How to stop playing EVERY game that comes out!

I find myself very deep into video games like most of you probably are; and I find it really hard to not buy and play pretty much every major release, it sucks because I end up playing games for maybe a few hours at most before moving on to something else and never going back to them.

I don't want to come across as a jerk who has money to spend on a lot of games, and I'm sorry if that's how it sounds but this is genuinely a problem for me, I see a new game and think oh that looks cool I guess I'll get that or I see something they play on the site and I'm like oooh I have to get that!

Any help on how to kick this problem or if anyone else has a similar problem, it'd be great to hear from you!

Be like me and start playing dota. Then you'll never have time for another game again....

I used to buy every main game, until I realized that not everything was grabbing me.

I think around the time of X-Com, everyone was raving about it. But I remembered how stressful the original was and that maybe I could skip it. Bioshock 1 felt repetitive to me, so I didn't buy Infinite at release (although I played it 6 months later and it turned out to be one of my favorites that year).

You just gotta pick up the instinct of which games are for you. I'm not big on open-world games, so I skipped Far Cry 3. Assassin's Creed seemed aimless to me, so I skip those. Titanfall didn't seem like it would hold my attention, so nope. Bethesda games don't seem focused to me, so nah.

The best advice I can give is experience. Just know what looks like it's up your alley. If it looks ok but not something you need, just don't buy it. Had a similar problem with buying every collector's edition a while back until I realized it was probably kind of a dumb habit. Once you stop buying everything, you realize that the stuff you missed isn't really going to eat at you since there's so much other good stuff to play, anyway.

Try setting a reasonable monthly budget for games and sticking to it, no matter what.

I completely agree with @mike, setting a budget has done wonders for me. Having to delete installed games on the PS4 is another one. Sometimes I wish I had more room, but it also helps keeping the budget.

I have the same issue. Listening to gaming podcasts and keeping up with industry news makes it harder to abstain, especially when people are talking a game up. I gave in and bought the Witness because of that. I don't regret it, it was great, but I planned on skipping until later. Still haven't bought Just Cause 3...

For me, running into some money issues caused me to reign it in. I have missed several games since, I guess, the middle of last year or so that I wanted to buy. The thing is, after a little time goes by and people stop talking about it so much, you kind of move on. Makes it easier to skip the next one.

I'm currently playing some older games and kind of ignoring a lot of the new stuff. Then I want to go back and play some of the newer games I never finished, mainly MGSV. This will fill quite a lot of time and I'll wait on most new stuff coming out. There's really nothing coming out for a while that I NEED now.

Anyway, the best advice I can think of is to force yourself to wait, unless it's something you REALLY want. Once you get past that first week or two that the game it out, you'll know if you really needed it.

That said, I really like hearing discussion about games I'm currently playing. I have no friends that play games. Actually, I could have stopped that sentence three words earlier... Anyway, no one to talk to about gaming. Sometimes I'll jump on a current game just to be part of the... erm... conversation? I mean... I do pause the podcast sometimes to put my 2¢ in... I've often thought of starting a podcast or YouTube thing of my own. See the "no friends" section above, though lol.

You know, if you're a compulsive buyer who buys things on the fly with no intention of beating it there may be some deeper issues going on. I'm not saying this is everyone but I know when I had this issue a decade ago I was going through some personal stuff that made me want to compulsively buy any new game to fill some void. I had to address those issues before I stopped.

I tend to agree with @i_stay_puft. I think it's a deeper issue. I kinda have the same problem but I buy older games on sale so I don't feel it as much I guess? I use to buy them almost just to collect them but I've been beating 20+ games every year for the last few so I'm sort of making a dent.

I think you can't be like the GB guys you know? You're not quick looking games so stop tasting games buffet style. Games are better anyway when you invest in them and get deeper in. Try picking one game and stick with it to completion. Maybe you'll like it. I started beating games really consistently and now I'm kinda addicted to doing that lol.

Fake your death/touch her shoulder/fake her shoulder.

