Why do I play this?

[eldergamer]

Ever have those games you just keep playing even though you know they're just structurally flawed?

Why am I playing Jak X combat racing? I can't stand the fake attitutde, the soul patch. The cars skate around every track like it's ice, there's literally a second or less difference between the top 3 players, ugh. But I keep playing it once or twice a week. I'm 35% done,don't know if I've wasted enough time to finish it or just give up.

Mega man battle network 5 - ds. I picked it up for $10. Put about 5 hours into it. god, I hate MMBN games. No way to level up your character, (okay, but
it's expensive) the chip selection for battles is random, tedious battles.

If I didnt have a desire to complete each game I start I'd easily trash or sell these, but....

[Malik112099]

im like this with Halo 2 on xbox live..sometimes i just cant stop playing it even though i have great 360 games waiting to be played

[AshesofWake]

fucking solitaire

[G33]

I've gotten that feeling in several games I've played, mostly when playing older "classics" and RPGs. I hate leaving games uncompleted, and I'm typically a completionist regarding video games, but if a game ever gets to the point where it stops being fun and feels like work (after I've given it a few hours to see if it becomes fun again), I'll get rid of it, and start playing a new game. At this point, I've got a decent sized collection of games in my backlog, and never have enough time to play them. I figure, why waste time playing a game that isn't fun, just for the sake of being able to say you've beaten it? I've looked back on all the games I did that with, and always feel that I would rather have had my time back, or at least invested it in enjoying a game I actually enjoyed.

It's never too late to quit a game. I dropped Max Payne when I was somewhere in the middle or end of Act 3, just because I wasn't having fun anymore, and had not been having fun since somewhere in the middle of Act 2. Max Payne might be a semi-iconic game, but third-person shooters are always hit-or-miss for me, with Max Payne apparently being one of the latter.

[starman9000]

I played through the Eragon game with my nephew this weekend. It was enjoyable enough, but I am sure I was only able to stomache it's simplicity because I hardly game anymore and can't usually find the time to dedicate to better games.

[Puffa469]

I never stick with a game if it sucks, or even if its mediocre. I never feel the need to finish a game just because Ive started it.

[VipFREAK]

I fucking hate EA... I continually play NHL 07 even though the AI are retards even in the Superstar setting. It's hard to believe but I guess the joystick control and looks are enough to keep me interested, sadly. If they had the joystick option on 2K7 I'd soooo be playing that right now.

[lordwow]

I too am a completisist, and if I start a game, I try to finish it. But, like 9/10 games on my shelf I never completed. Sad.

[gofishn]

I asked myself the same question last night while playing Samurai Warriors 2 Empires for the 360. Koei constantly puts out the same mediocre (or worse) game over and over again, and yet every once and a while I get this urge to pick up a Dynasty Warriors game and slay 1000's of feudal Chinese or Japanese warriors. I mean, aside from the "Empires" aspect, the game is basically the same as it was 6 years ago when I bought Dynasty Warriors 2. They didn't even change the AI, the guys just stand there and let you kill them. The "combos" are just pressing the X button over and over again. I honestly think if they weren't required to, they would have just ported the game to the 360 in standard definition and with no achievements or any of the other Microsoft-mandated particularities. I sit there playing it and I can't figure out if I'm enjoying myself or not, but I still sit there and play it for hours. I guess I just need to satisfy the mindless button masher in me every now and then.

[psiufoxx2]

World of Warcraft. 'Nuff said.

[360CoreGaMer]

i beat shrek 2 in three days as it was some what fun, just easy and seemed to be a PITA at parts where the people would not follow me, or died for this reason or the other... well they don't actually die just pass out..

[daroga]

I've grown less tolerant of medicore games, or even good games that don't seem to appeal to me.

I stopped played Dead Rising as I couldn't get into it; I've stalled a tad on Gears of War; neither Elebits nor either version of Trauma Center did I stick with.

I've got too many games and too little time to play to spend it playing a lower quality game, or a game that doesn't "click" with me.

[Zurezo]

Hexic HD. and Dead or Alive Beach Volley Ball on the Xbox. I dont know why but I might be the only person in the world that bought that game for $50 when it came out.

[Surferflames]

I asked myself the same question last night while playing Samurai Warriors 2 Empires for the 360. Koei constantly puts out the same mediocre (or worse) game over and over again...

The Dynasty and Samurai franchises are my dirty pleasure of gaming. They are so flawed and so horrible but for some reason I keep playing. Going through Musou mode with some crappy character that hits people with a paper fan just to unlock some random crossdressing guy that sorta looks like Wolverine in an off-broadway production of Moulin Rouge.

Can't stop playing...

[jngx80]

The Dynasty and Samurai franchises are my dirty pleasure of gaming. They are so flawed and so horrible but for some reason I keep playing. Going through Musou mode with some crappy character that hits people with a paper fan just to unlock some random crossdressing guy that sorta looks like Wolverine in an off-broadway production of Moulin Rouge.

Can't stop playing...

Dynasty Warriors is awesome. It's been milked dry with Koei adding little to the sequels but it doesn't matter because there are few games that offer the same kind of experience i.e. taking out hundreds of soldiers.

