Too many games, help!

Hey guys, help! I have so many games that I've played and enjoyed but never finished and I don't know what to do. I have around 40 or more games I want to finish but I feel like if I go and finish them I will just fall behind new releases and in the future have more games I didn't get to play because I was playing older games etc! Damn, this is hard. These are games that I've really enjoyed but never finished because I've just gone and played something else and when I feel like going back to it I'm so deep in I have to start again since I don't know where the story is going.

Please Giant bomb, help me! What do I do about my giant back catalogue?

Thanks.

don't have a good answer for you as I have similar problems.

Some games I've come to accept, I just am not ever going to get back to.

Occasionally I set goals for myself, like no new games until I beat three off of the pile of shame. I had a year where i did that, 3 old 1new, 3 old 1 new. I didn't get too play as many new releases but I got pretty caught up (and saved some $). Then when I started to go after rpgs on my stack, i switched it to hours. since three old rpgs could be like 300 hours b4 I got to new game.

but if you do try to attack I'd go after the short games first, get as many off the stack as you can before you burnout (and if you are like me you will burnout if you try to do the whole thing at once). If nothing else a pile of shame of 25 games feels better than 40. :)

40 games is too much. I would work on just not adding to that pile from now on. I always try to finish one game at a time, unless I'm really not having fun with it.

@Maajin said:

40 games is too much. I would work on just not adding to that pile from now on. I always try to finish one game at a time, unless I'm really not having fun with it.

So there is no way I can beat these 40 games and not fall that far behind? :(

I wish I only had forty games to finish. I am really bad about completing games - though I've gotten better in the last two years. I used to buy every game that struck my fancy. I'd open them, install them, play them for a few minutes to a couple hours and more often than not, I'd never return to them. On one hand, it's nice to have a huge archive of games to entertain you some day if you become broke or unemployed or something. That's what I especially love about GoG games. They're sort of my "someday, if I end up homeless and alone and all I have is a super shitty laptop to entertain me, I'll have a few hundred DRM-free connectionless games to while away the hours between shitting myself and begging for change".

These days, I try to finish a game shortly after buying it. I went from almost never finishing a game (counting them on one hand in my entire life) to finishing three or four dozen games in the last eighteen months. Unfortunately, there's a large amount of my backlog that contains lots of multiplayer. Unfortunate, since most multiplayer games have a very short lifespan these days. So it feels almost pointless to get around to them and I have to chalk them up to a waste of cash (or just an extra box in my collection). There are some single player games that are also hard to get into, because they're so old that they just don't . . . I don't know . . . have that spark that you need to compel you to keep playing.

My backlog on the current console generation is probably around 200. Then I have a few dozen from the previous generation (I was a PC player only and hated consoles, until this generation - so I don't know if it counts on the other generations, since I'm buying those long after the fact). I'm definitely not going to count the games from older generations (going back as far as every Atari and the Odyssey . . . heh).

Then, there's my digital collection for PC. Fuuuuuck. I buy so much stuff from Steam and GoG that my credit card company often shuts down my card due to fraud protection and requires me to call and verify that it's actually me. Part of that is because GoG is overseas, so looks suspicious. I've bought almost 100 games on GoG in the last ten days. Almost 200 overall. And on Steam, I've probably bought nearly 100 this week. Almost 650, overall. And that doesn't count the transactions that were to buy gifts (either to give to a few random GBers that I thought might like a free game or to stick in my inventory for later gifting).

Anyway . . . however bad your backlog, you look great compared to me. I am probably the worst. I know they're just games, but it feels like a huge weight on my back that I have to chip away at and never will make a dent in.

I am in a similar position and regret to tell you that new games stubbornly refuse to stop coming out and draw my attention from whatever I'm playing, no matter how good it is. The only solution is to rebrand yourself - you are not a gamer anymore, you are now a collector of games. Arrange them on fine mahogany shelves and show them while puffing on a pipe.

"Why yes, my good man, I do play them - but as you can see, I am more a scholar of games, if you will."

