Most people my age fail to take New Year’s resolutions seriously.
I like to think of it as an opportunity to reflect on the previous year.
Where most peoples resolutions involve something life changing, e.g., quitting smoking, my resolutions almost exclusively involve video games.
I like to use new years to refine my habits as a gamer.
I have an addiction, one I can clearly admit to, which I suppose is the first step towards any recovery. Not only do I love playing video games, but I also love collecting them. This is an addiction, like many, that is soon to catch up with me financially.
Last year I resolved to finish all video games that I start, that doesn’t necessarily mean complete them, as I don’t want to torture myself through a game that I don’t enjoy. It just simply means to not leave any game in a limbo state. I find that when a new game comes out I instantly drop everything and jump on it. This cycle continues until I have a pile of games that are half completed in my library. Last year my resolution worked out quite well, I found I was completing more games and felt more accomplished in my habits.
This year I’ve expanded on last years resolution, I vow to avoid spending money on video games until I have exhausted all other options in my library. This is a monumental resolution as most of the games in my library are unfinished. I immediately know this goal is unattainable; since there are some games this year that I look forward to buying, but there are things I can do to limit my spending.
In 2011 I found myself spending money on games just because they were on sale, I bought into the whole “steam sale fad”. This past Christmas, I am proud to say that I didn’t purchase a single title. Most of the games I purchase through sales simple collect dust in my library — perhaps when I’m old and retired I’ll eventually get around to playing them.
I’ve setup a simple document to help me in my goals, I list games that I have played throughout the year and whether or not I have completed them. In addition I list games that are on my “wish list” and games that I have saved for a “rainy day”. Essentially, I don’t purchase anything on my wish list until I have removed a substantial amount of games from my rainy day list. This might seem like a lot of extra work, but I find it helps to keep me organized.
I’m curious, are there any readers out there that find they have way too many games in their library? Do you find yourself purchasing games you’ve never played? Does any of that concern you? How do you choose which game to play next amongst a list of hundreds?
16th January 2012
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16th January 2012
William, I used to have the same issues as you. I was an Ebay addict, but only for video games. I have a pretty big collection in my basement.
I only bought games in the recent Steam Christmas sale to giveaway. I have about 8 games I bought and haven’t played, not including all those in the basement.
One thing that helped me was to imagine the price of the game as three times higher than it really was. I would then ask myself “Do I really want it at that price?” If I said yes, then I bought it.
Of course, this is very close to Poll Question 230: How many games do you own that you haven’t played yet?
Out of the 225 who have currently voted 47, yes 47 have more than 21 games they own but haven’t played!
I have been writing an article called “Will the Steam sales backfire?” Its point is that in the medium term the result will be less sales of games (sales as in number of games sold, not reduced prices).
Why? Because after the initial euphoria of buying all these games people realize they just don’t have time to play them and will then only buy the really important ones.
16th January 2012
I just did a calculation on my backloggery, and I have 107 UNPLAYED games, not even started. So sad.
16th January 2012
I would recommend this website to help manage your backlog of games: http://backloggery.com/
An example profile: http://backloggery.com/TWIN_SUNS
16th January 2012
What a fantastic website!!! I have scrapped my whole gdocs format and am now exclusively using this system. Check out my profile:
http://backloggery.com/p17william
Thanks so much for the suggestion.
16th January 2012
My backlog is pretty big, but two seasons of Sam and Max makes up quite a bit of it.
I have bought less games with the sales last year, just because I still had such a huge back catalog.
16th January 2012
I’ve only finished the first episode of Sam and Max, I’ve restrained myself from buying anything past season two unless I complete a substantial amount of that series. I know how you feel.
16th January 2012
I wonder how many unfair sales the game makers get from people who don’t even launch their games.
I buy the game only if I feel that I really need it, and will play it right now with enjoyment. If I have doubts or know that it can wait, I don’t buy it.
16th January 2012
I am appallingly bad at finishing games. I can count on one hand the number of major titles I actually bothered finishing…
Currently sitting on my “To Complete” pile I have the followiing:
Bioshock
Bioshock2
Neverwinter Nights 2
Rage
Just Cause 2
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
I think part of the problem is the word “Complete”. I mean, have I completed HL2 if I have yet to get all the achievements?
How do you go about completing Just Cause 2? It would take a year with a game of that scale… these days, complete is a relative concept!
16th January 2012
It’s funny, I had that problem too – trying to define what “Complete” meant. Backloggery helped me, basically “beaten” means you have beaten the game, complete means you have got all the achievements etc.
Here’s my profile to give you an idea of how many games I have actually “completed”:
http://backloggery.com/p17william
17th January 2012
I play (almost) all the games I buy. There are some games I bought in bundles (HumbleBundle) that I just don’t play because they are too complicated. I’m pretty happy that only two of my retail AAA games remain unfinished (one is Sacrifice – the game is very hard, the other is HL2: Episode 2 I newer launched – yeah, bizzare, since I own the Orange Box for a while now), more problematic are Indie games that are hard and have a lot of content (Super Meat Boy). Completing the game is finishing the main plot for me. I play the bonus levels and try to get achivements, but if they are too hard, I just uninstall the game. Oh, and I never buy a game without checking it’s Metacritic score.
17th January 2012
I highly recommend you play EP2 ASAP, it’s a great game.
17th January 2012
Holy Monkey!
Given that PC gamer labelled Half Life 2 the best game ever made… I’d say that with Episode 2 they perfected it. Which would make HL2 EP2 the best gameplay, from the best game ever made.
Drop what you’re doing and go play it… right now!
17th January 2012
I’m planning playing it this year (and replaying HL2 and EP1 before this) when I update my computer hardware The Source engine is a beauty and I want to play it at maximum detail
P.S.:I must also admit I played HL2 and EP1 only once, but I played the HL1 singleplayer mode probably around 10 times
17th January 2012
I probably play HL1 that many times a year lol.best game that ever came out IMO