They say the best things in life are stolen...ok, no one says that, but that’s how I got my latest idea for BJaMs World. I need to revive this site, so, I have decided to add a video game challenge for myself. I have an insane amount of games in my possession, and the majority of these, I will shamefully admit, I haven’t played once, let alone beaten. So I have decided that I’m going to change that starting this week.
And so I introduce to you BJaMs World’s first repeat column: The Cram Session! This “Cram Session”, unlike when I was in my undergraduate program cramming all night for that impassable Geology final, will be a challenge to beat a specific video game in a certain length of time. With failure comes personal disappointment and worldwide ridicule, and success breeds...well, not a damn thing, I guess.
The norm for The Cram Session will be to beat a game within one week, but there are definitely exceptions to the length. Sometimes I may roll with a 24-hour gaming session to grind out a shorter game, while at other times I will expand the length to a 1 month challenge to beat a longer RPG. I might just extend the challenge to 2 weeks if I get a lot of hours at work that I have to contend with, or the girlfriend starts feeling lonely. Here is a rundown of the rules of The Cram Session (simply because I am a rules whore):
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The Cram Session- Rules of the Cram:
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1. I will pick one video game from any system to complete in a given time.
2. I will set the length of the challenge at the start, and will not be able to extend it after the following deadlines:
a. 24 Hours- 6 Hours to Extend
b. One Week- 2 Days to Extend
c. Two Weeks- 4 Days to Extend
d. Three Weeks- 6 Days to Extend
e. One Month- No Extension Allowed
3. I will post updates telling of my status as The Cram Session continues on.
4. I will most likely talk about spoilers in the games I am playing, but I will ALWAYS try to label them as such so they can be
avoided if necessary.
5. I will try to post a first impressions blog entry after starting the game.
6. I will give every game I beat a Final Review, so look out for those.
7. I will keep a tally of my successes and failures with The Cram Session.
8. There are no limits on what games I can play: if I decide to play a sports game (very likely), I will post the specific rules for the game that will allow me to consider it “beaten” (such as Winning the Super Bowl by the Third Season or something similar).
9. I am not a masochist, if I need them, I will use FAQs/Walkthroughs. For the older games where cheats can still be found, I may decide to use them, but only as a last resort.
Ok, that covers everything I can think of right now. If I come up with something else, I will add it to the list as time goes on.
Thanks for reading, and I expect the first Cram Session to be up shortly!
~Psymin