If they could only add in a bit more strategy into the game, like have some kind of achievement system or if your decision to help some characters gives you an extra boost or something. There should be some kind of reward/consequence for letting people in your army live/die.

[aTOH]

fucking solitaire

& Minesweeper. Good Lord, I hate this game. Yet, my mouse somehow finds its way to the Games folder and opens it up. I can't tell you how much sleep I've lost and how much homework I've neglected because of this damned game.

[The Crotch]

Black & White II. The fact that it scored so well with so many reviewers seems absolutely inconceivable to me. It's six fucking hours long, and those six hours are almost impossibly buggy. And don't get me started on the horrendous AI/pathfinding, be it creature, platoon, or enemy commander. And yet I pick it up and play a few more islands every month.

[Yoohoo1231]

I stopped played Dead Rising as I couldn't get into it; I've stalled a tad on Gears of War; neither Elebits nor either version of Trauma Center did I stick with.


I've stalled on Gears too. There was a point when I tried to get back into it but played a game of coop so I lost my checkpoint. Now I can only play it in coop I guess.

[SpecTrE3353]

World of Warcraft. 'Nuff said.

So true.

[Dead of Knight]

This happens all the time with me. I've just gotten used to selling the crap right back to the store.

[doraemonkerpal]

Now I can only play it in coop I guess.

you can continue your game where you left off in single player mode.

i too am constantly going back and playing solitaire while listening to music. also, i played 187 ride or die for a long time b/c i loved hearing the "ghetto" talk in that game lol! it was terrible!:D

[kittycatgirl2k]

Hexic HD. and Dead or Alive Beach Volley Ball on the Xbox. I dont know why but I might be the only person in the world that bought that game for $50 when it came out.

Noope, I paid full price for DOAX: Beach Volleyball when it came out (got it on launch day) and just looooved it. And played it endlessly because it was such mindless fun.

As for games that I just dont know why I play...
Baiten Katos was driving me crazy with boredom. I wanted to finish it and kept plugging at it. The last 15 hours with it were just pure torture and finally I wisened up and shelved it, where it will sit FOREVER.

Trauma Center Under the Knife on the DS was driving me insane. I dont have the patience (oro able to give anything my undivided ultimate attention like this game demands) so it was really frustrating me when I would get interrupted every few minutes making me screw up. Its a game you have to play *perfect* or *else*. I managed to get to the 28th operation (I believe) which is ALMOST the end of the games main story when I finally said NO MORE. It was infurating me to the point I was grumpy for hours after playing it and thats just not healthy. Farkin frustratin as hell game, though the first 10 or so levels/surgeries were fantastic fun.

[ViolentLee]

I tend to get wrapped up in puzzle games and sink massive hours with zero reward. Shanghai-style MahJong on Nabiscoworld.com is a long-standing favorite, and I've played a TON of FreeCell over the years. I'll usually turn on my MP3 player or my PC's catalogued music and zone out.

Hexic HD and Bejeweled 2 for 360 were temporary addictions, too. I have playlists on my 360 for when I want to kill an hour. I also will sometimes just sit around and play Tetris DS's Touch mode while watching TV.

[Puffa469]

Ive probably spent more time playing Freecell, Bejeweled and Snood than any other games. But I only play them at work.

We play Freecell at work for money. Everyone throws in a buck, we all pick the same number game, and the first person to finish it wins the pot. ;)


I tend to get wrapped up in puzzle games and sink massive hours with zero reward. Shanghai-style MahJong on Nabiscoworld.com is a long-standing favorite, and I've played a TON of FreeCell over the years. I'll usually turn on my MP3 player or my PC's catalogued music and zone out.

Hexic HD and Bejeweled 2 for 360 were temporary addictions, too. I have playlists on my 360 for when I want to kill an hour. I also will sometimes just sit around and play Tetris DS's Touch mode while watching TV.

[scorpers]

I only actually play the games I like. I won't play a game if I don't like it. I won't hesitate to sell it right away. That's how I was with Prey, just couldn't get into for some reason and wasn't having fun and decided after 2 hrs that it wasn't for me and I quickly sold it. I like all kinds of games and will not rest until I've beaten the game I'm currently playing and then move onto the next one. I use to stock pile games and then never open them,. This gen with the 360, I only buy a game that I am going to play and then won't buy another one till I'm finished the one I'm playing.

[ViolentLee]

Ive probably spent more time playing Freecell, Bejeweled and Snood than any other games. But I only play them at work.

We play Freecell at work for money. Everyone throws in a buck, we all pick the same number game, and the first person to finish it wins the pot. ;)
That's pretty sweet. I've only met a handful of people that even know HOW to play FreeCell.

I used to have about an 88% win percentage, but in the last few years it's gone down. Stats have been reset various times, but right now I'm 591-163 (78%), and my biggest win streak is 17. I like to play FreeCell when I'm on non-essential phone calls, too.

[Graystone]

Battlefield 2 for 360. The game hasn't had a patch since it was released a year ago. Its had no maps added. Everyone plays the same 3 maps.

They have year old glitches in the game where you can hide in walls, and kill people without dying. It sucks, and its noob city. Its super easy to win a round. Yet I find myself playing it for days at a time.