My Personal Gaming Rules

1) When given the option, always play as a female character.
2) Always go for a difficulty higher than you were initially going for.
3) Always play (and complete) solo campaign before playing multi-player.
4) If playing a game that doesn't have auto-save, then always save at all and any save points you come across.
5) Actually even if the game has an auto-save feature, see if you can also manually save on a regular basis.
6) Always upgrade attributes equally.
7) Always try newly acquired weapons/shields etc at least once, even if you end up resorting to the base items again.
8) If the game is from a third person prospective, always spin the character several times and judge the game upon results.
9) If the game is from a side scroll prospective, always make the character "head bang" and judge the game upon results.
10) Never underestimate the importance of tutorials, even if you're a regular to a series.

Note: perhaps I should keep a record for points 8/9.