Well, I refined my randomizer table and came up with something better and that works like a DnD Encounter Table. I also customized it for myself. This is a project for next year, I think. I'm so exhausted by my current plan (go through everything I own and weed out the undesired), I want to think ahead. So here goes.
First a random selection of all my owned consoles. This is so I can set up just one for a whole month at MK's place. It's way annoying to keep swapping consoles around. I matched up handhelds with certain consoles. Also, I don't care to prioritize any one of them. They are all equally desirable to me. So a 1-17 roll.
Atari Junior/Mattel Handhelds
NES/Game & Watch
Genesis
SNES/Game Boy
PS1
N64/Game Boy Color
PS2
Xbox
NGC/GBA
X360
PS3
Wii/DS
Wii-U/3DS
XOne (will reacquire one soon)
PS4
Switch
XSS
Now the Genres (subject to alterations):
*****100-50
Shooter
RPG
Strategy
Hack n' Slash/Beat 'em Up
Action RPG
Arcade
****49-25
Action-Adventure
***24-10
Sports (arcade style)
Racing (not sim)
Sandbox/Open World
Platform (varied gameplay only)
**9-4
Puzzle
Survival
Rhythm
*3-1
Fighting
Adventure (like point-and-click or visual novel)
So let's roll one up:
Roll 1-17, Result: 11 = PS3
Roll 1-100, Result: 60 = 5* genres
Roll 1-6, Result: 6 = Arcade
First one on the Metacritic list from best to worst I want to play or replay: Pac-Man Championship Edition DX
I don't think I've ever played this sequel to the first Championship Edition game. I've had it on my wish lists for a while now. I'll have to see if it's on the PSN store for PS3, since that's what I have hooked up right now. I was hoping this was on the Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions I recently got for 3DS, but it's the first game.
Now, playing this game for a whole month is not likely what I would do, so what else?
PixelJunk Shooter is one I never tried but would like to (hope it's still available). It totally could be an old arcade game. I figure anything called "multidirectional shooter" is going in my "arcade" genre. There was also a sequel on PS3.
Shatter - It's like an expanded Breakout. It's labeled an "action" game, but anything just "action" is pretty much a arcade style game in my book.
Super Stardust HD - Also a "multidirectional shooter". An update of Super Stardust for the Amiga that could've been on an arcade machine in the 80s except it came out in '94. My genres can get a bit loose. If I had rolled a "shooter" game, I might have included it.
Everyday Shooter - Called a "multidirectional shooter" and a "music" game. It looks to me like Geometry Wars. That a game like this or Geometry Wars was never a thing in 80s arcades is a head scratcher to me. They're such a natural fit.
Pinball Hall of Fame: Williams Collection - I may or may not have this for PS3, I'll have to check, but I would play it there for sure. Pinball was in arcades in the 80s alongside video games. Some of the best ones came out then too. I largely ignored them at the time, being only into video games, but I'm into them now.
And I guess I'd better stop. I'm basically killing time before work today and this is getting long. Suffice to say that even a fairly narrow selection like "arcade for PS3" is still plenty of gaming for a given month in 2027. Consider this a test run for next year's process.
