Everybody has tasks they want to do that they never got around to the first time. Chores to complete, movies to see, books to read, and games to play. These undone tasks pile up fast and they form a monstrous beast known as the backlog. One of the hardest backlogs to tackle is the one of a gamer.

Almost every gamer has a backlog made of games they own and need to beat and/or games they don't own but want to play. Every steam sale, Black Friday door buster, flea market, and Humble Bundle, adds to the pile a little more. As games proliferate life more and more video games are becoming easier and easier to acquire. It is so out of hand that having games you will never play on Steam is an ongoing joke. If you were to add up the average time it takes to complete the games in my current backlog it would be thousands of hours, easily. It still keeps growing.

The worst part is that the completionist in me craves the history of games. I can't just play Splinter Cell: Blacklist. I want to see the whole series, so that's another four games to play. It is not just modern consoles either, I have NES cartridges sitting on my shelf taunting me. "Do you really understand video games if you've never beat the original Mario?" they whisper in the night. These games don't have saves either, If I want to beat these old timers I really need to hone my skills. Or I can cheat and use the save states on the virtual console. Then that leads to the whole mess of how many copies do I need of these games? This one has an expansion pack for it, this one is HD, this one is on the handheld, but there is something to say about playing the original format. If you appreciate where games have come from and want to see it with your own eyes, prepare for the list of games you will "need" to play. It still keeps growing.

At the end of the day though I think backlogs are amazing. It says something very personal about you and your hobby. What you like, what you want to experience and how you play, it is all contained in that nice list of games you may never play. Whether you play them or not, it is a piece of your collection or what you want to be your collection. I'm excited to work through my game collection and beat as many games as I can. Before you start that new game, check your backlog for a moment and see if there is something you'd like to do first. Never forget. It still keeps growing.

Happy Weekend,

-Chemystery