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It's the never-ending story, the dun dun duuuuun backlog....

I try to keep track of how many games I have and I'm looking at a 78 game backlog right now. This probably doesn't seem like a crazy amount to most but I'm not including my digital games in that total. (Steam, XBOX LIVE Arcade, PSN, DSiware, 3DSware, VITA etc.) I'm guessing with those numbers it would probably be at least double that if not more (but out of sight out of mind right?) .

So I started looking through my "collection" and trying to weed out some stuff but it seems like there is always another game on the horizon. I also started looking at howlongtobeat.com to look up game times for some of my games. I figure an average game could take anywhere from 8-14 hours. It doesn't seem like that long but with less game time now it adds up fast. I figure even if I play an hour a day it will take me 2 weeks to finish a 14 hour game...but more realistically it would probably take 3-4 weeks.

The crazy thing is I don't even buy the way I used to in the early days of CAG. So how do you guys manage? Or just don't think about it? If I was a collector I probably wouldn't mind but I'm at the point where looking at all these games doesn't add up or make too much sense really. I'm thinking of ditching most of the last gen stuff but now the next gen is already fast approaching. I feel like I might need to start ignoring platforms to really get the # of games down. Then again I could just stop buying stuff all together until I get it within a number I'm happy with but isn't deal hunting a game in itself?

I guess having too much to play shouldn't be a problem but I'm guessing I'm not the only one who would rather have a 3 game backlog than a 78 game one.

I only have a collection of games that aren't worth bupkiss to BB or anywhere else to trade in. Otherwise, anything with a decent value gets eliminated before that value goes to shit. So that's the only way I have a collection of games.

Mine includes such great titles as Duke Nukem Forever($2.99 @ BB new n worth squat there), Red Dead Redemption GOTY(they only list the vanilla for trade & I'm not about to give them the GOTY version for $10 after 100% promo) and Crysis 2($2 tiv, so a whopping $4 after 100% bonus).

That's hoarding, not collecting, lol.

It's inhuman to be that interested in so many games at once, and you honestly know damn well you're not -- otherwise you'd be quite happy. You need to sort out your interests. I'm super hyped for a game maybe 3-4 times a year, and if I have time I'll visit something that I'd like to try out.

Those games you're not playing are dropping lower in price as they sit in your backlog, btw. So cool it on the deal grabs as well. I guess you have a substantial pool of potential christmas gifts, though.

Originally Posted by panzerfaust That's hoarding, not collecting, lol. It's inhuman to be that interested in so many games at once, and you honestly know damn well you're not -- otherwise you'd be quite happy. You need to sort out your interests. I'm super hyped for a game maybe 3-4 times a year, and if I have time I'll visit something that I'd like to try out. Those games you're not playing are dropping lower in price as they sit in your backlog, btw. So cool it on the deal grabs as well. I guess you have a substantial pool of potential christmas gifts, though.

If you think that's hoarding, then you probably shouldn't go to the collection thread.

Originally Posted by panzerfaust That's hoarding, not collecting, lol. It's inhuman to be that interested in so many games at once, and you honestly know damn well you're not -- otherwise you'd be quite happy. You need to sort out your interests. I'm super hyped for a game maybe 3-4 times a year, and if I have time I'll visit something that I'd like to try out. Those games you're not playing are dropping lower price as they sit in your backlog, btw. So cool it on the deal grabs as well.

Well some of these games go back to PS1...it's not as if I'm interested in playing 78 brand new games right now. Most of it is stuff I've never gotten around to playing because of lack of time. That's kind of my point though...I want to start limiting this or cutting it down. As a for instance I have 10 PS2 games, 8 Gamecube games, and 4 XBOX games. Now individually it's not a lot of games per system but that's 22 games less than 78 if I decide to just purge and move on. As for games dropping lower in my backlog, I don't think I've paid more than $20 for any game in many many years at this point so no worries there.

Don't purge old games just because they're old! Sort out what you want to play.

If you think that's hoarding, then you probably shouldn't go to the collection thread.

*shivers*

Originally Posted by panzerfaust Don't purge old games just because they're old!

It's not because they are old...it's because of the lack of time to play them.

Then I'm confused. There's nothing you can do related to organizing a backlog that will free up time in your life. You may not be able to finish 78 games before you die at this point. So when you do have the time, play the ones that interest you.

Originally Posted by panzerfaust Then I'm confused. There's nothing you can do related to organizing a backlog that will free up time in your life. You may not be able to finish 78 games before you die at this point. So when you do have the time, play the ones that interest you.

Yeah I just want to figure out the right balance of buying vs. playing vs. backlog. I know some people here have had successful purging stories. I guess my main goal should be to only buy a game once I've finished 3.

I have 5 PS3 games and whenever a girl sees it she's like "wow you really like videogames"

I think really that unless you are buying games for limited edition material that you can't get later, you shouldn't be buying new games. I'll admit that I fall into the trap every once in a while, but really, most games are going to be around and available for a long time.

I have a large console backlog (Not as bad as yours. I think I have about 30-40 games in various states of play) and I do clean it out every once in a while. Many are older PS2 games that I might not find later on. Others were too cheap to pass on. Others are more for my son than myself. (The LEGO games.)

That being said, I made it a resolution of mine that I was going to play more and buy less, and I've mostly followed through with that.

I don't think game buying is hoarding, unless you have hundreds of unplayed titles and they take up so much space that you can't walk anywhere. If you have 75-80 unplayed games then I don't think that is hoarding. Unless they all have huge boxes, but if you are just buying the ones in regular cases then they don't take up that much space.

Remember, traditional hoarding is when you hoard things that most people would consider garbage, expired food, crumpled newspaper....etc..

I'd consider most games in a collection of 80 to be garbage. Just a guess, though.

Hoarding has it's own enjoyment in comparison to collecting, though I do feel a lot of people falsely call themselves collectors here. A collector has a showcase of pieces that mean something to them, they could walk you around and talk at length about each one. A hoarder simply has a warehouse of stuff and marvels at the size of his store. Both are impressive in different ways, I suppose.

I am not a hoarder...lol. If I was I wouldn't be looking to downsize. The funny part is a lot of people here would probably consider my non-collection collection small.

Oh, I know. Just going off topic is all.

cool i just made an account on this site, so far i have 39 backlog games but theres gonna be more added soon.

Originally Posted by camoor I have 5 PS3 games and whenever a girl sees it she's like "wow you really like videogames"

That's because for dudebros a regular collection is 2 games: Newest CoD, Newest Madden.

Anyway, just play what you want. The other games at least look pretty on your shelves.

I've slowed down buying to only about eight games a year. I rarely buy day one anymore. I make a list of games I want to play that are coming out that year and as I wait for those games to drop I clear our more of the backlog. Even if its only a rate of two or three games a month I'm still beating more than I'm buying typically.

I avoid rpgs most of the time as well, unless I'm particularly interested

I like having a "deep" (30 games or so) backlog so I have choices when I don't know what to play.

Originally Posted by Rumors I've slowed down buying to only about eight games a year. I rarely buy day one anymore. I make a list of games I want to play that are coming out that year and as I wait for those games to drop I clear our more of the backlog. Even if its only a rate of two or three games a month I'm still beating more than I'm buying typically. I avoid rpgs most of the time as well, unless I'm particularly interested

Yeah I pretty much avoid rpgs at this point as well.