(Mike's idea sounds good but in all reason my monthly budget should be zero)

This. I was gonna say try to figure what sort of games you really want to play and only get those, but this would make you do that anyways

what i dont get are people who just buy a new game for 60 bucks then dont even play it because theyre "busy with work", etc. Like, if you had waited until you actually had some time, you would have saved some money, but you felt you had to get it day one..why?

Like.... Just don't. Don't buy a new one untill the one you're playing is finished with, whether that be completed it or retired it with no intention of going any further.

Have some will power.

Try getting into the habit of finishing the games you are playing, or at least getting closer to finishing them.

For me, I'd almost offer the advice of cutting back on consuming Video Game content (podcasts, videos, reviews etc.)

I had very little interest in buying the Witness (I still haven't bought the Witness at this time). Like, practically NO interest in it. Then listening to the Bombcast, it started hitting me pretty hard: Man, I SHOULD BUY the Witness.

This has happened far too many times where I have followed through and bought the games. Sometimes it's great! I love the games the guys mention. (Thanks Vinny for the Book of Unwritten Tales recommendation) Sometimes I think back, fuck, why'd I buy this game that I have little to no real interest in?

That's where I'm at.

Just make my mistake I made about 10 years ago. There was a new game about to come out that I wanted to play so badly so I did the whole process. Preordered it from EB games, took the day off and the following day off to play it. SO the day comes and EB Games has sold my preorder from due to a incorrect stock or some excuse, so to walmart, pick it up and get home ready for my gaming bliss!

I have not picked up a game on day one without since. Don't make my mistake, Be Smart with your money. Don't buy pre-alpha games.

@mason20 said:

Just make my mistake I made about 10 years ago. There was a new game about to come out that I wanted to play so badly so I did the whole process. Preordered it from EB games, took the day off and the following day off to play it. SO the day comes and EB Games has sold my preorder from due to a incorrect stock or some excuse, so to walmart, pick it up and get home ready for my gaming bliss!

I have not picked up a game on day one without since. Don't make my mistake, Be Smart with your money. Don't buy pre-alpha games.

And yet somehow I can never bring myself to trade in this hot piece of trash. Maybe its the measly 5 bucks its worth, I'd rather have it on the shelf as a piece of ugly history.

@captain_insano: I have also experienced wanting to 'keep up' with the bombcast/beastcast.

The only time this really manifested was when I ended up getting NBA2K16 at full price to experience the terrible Spike Lee joint that was the carer mode. I wanted to see the horrors Alex saw. That was silly.

OP it might be helpful to write down a list of games you are interested in playing. You don't need to strictly work down the list or anything, but writing them down will get them out of your system in a way that isn't buying them.

I agree with @mike, set a budget and stick with it no matter what. Make it a tight budget, for instance comparable to the amount of time that you actually spend playing games. It will be hard in the first months and you will feel like it is the wrong choice because you are missing a lot of games, but it will start to become easier and feel like the right thing to do down the line. Change takes time. Just make sure you really, really devote yourself to sticking to your budget, no cheating whatsoever.

@gimm3nicotine: Gotta say I share the sentiment. Beat every story, attempted to collect every medal, and still have it sitting in my collection to this day. Music was decent(?) or a case of Stockholm syndrome?

Develop habits/interest outside of video games. If you have time to play every game coming out than you are spending too much time playing video games. And I say this as a person who has done the same thing at times in his life. Make some new friends who don't play video games and make efforts to hang out with them.

In my case this happens because I buy the game with every intention of playing the hell out of it, then end up working 12-13 hour days and still having to come home and work out, shower, eat, etc. before going to bed and still get 6-7 hours sleep. My job is safety sensitive, so I need to make sure I sleep. Also, I never know for sure whether I'm working a five hour day or a fifteen hour day until I get out on the road, so it's hard to plan. Sometimes I'm just too tired to play a game that requires much out of me, so I opt for more laid back, easy experiences or sit around watching GB or YouTube content. If I waited until I "actually had some time" and wasn't burnt out and exhausted I would just never play games.

I agree buying most games on day one in unnecessary, though. Or week one. There are certain games, though, that I just want right away, even if I only get a few hours in here and there. The real reason to hold off, though, is that so many games ship f'ed up these days. Best to wait a couple of months.

