Your backlog prevention for next-generation?

To prevent a backlog from occurring like I had this current generation with Steam and PS3, 3DS and Vita, I am going for only one console this generation with the PS4 and only buying one game at a time and completing it before moving onto the next one.

When I look at the amount of games I bought it is absurd, yes I got value for money especially with Steam but I think it has de-valued those games to an extent and has given me a slight burnout since I am overwhelmed with content which I never felt when I was a console-only gamer.

I have deleted all my Steam games except CIV 5 as I will be playing this until I get the PS4 but plan to try and complete my 3DS and Vita games before launch.

What are people's plans to prevent a massive backlog from building up like they may have in this current generation?

Personally I'm going to play a lot fewer middling games (hopefully). Those good but not great games like inFamous, Red Faction Guerrilla and Saints Row The Third are going to be cut so I can focus on the real quality experiences. I plan to achieve this by reading more reviews and buying less things on day one.

Well, the start of a generation typically means you have a better chance at playing what you want but with pretty much every major game coming out during both generations with the confirmed exception of a few.

I'd love to be able to prevent it but... I will always buy random PS4 and Xbox One games on amazon when there's a good deal, and I will always buy every-fucking-thing on every steam sale. I'm really bad at not having a backlog the size of Mount Everest.

I never really had an issue with "backlog". If I couldn't get around to playing a game, it's always because I was playing something I liked better, or at least appealed to me a lot more on the surface, anyway.

This gen I skipped the entire Dead Rising series, every Assassin's Creed after 2 (played two this summer when it was free), the Dead Space series, Dishonored, and plenty more popular games but the reason that happened is because none of them piqued my interest enough. I don't feel any burning desire to go slog through them just because they exist.

I would say that buying games that are on sale and I do have an interest in was the major problem. I wouldn't say I bought every game available for the sake of it, it was the Steam sales that was problem the root of my backlog problem. When I was playing games on PS3 I would just buy 1-2 games complete those and move on, I obviously had my main multiplayer game which I would resort to alongside any singleplayer game that I would be playing.

@chobobot: I hear ya. I don't use Steam but I could see myself buying up more stuff than I can play from their sales. In the strictly console world I rarely buy a new game without trading another in, so it feels like every game I buy (except the first) is on sale anyway.

I will just do what I've always done; buy a game, play it, finish it, move on. Simple. That's what I'm not gunna have a next gen system for at least a year, because there are still so many games I've yet to buy and play.

When I got my vita earlier this year I thought the same thing. I'm going to finish each game before I get the next one! Well so far with purchases I'm pretty close, but PS+ keeps getting me to add new fun games. I just need to play more. I'm halfway through 4 games right now. I agree with you though and want to get better at it. I'll just say I'll *try* better with the PS4.

I'm not really thinking about a backlog anymore. I have more games than I can finish already and I'm certainly not going to stop buying new ones before my current backlog is clear. A lot of the games I have on Steam aren't really games I wanted to play anyway. There's a lot of bundled games I got for a few dollars in there. I'd rather play more Skyrim than spend time with middling RPGs like Risen and Two Worlds, so I'll probably never finish those. But I keep buying them for a rainy day and sometimes you come across a gem.

I still need to play GTA V, LAst of Us, and Beyond before I can burn my current gen consoles in a fire. Hopefully Rockstar hurries up with that PC version so I can scratch that game off the current console games to play list.

I try to play multiplayer games first so the community isn't dead when I get to them.

If I'm going to buy any console next year, it's probably going to be PS3. Got a whole generation's worth of backlog. So... I probably shouldn't be giving any advice on that front.

Being a penniless student.

I'm starting the generation wrong on that front by buying Mario, Tearaway, Dead Rising 3, Zelda and maybe KI and Crimson Dragon in one day. I also might buy an iPad Mini if that's the day they go available. Well atleast on the PS4 I'm only getting 3 games. That's a backlog that's alright.

Play the backlog I've accumulated over the years.

I will add to my backlog with games from next-gen. Already have 5 or 6 next-gen games ordered.

Invent a drug that allows me to not sleep? I think that's the only way out of my deep, dark backlog hole at this point.

Not get next-gen anything and force my way through some of the things I still haven't played? Also, unless it's a game I absolutely feel the need to play, I'm pretty much not gonna buy anything that I've missed.

Also, this.

I think I've just accepted that I'll never be able to play all the games I own. I'd have to stop visiting cheapassgamer, buy games upon release so I have less money for sales, sell off my last-gen consoles and handhelds, and not play RPGs to get off on the right foot for the upcoming generation of games. Or maybe have some impulse control, (which I have gotten better about), but that's probably not going to happen, either.

