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Your Unopened Game Pile of Shame

Hey, that rhymes! We're copping to our embarrassing stack of unplayed games. Post yours!

So many games, so little time.
So many games, so little time.
A couple of days ago, a study performed by the NPD Group was making the rounds in the blog world, looking at statistics related to average consumers' DVD and video game collections. Via Kotaku, here are the relevant stats.

  • The average DVD household has 114 DVDs in its collection.
  • The average video game collection has 48 titles.
  • 26% of the surveyed DVD households own some unopened DVDs.
  • 11% of the surveyed video game households own some unopened games.

The big story, of course, was that 11% never-played figure at the bottom. I'm not surprised that it's there; I'm surprised it isn't higher. I know I've bought an embarrassing number of games (mostly on sale, to be fair) that I've never gotten around to even putting in a console. Haven't you? Who has time for all these games? It's awfully easy to keep telling yourself, "Yeah, I'll get around to that someday!"

Among the other sites' stories I saw on this topic, no author was brave enough to divulge his or her own pile of shame. Well, hey, we're all about transparency over here at Giant Bomb, so here's a quick list of the unplayed games most egregiously taking up shelf space in our houses.

I know we're going to get eviscerated for some of these.

BradJeffRyanVinny
 Katamari DamacyKnights of the Old RepublicZelda: Ocarina of Time (We have a winner!) Final Fantasy X 
 PsychonautsSuper Mario GalaxyFinal Fantasy VII and VIIIThe Red Star
 Beyond Good & EvilNFS Pro StreetWe Love KatamariGRAW 2
 Burnout 3Condemned 2Super Paper MarioTrauma Center
 Super Mario SunshineNeverwinter Nights II GoldBoom Bloxid Collection (Steam)
 Super Mario GalaxyGRAW 2SSX BlurKane & Lynch

So what's on your personal pile of shame? Come on, admit it.

235 Comments

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Everyones_A_Critic

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Assassin's Creed, Condemned 1, Tiger Woods 08, The Godfather are all in my pile of shame.

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StarFoxA

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Edited By StarFoxA

I don't have ANY unopened games.

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CheeseFanatic

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Edited By CheeseFanatic

Cmon Jeff how can you not have opened up Kotor - that's IMMORAL!!!!!!!!!   jk

My unopened games are:
Simpson's Road Rage (Xbox)  -  the game sucks
Quake IV (Xbox 360)  -  I haven't beaten the other Quake Games
Mario Kart Wii (Wii)  -  I recently got my permit so I really don't need to play this game

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GregIsRad

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Edited By GregIsRad

Ryan...

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tknight

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Edited By tknight

metroid prime
prince of persia: sands of time
splinter cell: pandora tomorrow
beyond good and evil
metal gear solid 2
otogi
timesplitters

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tknight

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Edited By tknight

whoops. deus ex as well. 
yo jeff got on that kotor thing.

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CharleyTony

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Edited By CharleyTony

Here are the ames I bought and have not played or have played less than 15 minutes...

Blazing Angels
Chromehounds
The Darkness
Dead or Alive Xtreme 2
Far Cry Predator
Graw
Graw 2
Lara Croft Tomb Raider Legend
Lost Planet Colonies
Marvel Ultimate Alliance
MotoGP07
N3
Need For Speed Carbon
NHL 2k7 (2.99$ !)
The Outfit
Perfect Dark Zero
Project Sylpheed
Rumble Roses XX
Splinter Cell Double Agent
Spider-Man Friend or Foe
Stranglehold
Virtua Fighter 5


This is the very definition of a pile of shame ...

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Garnavis

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Edited By Garnavis

The ones on that list that surprise me are the Katamari games since they take so little effort to actually get going.  I can understand something big like Final Fantasy or KOTOR, though.
As for myself, I'm too poor to buy games that I'm not going to play.

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wakkoloco

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Edited By wakkoloco

ryan, can you sell me final fantasy VIII ?

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TomA

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Edited By TomA

I only buy games i know i will play and i purposely miss out on some new releases like Farcry 2 and stuff cause i think it is stupid to waste all that money.Also if i can't blame ANYONE for npt playing SUper Mario Galaxy,that game sucked ass.

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ScottEFresh

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Edited By ScottEFresh

I still have Blazing Angels, Rainbow six vegas, Splinter Cell, Graw 2 and Folklore all wrapped up new.  Let's not talk about PS2s games....yeesh!

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bcfish

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Edited By bcfish

Well, those are some bad ones there, but Jeff, dude, you are missing OUT!!!!  Well, for me, living in the poor house in the poor economy has forced me to finally play the last unopened game, in this case, Paper Mario!!!!!