I'm finding it easier to play through my back catalogue if I fix a firm price point to every game I want to buy and wait for them to come up on sale for that price. In the meantime, that leaves me loads of time to play through the games I already own.

Get gamefly. Rent games that you're interested in buying and see how you feel about them. If you end up not playing much of it, switch it out for a new game.

I used to do this although I'd finish all games I bought. These days I just don't have the time and sometimes I just don't feel like some games are worth the entry price. I think it's something that just naturally passes.

I've done that once or twice. It comes from a desire to support the developers / publishers of a game that is already targeting a rather small niche audience that I happen to fall into.

And yes, @mike's suggestion is probably the best, though I personally opt for a quarterly budget instead of a monthly one since some months will simply be far busier release wise than others.

This is how I changed, but it was a force more than anything. I was using Gamefly and still playing a lot of games (and not enjoying some of them a ton) and then I moved back to PC and had to buy them myself and that changed things quickly.

Just about willpower. And I think once you start on this path you will see you don't feel like you're missing anything. So many games that come out look interesting for a minute but you can watch a QL on this site and see most of what's on offer. Then move along with your day.

Now I play less games but really get into the ones I play. There were three games I played last year for more than 100 hours which is a really big deal for me, even as someone who likes RPG and big strategy games. Would not have done that in the past.

I was like that once, but realized that playing games and then listening to GB's commentary wasn't fun once I realized that:

A - They were being paid for it. I wasn't

B - GB rarely finishes games anymore. GOTY was a disaster last year because nobody played more then a Quick Look's worth of anything, because playing games enough to have an opinion is their job, not necessarily finishing them.

For the vast majority of games nowadays, even ones that seem interesting, a QL/Bombcast commentary is enough for me to mentally put it on a "buy when it's $1" checklist, or not.

I've definitely noticed a shift in the way that I play games over the past couple of years and as I've gotten older. I have really moved from focusing heavily on a few games to trying to play as many different ones as possible. There was a time when I would focus on something like let's say Halo and pump countless hours into it and nothing else. Nowadays, I like to finish one game and constantly move on to the next. Multiplayer experiences have become less enticing to me, and I much prefer single-player and story-focused games.

Since I have very limited funds, I make myself make a list before I buy anything. I read every spoiler free review I can find and if the GB has a quick look on it I check that out. If by then I REALLY want it I'll start saving for it. If it just sorta want it I make myself wait until I can buy it used or on sale. I didn't get rid of my impulsive buying habits when it came to games, but it did help me to deal with it.

This is simply not true. They talk about what games they finished all the time on podcasts.

@mike: Eh.. There is a bit of validity to it but probably more to a wider range of games that they all individually played.

I do recall a lot of mentionings of people saying that "they didn't play but if said person feels strongly for it" or to some sentiment during the last GOTY talks. Whether to completion or not, it was somewhat noticeable.

Who knew games took up so much time right?

@mason20: What he said was "Nobody played more than a Quick's Look worth of anything." Which isn't true.

Become more critical. Realize most of them are derivative shit.

Being broke certainly helps. :P

But no, that just makes it more of a problem on my end. I don't buy a lot of new releases unless I simply must have them, but I do nickel-and-dime myself on unnecessary "cheap" buys a lot. I just bought GTA: San Andreas on PS4 just because it was on sale, even though I own two copies on PC. (I talked myself out of buying Vice City and III, at least) Plus a bunch of other cheap games recently thanks to my tax return, some of which I know I didn't need in the least. I bought fucking Tennis In The Face. Who does that? It's a fucking Flash game.

I've fallen into the trap of amassing games just to have them, or because they're on sale and "I don't know when they'll be this cheap again". I seriously need to set a goal saying that I won't buy anything else, no matter how tempting, until I've finished X amount of games I already have. (unless it's something crazy like "The Witness for a dollar" or something. I'm only human)

I feel the same. Having enough income tends to buying more games. Buying more games tends to completing almost none and i am ok with it to be honest. I am not gonna play a game i don't like 3 hours in. Also being older made me lose the completionist in me i used to 100 % a lot of games when i was younger.

here are some stats of game's i recently bought and played.

