[Pagelzilla]

I just read an editorial article on gameinformer.com about the conflict of staying current on new releases or playing games you truly enjoy because they're what got you into gaming in the first place.

Article:
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/arc...ng-current.aspx

It's a good article, however, the concept of finding yourself having a backlog of games is foreign to me. Maybe it's because I don't have a high-paying job, or maybe because I don't spend too many hours a day gaming anymore. My question is this: do people buy new games compulsively just to have them sit on the shelf until you get to them later? Why not buy it when you're ready to play it, maybe it will have gone down in price...right?

Is this really a thing? Or is the idea of having a backlog of games more of a mental list? If that's the case then I have a huge backlog of games I want to buy some day. What's your definition slash what is in your backlog of games?

[Otter]

I do this quite a bit now.

And I can pinpoint the reason almost without batting an eye: Steam sales. Look, if I can buy a tripleA title for 6 bucks, I'm gonna do it. It might take me a year to get around to it and play it, and then when I do I'll probably grow bored of it within a week. Consumerism at it's finest.

[JOSEPH X]

I have a massive backlog of games that I've bought but have barely scratched the surface of because I can't get the hell off of Skyrim:

Batman AC
Assassins Creed Revalations (unopened!)
RAGE
Dark Souls
Max Payne 3
Mass Effect 3...

[Pagelzilla]

QUOTE (Otter @ Thursday, Aug 9 2012, 10:34)

I do this quite a bit now. And I can pinpoint the reason almost without batting an eye: Steam sales. Look, if I can buy a tripleA title for 6 bucks, I'm gonna do it. It might take me a year to get around to it and play it, and then when I do I'll probably grow bored of it within a week. Consumerism at it's finest.

I see. I don't have a gaming PC but if I did I could see myself doing that too. A deal is a deal, right?

However, I don't understand why people would build a backlog if they're buying a $60 new game then don't get around to it for a year.

[Claude4Catalina]

though not purchased from new, I've not bothered completing;
TC Rainbox 6 Vegas
Battlefield 2 Modern Combat
Kane and Lynch Dead Men
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit
Op Flashpoint Dragon Rising
Far Cry 2
Red Dead Redemption

I guess RDR is my only regret, but I've just not got the willpower to complete it, with the whole 'round me up some horses' thing near the start, I found myself getting far too bored for my own liking, I'm fine with building up a story, but RDR hasnt got me interested yet...maybe one day. the rest of them I just cant be arsed to finish, I get about 3 levels in and realize I only got them cause it was in a three for 20quid deal or something.

[Icarus]

There are definitely some games I've purchased and either not played yet or played very minimally because something else came along. For example, I bought Medal of Honor last year and have yet to even take it out of the wrapping.

I also started playing AC Revelations last year for a bit, but then stopped (I forget which game took over). I started playing the Mass Effect series in the last few months and that went on the backburner when Max Payne 3 came out... and now that's on the backburner because I made a return to Skyrim after a four month hiatus.

If there's a game I really, really, really want to play, I will get it on release date and play the hell out of it. Borderlands 2 comes out next month, so when it does, it will take priority over any other game.

[EDIT 1] The only downside with the Borderlands 2 release date is that is when I'll be finishing up my M.Sc. thesis and then I have to defend it, so my degree and the game might conflict with each other.

[EDIT 2] The games that I currently have on backlog:
-AC Revelations
-Mass Effect 1
-Mass Effect 2
-Max Payne 3
-Medal of Honor
-World at War
-BioShock
-BioShock 2
-Fallout: New Vegas
-Batman: Arkham City

This post has been edited by Icarus on Thursday, Aug 9 2012, 18:30

[Pat]

Have you finished that backlog yet?

[The General]

I do have a backlog of games, but they are games I bought on steam or used, as in not full price. When I buy a game full price I am tempted to play the game til the end or until I lose interest in it.

[WastedEngland]

Steam made me do it.

When I was younger I could barely contain the excitement of getting a new PS2 game home and playing it for hours, the only time a game was in my possession and still in the wrapping was Christmas and birthdays. Now that I'm older with my own money I succumb to impulse much more and like Otter said Steam sales is the sink in my wallet. I find myself falling for curiosity as well, I never bought any of the Mass Effects because I thought they didn't appeal to me, as soon as they were on a sale I bought the first and second ones to find my theory correct, each one has about an hours worth of playtime logged on my account and I have no desire to continue them. There's 2 or 3 games on my account that have had a similar fate. Also download times/sizes don't help, I don't have the best connection so if a game I've bought on impulse is xxgb to download I'll keep putting downloading it off and off.

[darthYENIK]

I definitely keep a mental backlog. It's a rare occasion when I have a physical backlog, usually around Christmas, when I get games as presents when I'm already playing the games I got that fall. Those games are usually the ones I'm most excited about.

I usually only go back and play those games when I can get them for cheap, or feel like renting them on Gamefly. Usually I play my personal favorite games. Like right now I am playing Fallout 3, before that I was playing Max Payne 3, but before that even, I was playing Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, because I got it cheap on XBL.

[finn4life]

QUOTE (Pat @ Friday, Aug 10 2012, 06:12)

Have you finished that backlog yet?

Possibly the most frustrating Spongebob episode Ever.

I only buy games now if I intend to play them, otherwise I waste Tim money but don't have the time, now I just have a mental backlog which v keeps growing!
I have adopted a mindset similar to what was mentioned in the OP, if I am enjoying what I have, why not keep playing? Most of my gaming is on Black ops multiplayer, I have friends to play with and it's just fun, the only games I have bought recently is uncharted which I love to death.

Physical backlog:
- Midnight Club L.A
-RDR
- Replay VCS, VC.
-Pokemon Black
-infamous

Mental backlog: Finish off Max Payne (borrowed it)
-Batman Arkham City/Asylum
- play the otherAC games.
- Saints row 3
-mass effect
-heavy rain
-Gran Turismo 5

[Xcommunicated]

I'm another victim of Steam Sales. I have 122 games in my library and I seem to play through them at about a tenth of the rate at which I add to the pile. Not good, and what's worse is that I'm tempted to buy new games. I sure as sh*t don't need it and not even sure that I want it, but I'm tempted to get Sleeping Dogs just to see if it's any good. I haven't even played through Borderlands yet, but again, I'm tempted to play through that as soon as I finish Rage just to see if I want to get the sequel next month.

Steam has turned me into more of a hardcore gamer than I'd ever be comfortable admitting to anyone I know.

[Otter]

My main excuse at this point is the sheer size of Max Payne 3. I've got a bunch of other games I want to try out, but I didn't foresee that I'd have to make my windows partition larger than 100 GB.

[papanesta]

People who know me probably know I'm one of the worst for this, mostly due to my obsession with limited and collector's editions. I have so many games still wrapped it's ridiculous. I'll list them when I get home, as there's no way I could do it off the top of my head.

Like most, it's to do with sales, either through retail, or on Live. I've bought arcade games partly just due to the fact they were reduced. Well, obviously there was interest of some sort... most of the time.

I'm sorted if game production ever stops.