As my hobby of gaming has progressed from childhood into adulthood I've begun noticing an annoying quirk that I have regarding gaming: I tend to focus entirely too much on new games. As release dates approach, my excitement and interest peaks. I check out all of the coverage on my favorite sites. Post-release I check all of the buzz around the best games and find myself wanting to play those even on platforms that I don't have access to.

This is all well and good until the excitement for games I currently own falls greatly. I tend to wish I was playing new games instead of the ones that I own even when I really enjoy my current library. This leads to having a backlog that I never intend to finish because there's always something shinier and better around the corner.

Now I'm probably not alone in this as Internet culture tends to gravitate towards things that are trending and forget them in short time. It's still a little disappointing to me because I used to enjoy really digging into games and finding all the little secrets it has to offer. Now I feel rushed to get through a game as fast as possible so I can experience the next new game in time for release.

That being said I think I have a couple ideas to kombat (sorry) this "new" problem.

• Get organized!

Make a list of games that I want to play for the current year and edit it accordingly when games review poorly, sleeper hits appear, there are games I want to revisit, etc.

• Be realistic.

I can't expect to play every single game that people get excited about. I don't have the income or the time and I don't work at Giant Bomb (and even they can't get to everything).

• Don't pay too much attention to the noise.

This one is a bit more difficult since I like being connected with what's going on in the great and wonderful world of gaming. I think this is especially where my list could come in handy. It would guide my Internet perusing and prevent me from aimlessly looking at games (and losing valuable game time!)

• Remember: It's a hobby.

Perhaps the most important thing here. My focus should always be on "fun." If I'm not enjoying what I'm playing, there's no shame in moving on to the next thing or revisiting old games. Besides, if I'm not enjoying what I'm doing the whole point in playing is lost, right?

So we'll see what happens from here on out. Maybe this will work and maybe it won't, but at least I'm trying something different and potentially sparking new ways to enjoy the games I play.

Happy gaming duders.