@ApolloBob said:

I am in a similar position and regret to tell you that new games stubbornly refuse to stop coming out and draw my attention from whatever I'm playing, no matter how good it is. The only solution is to rebrand yourself - you are not a gamer anymore, you are now a collector of games. Arrange them on fine mahogany shelves and show them while puffing on a pipe.

"Why yes, my good man, I do play them - but as you can see, I am more a scholar of games, if you will."

But I liked being a ''gamer''. :(

Can't a puff a pipe AND play games?

@NekuSakuraba said:

@Maajin said:

40 games is too much. I would work on just not adding to that pile from now on. I always try to finish one game at a time, unless I'm really not having fun with it.

So there is no way I can beat these 40 games and not fall that far behind? :(

I guess you can, but if you really want to, I'd say you're wasting your time here right now! xD

If you're really diligent about finishing one after another (and have enough free time for it), you probably can do it. Now's a good time actually, as I think the big games of 2012 won't start coming out until March.

When I had this problem I set deadlines. I'd say I'm going to beat this game and this game and that game by the end of the quarter. If I managed to get through 3 games a quarter and buy less than 3 games in that time then I'm in the plus.

Now my problem is that because my brother in law also has a PS3 and I'm on PS+ my access to games is higher. I have a folder of games on my PS3 called Unplayed and another one called Trash for the games that weren't any good. I can borrow anything from my brother in laws collection. So now I have access to 21 games that I have NEVER played.

Let me tell you a secret. You don't have to buy games the day they come out. Publishers want you to and gamestop wants you to preorder it so we've kind of been conditioned into thinking we need it day 1 but we don't. If you wait 2 months then there will be patches that fix bugs. Wait a few more months and it'll be cheaper. Wait a year and you'll be able to get game of the year editions with all the DLC included.

@NekuSakuraba said:

@Maajin said:

40 games is too much. I would work on just not adding to that pile from now on. I always try to finish one game at a time, unless I'm really not having fun with it.

So there is no way I can beat these 40 games and not fall that far behind? :(

FWIW the most games I've beaten in a year was around 30. But I do play a lot of RPGs

really depends on what type of games are on your backlog, if you are willing to pick up from your last save and how many new releases you feel the need to play.

I think if you set small achievable goals (like try to take 1-3 off my backlog this month), it will be easier to tackle than the 40 itself.

One thing you can do is what I've done with the few hundred games I have to contend with. Organize them. It helps me know what to reach for without agonizing over it and helps me set my priorities without worrying too much if one of the titles slips away from me.

Here is how I separate them:

First Pile: New games. I try to beat new games as soon a I buy them or shortly after. That isn't to say I beat all of them, though. For instance, I'll never "beat" Forza 4 and I gave up in the last 20% or less of Shadows of the Damned. However, I make a run at it and usually finish it. That way I'm not adding to the piles. This also contains games that I have beat, but plan to return to in the near future to do a few more things in.

Second Pile: These are games that aren't necessarily brand new, but that I need to play to keep up with the general gaming discussion for the year and that often contain multiplayer (because that is time-sensitive and if you wait too long, there wont' be anyone to play multiplayer with). It often also contains games that I just really want to enjoy at some point, though in no rush.

Third Pile: These are games I eventually should get to. Mostly single player and I've written off the chance to play the multiplayer. Prey was a game that went here, before I finished it, for example.

Fourth Pile: Games that are primarily multi-player that there is no point in starting to play or continuing to play. Forza 2, Forza 3, The Club, sports games, Need For Speed: Carbon, and other dead games go here. Sadly, NFS: Hot Pursuit also goes here, because despite it's popularity, the online community died the fuck out very quickly. Some single player games that I have changed my mind about ever getting around to also go here.

One of the most important things I've started to do is know when to cut my losses. At this point, I know I will probably never go back to Perfect Dark Zero and finish it. I'll probably never get started with Kameo. There is no point leaving these on the pile of stuff to get to. Time to retire them. If I'm caught up to everything some day (unlikely), then I can go dig through that pile and find something to get to -- and if that never happens . . . oh well.

I have 180+ games on my steam account and have actually played a third of them. Maybe.