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BawlZINmotion

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Edited By BawlZINmotion

Brad's list is by far the worst. On top of that there should be a list for how many games one bought, played once and then said, "dear lord what I have done".

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deactivated-5c468a9482ba9

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I basically play the games I buy. I don't have that much money.

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DeepSpace9MM

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Edited By DeepSpace9MM

It seems that I buy RPGs and never play them. I have Vagrant Story, Star Ocean: The Second Story, Chrono Cross,  Odin Sphere, and Disgaea 2 sitting on my shelf unplayed. I blame eBay. Also Ico.

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JoblessTerence

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Edited By JoblessTerence

Kingdom of Paradise (PSP)

My friend says it's the worst piece of shit game he's ever played. Judging from the cover, I believe him.

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Dalai

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Edited By Dalai

Right now, only one.  I bought a used copy of Viewtiful Joe 2 a few months ago and it's been sitting ever since.  Besides that, the rest of my collection had been played at least once.

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langdon_alger

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Edited By langdon_alger

I have  copy of Earthbound that, while opened, has never been played...

Yeah, I started buying things I'd never get around to in the SNES days.
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digital_sin

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Edited By digital_sin

I seriously doubt anyone here has more unopened games than me, It scares me to even think about the games I'm missing out on.

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CleverLoginName

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Edited By CleverLoginName

Battlefield 2... only because I planned to buy a PC for college but then got a laptop, otherwise I only buy games I... you know, intend on playing.

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Charleslegrand

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Edited By Charleslegrand

Nothing here.  To put it simply, I don't buy what I don't have time to play.

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Phoenix87

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Edited By Phoenix87

For me its Final Fantasy 12, Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, Mass effect, and warhawk, Yeah im ashamed, but in my defense college eats up a crap load of your time.

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ItsPozer

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Edited By ItsPozer

Dead Space because I got that and the day after I got Fallout 3

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Milkman

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Edited By Milkman

As of right now, I have Fable II un-opened. But that should change soon. But jeez guys, you guys have a lot of amazing games un-opened. Man...

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RFX

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Edited By RFX

I am proud to say that I have no unopened games. It's never dawned on me the number of people who don't open them.

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mr_tickles

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Brontes_Muse

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Edited By Brontes_Muse

I bought and never played call of duty 3

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LordAndrew

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Edited By LordAndrew

Sure. This sounds like fun. Note that some of these games may have been opened, but they haven't been played.

Battalion Wars
GrimGrimoire
Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum
Okami
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All
Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
Rogue Galaxy
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES
SiN Episodes: Emergence
Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 2
Wild Arms 4
World in Conflict


And that's just a small sample. :)

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GUnitVer1

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Edited By GUnitVer1

With the 10th anniversary of Zelda OOT coming in a matter of weeks, it could be interesting if Giant Bomb does something special since Ryan has that in his pile.

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TadThuggish

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Edited By TadThuggish

Aw, man, I can't believe you didn't open Kane & Lynch.  I hear it's incredible.

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albedos_shadow

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Edited By albedos_shadow

Come on, Vinny, you gotta get to playing that Kane & Lynch copy! And Ryan, you keep that SSX Blur sealed. FOREVER. Trust me on this.

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SCapps14

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Edited By SCapps14

Unopened Game Pile of Shame:
Gears of War
Forza Motorsport 2
Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

Unfinished Game Pile of Shame:
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (and I finished Majora's Mask)
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy XII
Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

I know I suck, you don't have to tell me

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synt4x

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Edited By synt4x

Don't have any unopened games. But a ton of unfinished ones. Here are some of them:

Super Metroid - Though I love the game, I never actually finished it :O
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - Only played to the second dungeon or something.
Pokemon Diamond - Stopped playing after 20 hours i think. Actually, I have never completed a Pokemon game. Ever.
Viewtiful Joe - Dunno why I stopped playing this one.
Red Steel - Game sucks but I bought it, so I should finish it. I think I am at the end though.
Blaster Master - Never finished it. Its haaard :(
Ikaruga - Yeah good luck with that one.
Metroid Prime 1 and 3 - I always get tired of the games near the end. Haven't played 2.
Super Mario World 2 - Don't even ask cus I have no clue.
Banjo-Kazooie - I hate myself for not finishing this one.

Well damn, now I'm really depressed. I really need to finish some of these games.