Xcom 2 16 hours (feels to buggy to continue waiting for patches)

The Witness 7 hours (wasn't really my thing but, i saw it more as a Support Jonathan Blow kinda thing)

Warhammer 40K Eternal Crusade 36 min (Great idea Still in early access buggy as hell)

Slime Rancher 3 hours (Great game lacks Content)

Rise Of The Tomb Raider 18 hours ( almost at the finish line, don't feel the need to finish it)

RainBowSix Siege 5 hours ( had my fun with it)

HomeWorld Deserts of Kharak 5 hours ( this is the most 7/10 game i have ever played)

Dragon's Dogma 15 hours (O yeah Dragon's Dogma Forgot about that game)

Cod Blops III multiplayer edition 50 min (its more COD but it was only 15 Bucks ! )

You probably get the point i spent way to much money on games. But i am kinda fine with it. ( 15 Bucks for a Cod Multiplayer that's a steal !)

@artisanbreads: Willpower is definitely the key thing here. I used to have a rule that I need to finish any game I bought before buying the next one. Even some games that I didn't think were all that good I wanted to get through just so that if I wanted to ever talk about it I had a comprehensive knowledge of it from start to finish. This actually helped me finish a lot of releases because something else would come out so I'd hurry to get through whatever it was that I was playing at the moment.

At the end of the day it really does come down to telling yourself "I'll hold off on this for now" and thats all there is to it. For example the next game I want to get is probably The Division, and thats about two weeks away. It is very tempting to get Advanced Warfare which I haven't played on sale right now as a filler for next week - but do I really need to spend money on a game just so I have something new to play for one week? Especially something as linear and throwaway as a Call of Duty campaign? So as tempting as it was, I'll just play whatever else I have on hand until Superhot comes out on the 25th, now that I'm not passing up on.

@humanity: Yeah that's pretty much how I am. I often think about buying something in my down time but I am working on a game project so it's been great recently to say "No, I am going to work instead since XCOM 2 killed all my productivity for a couple weeks".

To the OP, I would try this approach then take some time to reflect. I think, like we both bring up, you'd realize a lot of those games are "empty calories" as you would say regarding food. Sure you can kill time there but is that really the best use of your time?

I would say you have already made the first step in realising that your behavior is not good for you, so now you will make a change. I used to have somewhat simillar problem but in the last year it got fixed by all developers, small and big, coming to a decision to release games broken or unfinished. I got so sick of it I decided just not to buy anything at launch anymore. As far as the getting hyped from the bombcast or general zeitgeist goes, I noticed when I listen to an old bombcast it makes me want to play older games, which I skipped or rven the ones that I finished and it's fun to replay some of them to see how they hold up! And you can get old games really cheap most of the time.

So yeah, just set a "cooldown" period for yourself, when you feel the need to buy a game next time, just let a week pass and see how much it actually is situational, it might surprise you. Good luck!!

I do a couple of things:

• I won't buy any game that isn't on sale with rare exception.
• I hold myself to accumulating no more than six games on my backlog at any time (save for Steam, as that's a lost cause).
• I only let myself buy two new games per month short of extreme sales or around Christmas when everything is on sale.
• If my backlog gets too long, I force myself to sell off any games that I know I won't touch in the next coming months (I just got rid of a copy of Wasteland 2 for this reason). I can always rebuy them later if need be.

So far this year I've bought XCom 2, Firewatch and Fire Emblems Fates (both Birthright and Conquest). Even though I want to play The Witness and Oxenfree, I put them both onto my wishlist for the Steam summer sale. I probably won't be able to resist getting Dark Souls III, but I don't see anything in March that I need to buy so that's fine.

I don't know if any of that will work for you. I'm not even the best when it comes to this stuff. At least by buying a lot of stuff on sale, I can mitigate some of the damage. I had a co-worker who had this problem. He used to basically deposit half his paycheck at Gamestop and the other half at a local sushi place.

There's one really easy way. Be in college, final year.

I would try to delay what you play so that you can pick games up cheaper. Set an acceptable price in your head and buy them when they drop to that price.