Just do what I did: give up on them. write them off as failures and start over. Buy a game and don't buy another one till you beat it or are sick of it.

Remember, you don't need to finish those 40 games; doing so won't bring your money back.

@mosespippy said:

Let me tell you a secret. You don't have to buy games the day they come out. Publishers want you to and gamestop wants you to preorder it so we've kind of been conditioned into thinking we need it day 1 but we don't. If you wait 2 months then there will be patches that fix bugs. Wait a few more months and it'll be cheaper. Wait a year and you'll be able to get game of the year editions with all the DLC included.

Also you don't have to buy every game that comes out, have a critical mind and buy games that you know you'll like and play to completion...

I have an image that fits this situation perfectly *starts looking through image folders* "where is it, where is it?" Ah!

I have the same problem; a huge backlog but an interest in new releases. Really the only option is to cut down on buying new titles and start working through your backlog.

Pick out some titles from your collection and make it one of your new years resolutions to get through them; a resolution you'll do no matter what, not another year of "I'll do it this year, promise" or "I'll quit this time for sure". Don't go overboard and say I'll do all 40 when you know that's not possible, you want to have an impact on your backlog but keep it plausible. Then, make the promise to yourself and deliver on it.

Deciding to buy new titles then comes down to your progress; if your blasting through game after game then feel free to pick up a new release or two, if your struggling however then you have to have the self-control to stop yourself from buying something new. Try to stay organised as well, making notes on how your doing, setting progress markers and making deadlines.

This is all talk by the way, I haven't done this myself... yet. 2012 will be the year I try this out, why not try it too.

I find that certain times of the year are much quieter for quality releases than others so tend to catch up on games then. e.g. there is nothing I am interested in being released now till mid-Feb so am playing Bastion & Dead Space 2.

I agree with the general consensus of don't buy a title until you have completed the one you are currently playing. It will encourage you to find the time to complete the game you are currently enjoying.

Coming from someone with a Pile of Shame currently standing at 93 games, I'm here to tell you that it can be done. That probably sounds strange, but let me explain - this time a couple of years ago, that pile was over 130 games high. Since I joined Giant Bomb, I've been pushing really hard to rectify that situation, and judging by those figures, it's been working pretty well.

As far as advising you how to go about it, that's tough, because every gamer plays stuff in a different way and at a different pace. For me personally, though, this is how I've been dealing with my own monstrous backlog:

• I like to keep a record of all the games that I own but haven't beaten. It concentrates all my plans into a single space, making them easier to digest and organise, but it also gives me something that I can physically remove games from, giving me a tangible sense of progress. I personally use the List function here on Giant Bomb, but there are websites like Backloggery which are completely dedicated to this purpose. If you're the kind of guy who prefers tables and spreadsheets, you could create one in Excel or something. As long as it's readily accessible and easy to update, it doesn't matter where you keep it. I also keep a record of all the games I HAVE beaten, too. If my backlog ever begins to seem overwhelming or daunting, it's good to have something to look at to remind me of how much progress I've made.
• I try to focus on, at most, two games at a time. This is important for me, because I used easily distracted from whatever game I was halfway through in favour of another. I find that having two fairly different experiences on the go at once works best for me because it cuts out that potential for distraction, but also provides me with something totally different to play if I'm just not in the mood for one of those games at any given time. For example, last month I was alternating my game time between Grand Theft Auto IV and Persona 3 FES - two very different games, so that if I ever got bored of shooting things and stealing cars, I could lose myself in some grinding and social linking, or vice versa.
• I also try to mix things up, and not play too many games of a similar style or length back-to-back. I find this helps prevent me from getting burned out on anything. I like to play maybe one RPG every couple of months, and punctuate those longer, sprawling experiences with shorter, tighter ones in the form of action games, first-person shooters, or downloadable indie titles. Even those shorter experiences I try to rotate, to avoid coming down with something like FPS fatigue. The less often I feel burned out, the more games I'll play and finish, so this rotation system has been highly beneficial to my attempts to clear my Pile of Shame.
• Another thing I try to do now is only buy games that I'm really excited for, or games that are highly recommended to me from trusted sources. Buying less games is obviously beneficial to my backlog-clearing effort, simply because I don't end up adding more to it than I'm taking away. Before I went to University I was spending a fair amount of my disposable income on pre-owned PS2 games that I'd always been interested in, but couldn't afford at the time. The result was a mountain of critically acclaimed PS2 classics that I just didn't have the time to play. Now I try to limit myself to buying just one game a month, and this year I've managed to adhere to that quota really well. Admittedly, there are some games that I've had to miss out on because of this, such as RAGE and Dead Island, but I'll have the opportunity to pick those up during the quieter months of next year.
• I think somebody's already mentioned this above, but I'll mention it again - I think it's important to know when to cut your losses and admit to yourself that you're never going to get around to playing something. A couple of months ago I sold about a third of my game collection to raise money to buy Christmas presents. While most of the games in that box were games that I'd already played and completed, a select few (about ten, I'd guess) were games that I'd owned for a long time but ultimately knew I would never play. Those are ten games that are now out of my backlog, and therefore a weight off my mind. Instead, I can focus on having fun with the games that I really want to play.
• My final point is one that Branthog has made, in much more detail than myself, but I'll include it here anyway - I've found it helps to attribute some kind of priority system to the games in my backlog. Personally, I've ranked them at either High, Medium, or Low priority, depending on how eager/determined I am to play them. For one thing, it makes the prospect of clearing the backlog seem a lot less daunting - instead of looking at a list of ninety games I could potentially pick up and play, I now find myself looking at the fifteen-to-twenty games marked as a High priority. Not only am I choosing games from a smaller subset, I'm also playing the games I want to play, and not forcing myself through games that I feel I need to play.

