus is more on the reviews than the list now, I feel like I can just add one game at a time...plus, then I won't have games sitting aside for a while until I get two other games from that same console added. It doesn't mean I'll never have multi-game updates, but I don't think that'll have the be the rule going forward.

I mentioned last month that I wanted to add a new Commodore 64 section along with some games as part of the update. I think I may hold off on that for now for two reasons. One, it's taking a while just converting what I have with a new game here and there - adding a new platform and about two dozen games is going to delay the relaunch even further. Two, I'm adding a lot of games as I go that I had set for future updates. It's probably good to save some of them so I'm not going a few months without an update after the new site launches. The Commodore 64 section can be a nice update at that time. I also have an Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S section in the works...and since this is taking a while, I'll likely have a Switch 2 section up at sometime in the near future as well.

Another thing that I don't think will happen by launch - I'll be going through and adding games to platforms that I haven't played them on yet. This affects newer consoles/PC games more than older stuff. These days, the exact same game tends to be released on multiple platforms, but in previous console generations, a game with the same name, and sometimes even the same box art, could be two completely different games depending on the console that it got released on. Anyway, if the exact same game gets put out on multiple platforms, and I know that it's the same on each platform, then I'll be putting that same review on all platforms, with a note stating which platform I played the game on and which platform the screenshot came from. That sentence has the award for the most times “platform” was used. Anyway, if there ARE differences that I'm unaware of, then you’ll know what console I actually played the game on. If/when I'm able to get around to playing the game on that specific platform, I'll make any additional notes (if needed) and replace the screenshot with one from that specific platform. My reasoning is that if someone stops by and wants to see something for, say, Street Fighter 6...If they check in the Playstation 5 section, they'll find it. If they check on any other platform, they won't, since I've only played it on PS5. I feel like adding it to all areas, and being transparent about where I played it will help. I'm not in a huge rush to get this part rolled out - but it's in my plans.

Okay, now with website stuff out of the way, let's talk about my collection...for the first time in a very long time, I decided to take a week off in the beginning of July, and during that time, I did a road trip to various used game stores to see what gems I could find. Overall, the trip lasted three days and I hit fifteen game shops. Some stores were very nice surprises while other stores were a bit of a disappointment. I also did one more trip out to one of the stores this past weekend - they were having their 10th anniversary sale with every single game in the store being buy 2 get 1 free. As a collector, that was too good to pass up.

Notable additions to the collection from the trip...all games complete in box.

Lufia & the Fortress of Doom - Super NES
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals - Super NES
Ghouls 'n Ghosts - Sega Master System
Team Buddies - Playstation
SNK Gals' Fighters - NeoGeo Pocket Color
Little Nemo the Dream Master - NES (childhood favorite of mine)
Astro Robo Sasa - NES (first NES import I got addicted to)
WWF Raw - 32X
WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game - 32X

Also got a handful of other, random games. Many not really "collector" worthy, but stuff for me to play and review down the road...or to add to my giant Playstation One collection. It was a fun trip...it was nice to go out and try to find stuff "in the wild" again, but it hit my wallet harder than I had planned. I'll be eating ramen for the next month to even it out. :)

And on that note, another diary is here and gone. I rambled a lot, so if anyone actually read through it all.....what's wrong with you? Ain't you got anything better to do than read this slop? But seriously, thanks. I do this stuff simply because I enjoy doing it, but if anyone out there can also find enjoyment in what I do, then that'll make me a happy fellow....and an even happier fellow when I get this big, long site conversion out of the way. :) Thanks again for reading, and hopefully the wait for the completed updates will be brief…and on the topic of briefs and underwear, please remember that thongs are just a wedgie without the bully. Toodles.