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mordecaix7

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Edited By mordecaix7

My Pile of Shame (includes games only played for about an hour and haven't touched since)

  • Amped 3
  • The Club
  • Condemned 2
  • Marvel Ultimate Alliance
  • Gun
  • Kameo
  • Lost Planet
  • Project Sylpheed
  • Samurai Warriors 2
  • Viking The Battle For Asguard
  • Blast Works
  • Elebits
  • Zelda Twilight Princess
  • Smash Bros Brawl
  • Katamari Damacy
  • Summoner
  • Ico
  • God Hand
  • Way of The Samurai
  • Magic Pengel
  • Under The Skin
  • Final Fantasy XII
  • Sega Genesis Collection
  • Clock Tower 3

I tend to stick with games I really like for a long time.  I've got my favorites and I tend to keep sticking to them.  Not to mention a lot of those games were part of bulk purchases so they just got overlooked.
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snake911

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Edited By snake911

The following list of games are still in their original shrink wrapper packaging:

- .hack//MUTATION (PS2)
- .hack//OUTBREAK (PS2)
- .hack//QUARANTINE (PS2)
- Splinter Cell (PS2)
- Ribbit King (PS2)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space (PS2)
- Dragonball Z Budokai 3 (PS2)
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (PS2)
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (PSP)
- Burnout Paradise (PS3)
- Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)
- Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)

Wow, that's a big list.  I'm ashamed of myself (-_-)

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Bass

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Edited By Bass

OoT? For shame.

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Shabs

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Edited By Shabs

I'm pretty careful not to purchase games I don't see myself having time to play, so I don't quite have a "pile"...

Penumbra: Black Plague
Project Gotham Racing 4

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BlackHawk53

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Edited By BlackHawk53

Never bought a game I didn't play, but there are a few I haven't finished. Final Fantasy VI Advance and Zelda: Twilight Princess are two I'm upset I havent finished.  One i'm not upset about is King Arthur. I swear to god my friend got this game for me, played the first level, never put it in the xbox again.

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Brackynews

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Edited By Brackynews

I'll go with games I haven't played since purchasing them.  Definitely played (somehow) before buying.

Many many console and handheld imports
Sam & Max Season 1
The Simpsons Game
Devil May Cry box set 1-3
Chibi-Robo
Warioware Smooth Moves
Rez for PS2 (actually still in shrinkwrap for some unknown reason)

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Stabbers_McGee

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Edited By Stabbers_McGee

Bioshock
No More Heroes
Zack & Wiki
XIII
Forza (but that came with the Xbox)

Then there are the ones I have barely played

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John

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Edited By John

I always play the games I buy. Or at least try it out. 

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JJOR64

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Edited By JJOR64

None for me, I play all of my games.

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Destroyeron

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Edited By Destroyeron

Every game I buy I play, but I don't buy many.

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notworksafe

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Edited By notworksafe

Lesse....

Mega Man 9 (bought it...haven't played it yet)
Persona 3
Assassin's Creed
Phoenix Wright

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Lunarbunny

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Edited By Lunarbunny

2 copies of the newest Alone in the Dark, they came with my ATI Radeon HD4850s.

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vigorousjammer

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Edited By vigorousjammer

The only games that I own that are unopened are Super Famicom imports from japan...
Not because I can't play them... but because they're OLD and they have PLASTIC WRAP ON THEM!! I DO NOT WANT TO DEFILE THE PLASTIC WRAP!!!

However, my copy of Final Fight for the Super Famicom I bought as cartridge only... so... I can still play that with the neon signs saying "bar" instead of "club" and Poison & Roxie being themselves instead of some punk dudes...

Other than that, every game I own I've played at least once...

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redeye1984

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Edited By redeye1984

hmmm i think for me  its overlord and black and white 2. i haven't play those games since i bought them back in the day.

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Pierce

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Edited By Pierce

With that much money spent on unplayed video games, we could:

1.  End world hunger.  Permanently.
2.  Bail out the US's failing economy a few times over
3.  Build a tower with floors that rotated horizontally AND vertically
4.  Bring down the cost of OLPC's down to about $149
5.  Buy out Bill Gates as our bathroom monkey
6.  Conduct a non-biased taste-test between butter and margarine
7.  Launch an entire fleet of gold zeppelins
8.  Finally get around to writing that book we've been putting off

And the list just goes on...

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Joru

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Edited By Joru

Ace Combat 6
Devil May Cry 4

Just didn't have the time to play them and afterwards didn't feel like putting them in.

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deactivated-5ee489577a60c

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I have played all of my games. But there are some that I have barely played, or played a long time ago and never finished.

  • Metroid Prime
  • Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2
  • Beyond Good and Evil
  • Trauma Center for the wii
  • Super Mario Sunshine
  • Hotel dusk room 215
  • Alone in the dark
  • Call of duty 2
  • Metal Gear solid for the Gamecube
  • Dead rising
  • Ocarina of time
  • Conker bad fur day