This year alone, of the twenty-seven games that I've managed to beat, twenty-four have been games cleared from my backlog. In the last twelve months, I've bought probably nine or ten new games in total. That's an overall reduction of my Pile of Shame by about fifteen. Last year I finished thirty games and bought around fifteen, resulting in a similar drop. If I carry on at this rate, then by the end of 2017 I might have all but wiped out my Pile of Shame.

...Wow, this has turned into quite the essay. I may migrate this over to my blog and post it there. Anyway, best of luck clearing your backlog, Neku. With a little faith, a little patience, and a lot of time, I'm sure you'll manage just fine.

I'm guilty of the same thing but I've been concentrating on beating them. Like some of the posters above I beat new games early on. There are quite a few games I have half way though but am making headway. One game I'm happy to have finally beat was Chrono Trigger. Next on my list to finish is Half Life 2. I'm half way through it already but haven't picked it up in a bit. I think part of what contributes to my problem is when they have a lot of extra stuff in game and I get into the grind trying to get it all. Then I get bored and move on to the next thing. So now I try not to get every little thing. If I can go back to the game later then fine. If not go for the main goal and finish it.

Skyrim at the moment has lots of distractions but I'm working on moving to the main storyline. Best of luck to you.

Great advice everyone!

How about smaller games on Steam that I may have a bought on sale? Things that aren't major releases and are indie games, should I just play them whever and focus on big stuff I have never finished like Bioshock and the Assassins Creed series?

I sort of want to focus on playing games that I know will have sequels that I'll want to play so I don't fall behind, is that a good way to go about it?

Thanks.

Just take some time to get it under control. Purchase fewer new releases and stuff.

I sort of want to focus on playing games that I know will have sequels that I'll want to play so I don't fall behind, is that a good way to go about it?

@NekuSakuraba: Forty? Pfft.

http://backloggery.com/colonelpopcorn

One-hundred fifty five games and counting upwards.

Just have fun with the stuff you want to play. That's all I do.

@MB said:

@NekuSakuraba said:

I sort of want to focus on playing games that I know will have sequels that I'll want to play so I don't fall behind, is that a good way to go about it?

That's what I usually do. I pay pretty close attention to the forums and I have to say, I think you buy way too many games. Pretty much any time a major game is released, or a game is discussed on the Bombcast or if a Quick Look is made about it, you buy it. You were even talking about buying an arcade cabinet a few weeks ago. I mean really, which big titles this year did you skip? Did you really need to buy all the games you did? The only way to get caught up on a giant back catalog is to stop buying games and catch up on what you already have.