Realistically, the best things I could do would be to stop playing games I've already beaten over and over and over and over and not visit cheapassgamer on a daily basis. I'm playing Dragon Age: Origins, KOTOR and Dark Souls again for the umpteenth time. And despite the fact that cheapassgamer has saved me a stupid amount of money, I think I end up spending all the money that I saved on more games instead of actually saving it.

Don't buy a new console until there's enough games to justify the purchase.

I think my decision to sit out this generation for now's gonna help quite a bit.

Every now and then I play something other than what I want to play. Like today I played Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon, which I recently picked up from the current PSN Sci-Fi sale for a fiver - rather than playing more Battlefield 4, to which I am devoted to right now.

Same goes for my PS Vita. That thing is filled to the brim with awesome games to play. I'm currently playing Valkyria Chronicles 2 and Indies like Super Stardust Delta. I've got like twenty more games of that caliber just waiting for my attention. Every now and then I just make time for Vita gaming, because it's awesome - even if I got some other bigger itch to scratch like Battlefield 4 or GTA Online or something.

By and large, I didn't have a backlog until I got a Vita and bought into PS Plus. Before I just bought one game, and played it until I had my fill, and only then moved on. Since - every month my backlog grows a little, due to whatever I don't get around to playing from Instant Game Collection, and all the sales too good to pass up on. Like I bought Dead Island GotY edition for a fiver or something. I don't think I'll get around to playing it before Deadlight comes out - and why would I go back to playing Dead Island then?

Oh well. First world problems. Just keep playing games, and don't worry. Enjoy the games you play, and don't let the games you don't play spoil it for you.

When I first bought my 360 (during the second run) I vowed to only buy used games and beat them to completion before allowing myself to buy another. I think that ended up working for the first game I bought. Now I'm just not planning on buying any consoles anymore and sticking to PC. I think it'll save me a lot in the long run. Though my love for all things Metal Gear might cause me to end up buying a PS4 and MG after it comes out. Or maybe after a slim ps4 comes out.

I'm still backed up on video games from the 1980s, yo.

Wait a minute, isn't this supposed to be my post?

Stop buying mediocre games that collect dust on my hard drive/shelf.

I kind of just want to say fuck it to all the games from this generation I never finished and forget they even existed. Just start over completely fresh with a good feeling you know?

Quitting games immediately after I decide I don't enjoy them is turning out to be a good idea.

I can still speak somewhat intelligently on Alan Wake and Metro 2033, for example, even though I just recently dropped both of them and don't plan to go back.

Control your spending better? My backlog this gen is very small, really limited to a small handful of games on Steam. Amnesia and Dear Ester being the main offenders.

I'll try to keep up with games as they come out, and manage my backlog, but I know It'll inevitably creep ever so larger.

Backlog, smacklog. I have PS1 games I still need to finish *legend of dragoon*. I am trying to clear some games aside such as ACR & AC3 so that When i buy my ps4, i can get AC4 with it.. I love games and I have a slight fear that I may lose out on buying things so I always buy when i can. Probably a reason why I usually am poor after payday

I keep buying games despite my backlog for these reasons:

1.) I want to support the industry.
2.) I'm fortunate that I can afford to buy plenty of games.
3.) I buy most games on sale or for a discount (i.e. pre-order discounts on games I know I'll like).
4.) I want to be able to play older games whenever I hear about them on a podcast or just get curious. There have been plenty of times an old game was mentioned on a podcast, or a sequel is announced, and I'm able to immediately download it and play it, because I bought it during a sale. If I didn't already own it, I'd have to either buy it at "full" price or wait until the next sale...at which time I may no longer be interested.

I don't really have a back-log, I always make sure to play the games I buy, and it isn't because I am broke all the time - I just don't feel the need to buy everything whenever there is a sale :)

I plan on not buying into next generation until I've finished my backlog this generation. I probably have two years worth of unstarted games sitting on my desk. I'll be saving money the whole time, (I spent between $100 to $200 a month on video games the last couple of years) and the new consoles will be (hopefully) building up a library worth owning while getting cheaper and more stable themselves. Another year down the road and I'll probably have another huge backlog to work through. Whee! The ciiiirrrcllllle oooooofff liiiiiiffeee!

I've just accepted my backlog is never going to go away.

I will always have a backlog, I just need to accept that I barely have any time to play video games, yet I feel compelled to play all the games that people are talking about/get good scores. This gen will be no different, but I have to say my backlog from last gen is SIGNIFICANT. Guess that's growing up and getting a job for you.

Never really had any back log issues. I tend to buy 1 new game every few months outside of the fall and play them to completion. And in the fall I tend to buy at least three games during the mad rush in November and try to finish each within a week before the next game I want is out.