When I had the time and money to do this, I would just set myself a rule that I eBay something the moment I'm bored/finished with something. Instead of paying £40 for a game, it feels more like paying £10 or less to rent it for the first two weeks, because games keep their value for the first month or so.

Doesn't work for PC, but then who buys anything full price on PC?

Have a kid.

I finally have an amazing den and every system. I buy almost every game in into. I haven't played anything other than phone games at lunch in several months. Having a baby will remove any free time you have. One day I'll have a gaming buddy but, for now she's just a baby. I will say I like looking at my back log and hearing how great some of the stuff on that list is. The big upside is when I do have time to sit down and play I won't have to wait for something cool to come out. There is a stack just waiting and that feels good.

This may come off the wrong way but finding another hobby and life in general helped. I got really into cycling and single rides can be anywhere from 1h30m to 2h and sometimes 4-5hours on the weekends. That plus my commutes (2 hours) really ate into me wanting to play games. Granted I play games on the train with my Vita or 3DS, but I've found it's much easier for me mentally (and with my wallet) to buy the indie stuff on those then to buy tons of new big titles for the consoles.

Also, believe it or not, having second screen capable consoles has helped a ton too. I can easily pick up and play without having to worry about occupying the TV which lets my wife watch whatever or in some cases let's me play while keeping the hockey game on.

I usually wait for a few weeks after a game comes out. That's when all the people who have invested a tonne of time with the game will come back and make a big stink about the game's shortcomings, stuff the reviewers missed because they couldn't spent 200 hours with one game. If I think I can deal with that and the game still seems really good then I buy it. Last year I bought maybe 5 games in total. You miss out on the forum buzz but you can always go back to that. Nothing's worse than buying into a game just because of the buzz and finding out you don't like it or find it uninteresting.

I got a salary job where in required to work more than 45 hours a week and a fiancée that only likes Nintendo games. Leaves me with hardly any time to play games, and when i do, they're games we can generally play together. Now when i beat games that means I'm genuinely enjoying them, because they have to hold my interest over the course if a month or more, not just because I have a desire to see things through. It's a big shift, but i find i enjoy my time with those games more than i used to.

There is a lot of good advice in this thread, but a lot of it is really so personal and subjective and based on you as a person. I'm the type of person that feels compelled to finish games I start, and I feel compelled to play more games than I have time for, because I like stories and narrative.

However, after having two kids, a job that takes more of my time, just needing to do more besides games, and wanting to spend more time with music again, these are the two things that are helping me (though it is still hard...):

1.) Set a monetary budget and don't break it. Make it monthly, weekly, quarterly, whatever - as long as you stick to it...

2.) Setup a plan for playing the games and stick to it. I'm creating 6 game "To Play" lists (the one I'm finishing now: http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/fakekisser/lists/fakeys-2nd-2016-to-play-list/355655/). By sticking to lists like this, I have held off on buying new games, because I know I won't be playing them anytime soon, since I'm prioritizing all the other games I've already bought!

3.) Setup a time budget for playing games in your life. Again, it could be daily, weekly, or whatever, but try to balance your life so you do have time for playing games and feel like you're investing in the hobby the way you want but also spending time in other important areas of your life. When you can see how your time breaks down, you may appreciate more the time you spend in all the areas of your life.

:D

I usually have a set list of games that I know I'm going to get (and it's probably too many), but when there's an "impulse" game that burrows itself into my head, and it happens a lot, I usually go and watch a chunk of it of it on YouTube or Twitch or whatever and it often scratches that itch.

Just tell yourself that all games are garbage. All these podcasts and news sites are wrong. And that you don't really even like Video Games anyway so why waste money... xD

I suffer from this as well. I've gotten a lot better over the past 12 months. But sometimes I'll look at something like Far Cry Primal and think... "hmmmm." Even though I didn't really like the old Far Cry games. It's new. New things are super interesting. But yeah. Self Control helps. And playing games you already have.

I beat that urge by going from a highschool kid with mommy and daddy's money to a poor college/post grad student. Now I cant afford shit! I win!