That's pretty untrue, I don't buy every game just because it's a new release, I buy the ones that interest me and will play. Your questions about if I needed to buy all those games is valid, because I didn't. While they were games I was really looking forward to and wanted to play I could of waited for a price drop while I finish some older games.

You act like every forum you go to that there is a quicklook of, you see a thread made by me saying 'I just bought this game!'' >_>

Some suggestions:

• accept that you will never finish your backlog
  
• never play multiple games at once, focus on one game till you are done with it
  
• focus on games you like, don't waste time with stuff you don't care about just because it's popular
• don't buy stuff you won't get around to play just because it's on sale, chances are it will be on sale again long before you have time to actually play it
• for sequels: wait till the series is complete, then you know if it is even worth the effort and you won't be bothered by cliffhangers
  

What do I do with smaller indie games I purchased on sale? Should I bother with them?

And does a week for 1 game sound good if it's not an RPG?

I'll help you! Quick, give some of them to me! NOW!

@NekuSakuraba said:

What do I do with smaller indie games I purchased on sale? Should I bother with them?

And does a week for 1 game sound good if it's not an RPG?

Of course you should bother with them, if you find them interesting. Even a low-budget indie game can entertain you more than any tripple-A title, depending on preferences. Then again, if you focus on games that have sequels you are interested in, indie games probably don't fall into that category. I have like 300 games on Steam alone, and I haven't played them all. I just play whatever I feel like. Granted, I don't buy that many new games - apart from the damn Steam sales...

@Chemin said:

@NekuSakuraba said:

What do I do with smaller indie games I purchased on sale? Should I bother with them?

And does a week for 1 game sound good if it's not an RPG?

Of course you should bother with them, if you find them interesting. Even a low-budget indie game can entertain you more than any tripple-A title, depending on preferences. Then again, if you focus on games that have sequels you are interested in, indie games probably don't fall into that category.

But... I have like 250 steam games! D:

@NekuSakuraba said:

@Chemin said:

@NekuSakuraba said:

What do I do with smaller indie games I purchased on sale? Should I bother with them?

And does a week for 1 game sound good if it's not an RPG?

Of course you should bother with them, if you find them interesting. Even a low-budget indie game can entertain you more than any tripple-A title, depending on preferences. Then again, if you focus on games that have sequels you are interested in, indie games probably don't fall into that category.

But... I have like 250 steam games! D:

Yeah, I feel you. Going for the interesting games with sequels might be the best way then.

first off, stop buying video games. 
 
work on one game, beat it, then another game until you beat it.

Having a large unfinished games list sounds like a blessing more than a problem to me.

I myself adhere to a very simple set of rules. No need to buy a game new: None whatsoever, except if I want it for multiplayer, and usually then I coordinate about it with my friends, then we just pick some high rated MP game that's on sale. Last two multiplayer games we've been into were Dead Island and Terraria just inside few weeks.

Never have more than 2 games going on at time: Games where story is not as important don't count, can use those for distraction. Like currently I'm playing Saints Row the Third and S.T.A.L.K.E.R Clear Skies (good balance with goofy and serious), and mixing it up with dabbling with some indie titles like Terraria, Audiosurf and Blocks that Matter.

With the backcatalogue I'm picking up from holiday Steam sales combined with SWTOR, I bet I'm covered 'til summer easy, and then I can start looking into early year releases which should pop up for summer sale :)

Just an update, I'm still going through some old games (and new ones I got for Christmas) and I think this is a good time since there aren't any games coming out for a while.

I still have this feeling like it's too late to be playing some of these games. I couldn't even make a top ten 2011 list because I have only finished a few games that came out this year (even though I played and loved a lot of them).

Any of you guys ever get the feeling that you are way too late to the party that it's not even worth showing up?

I am in a smmilar situation, my advice is avoid multiplayer foccused games and games like Skyrim. Focuss on short games and just get through it. Try to focuss on one game at a time, much easier that way.