The year is 2010, and I've hit the peak of my gaming obsession. I've put hundreds of hours each into several titles--this year alone--and my shelves boast every JRPG for the Xbox 360. I've dedicated thousands of hours into playing various iterations of Football Manager in the most realistic way possible, and I'm spending more time thinking, reading and writing about games than I am playing them. My brand-spanking-new gaming PC is being tested from all angles and passing with flying colours.

Fast forward to the present day, and my 360 is just a device to play FIFA 11. The only other Xbox game I've put more than a couple of hours into this year is Skate 3, my 3 DS RPGs have had their time in the sun, and although I've started playing Football Manager again, I'm cheating.

But I haven't stopped gaming, I'm just playing different games on different systems.

At one point I was positively addicted to Coin Dozer, Jewels and Rat on a Skateboard--tiny little iPod games which I could pick up at any point and put down at any point. There was another period when old favourites got the limelight, but Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Worms used their babalities and sheep bombs to forcibly boot Final Fantasy VII out of the equation.

Now, I can't get enough of indie and casual games. I've spent as much time on Atom Zombie Smasher and Revenge of the Titans as I used to on Tales of Vesperia, and I'm looking forward to getting Recettear more than I am Skyrim. I can sit almost anywhere and play them, and if someone wants to use the computer, they can do so without having to wait for the next save point. Best of all, I can stop playing any of these games for a month, and I can get back into the swing of things immediately. There's no catching up on what I was trying to do; there's no struggling to remember x, y and z.

JRPGs still hold a special place in my heart, but they can't even force their way into my schedule, so what chance do I have of clearing my backlog from the  many mediocre games I bought at the height of my hardcore gaming sessions?