Anybody else have a plan to get through your Pile of Shame?

Trusty Mutsi

Trusty Mutsi

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And by Pile of Shame, I mean your pile of games you still need to play.

Mine is this: I cannot buy/request another game until I've beaten 2. I've tried this before and failed, but looking at my stack slowly grow is reinforcing my desire to do this consistantly. Maybe once I'm down to about 5 games left I'll change the rule to: Beat one game to buy/request one game.

Anybody else have a plan to get through your pile?

And just for fun, here's my pile:


Mercenaries 2
Mass Effect
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Castle Crashers
Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Fallout 3
Undertow
Conan
Bioshock
Kung Fu Panda
Assassin's Creed
Two Worlds
Tomb Raider Legend
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Prey
Stranglehold
Civilization IV
Hitman 2
 
Play only the games you find enjoyment out of (why we play games in the first place).

Sell the rest.

In the end if you are not having fun, there's no need in forcing yourself through meaningless hours just to justify your purchase or a "great deal". I've learned over the years that time is just too precious to waste.
 
[quote name='antlp89']Play only the games you find enjoyment out of (why we play games in the first place).

Sell the rest.

In the end if you are not having fun, there's no need in forcing yourself through meaningless hours just to justify your purchase or a "great deal". I've learned over the years that time is just too precious to waste.[/QUOTE]

Well, everything in my list is stuff I haven't gotten to yet, so I don't even know whether I like them or not and would want to sell them.
 
Wow, I have you beat my miles. Between my PS2, PS3, and Wii I'm up near 60 games (won't bother with a list right now). Since you'll ask why, it's because with the current market situation there have been too many good deals to pass up. Ebay, Target, B2G1's, price drops, 35% off at GS, Amazon and their deals, Circuit City closing, etc. I've tried to limit myself but they way I see it I'd rather get it while I can find it, you never know when a game will be discontinued or become rare. Even if the price drops I rarely pay over $30-$35 for a game new or used so the price is fine if it sits a while.

I intend to play them all eventually. It may take a long time (I still haven't touched GTA4, MGS4, or a number of other big names) but I try to catch up during the slow months. Being a collector with good sense I hardly ever end up with a stinker, but if it's really that bad I won't force myself through it. I think the only game I've skipped so far this gen was Blitz 2.

My plan is to try and finish a game a week. Sadly that means passing on some RPG's (have FFX2 and FF12 sitting on my pile for years). Oh and these totals don't include a few DS games, some PC games I never finished, and a bunch on consoles I don't use at the moment like Saturn, GC, or PSP.
 
I need to implement a rule like this. My backlog is completely out of control, and doesn't seem to be slowing down.

Recently, I've found myself replaying games i've already beaten in an attempt to pick up decent gamerscores in them. It's the completionist in me holding me back.

I'm at work, away from my shelves, but off the top of my head?

Tales of Vesperia
Blue Dragon
Infinite Undiscovery
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Street Fighter IV
Enchanted Arms
Lips
Soul Calibur IV
Alone in the Dark
Silent Hill Homecoming
Wall-E
Fuel
Kingdom Under Fire: COD
Lego Indy
Two Worlds (fer lulz)
Too Human
Overlord
Command and Conquer 3
Dead or Alive 4
PGR4
Devil May Cry 4
Ultimate Alliance
Oblivion


This, of course, is only my 360 shelf. I've got some Wii, some DS, and a few PS2/PS3 games sitting there waiting for my attention as well. *sigh*
 
No real plan, but that backlog is a part of my 'unexpected unemployment contingency plan'.

All that means is if I ever find myself unemployed, I'll be spending most of that time playing those games and then selling them on ebay.
 
[quote name='Puffa469']No real plan, but that backlog is a part of my 'unexpected unemployment contingency plan'.

All that means is if I ever find myself unemployed, I'll be spending most of that time playing those games [/QUOTE]Heh, that's how I played through Halo, Halo 2, Crimson Skies, and Fable one summer.
 
i cant do anything about mine till i get al the trophies on infamous which im near to doing after i finish my evil run. just need 1 more stunt to get the stunt trophy and then after i beat it im done with that damn game finally ( shard hunting kind of killed it for me) after that im gonna go through bioshock again since i bought the dlc for it so i can restart a new game with everything i have already, then i need to beat SR2 and after that ill get started on those games i got from psn (CSOTN, FF7 .BCR).

even after that theres other games i havent beaten yet but those are the ones im keen on beating. man i cant wat to finally beat infamous great game and all but it becomes a chore once you commit to the trophies.
 
[quote name='MuzykMann']
Two Worlds (fer lulz)
QUOTE]

Two Worlds is actually not that bad. Just pretend you're playing a PS2 game with awesome graphics :)
 
[quote name='Puffa469']No real plan, but that backlog is a part of my 'unexpected unemployment contingency plan'.

All that means is if I ever find myself unemployed, I'll be spending most of that time playing those games and then selling them on ebay.[/QUOTE]

Hmmmm... you've made me comepletely rethink my Pile of Shame plan. Stocking up for hard times ain't a bad plan!
 
Hah, that's nothing. My backlog currently extends all the way back to the NES. I own copies of River City Ransom and Star Tropics that I haven't gotten a chance to play yet. I own all three of the Prince of Persia games released on the XBox, and haven't gotten to the end of any of them. I own the latest Prince of Persia on the 360, and I'm not even a quarter of the way through that. I'm currently playing Chrono Trigger for the first time, and I'm only four or five hours in. I own a copy of Chrono Cross and have never played it. I've got tons of high-quality Japanese RPGs on the shelf that I haven't beaten.

And despite this obscenely large back-log, I am going to go home tonight and NOT play any of it. Gaming isn't my only hobby, and the other projects I'm working on take precedence at the moment. Maybe next year I can wade into my back catalog.
 
my pile is quite large and the way i see it it is motivation not to pay full price for a game.
batman just came out and my god do i want to buy it BUT i know damn well ive got a bunch more games im still not thru yet that need my attention first :)
OR it hits $20 before then....
 
I gotta agree with that one guy, play the ones you really want to play, and sell the rest.

[quote name='Trusty Mutsi']Well, everything in my list is stuff I haven't gotten to yet, so I don't even know whether I like them or not and would want to sell them.[/QUOTE]

You at least know a bit about each of the games though, right? I'd like to think we're all able to form a general impression of a game based on the videos/reviews/word of mouth/etc that we see. I know alot of people here say that they only rely on their own experiences on whether or not they'll enjoy the game and that there's always they chance they might find a hidden gem or something but is it really worth spending months on end playing through these games to find out?

Obviously if you're set on playing all of them, then I guess I would just say to stick with your current plan. I just don't really agree with the whole backlogging thing... I think that buying every game you come across that's cheap can become a real bad habit. It makes sense to collectors, but when you convince yourself you're buying it to play when there's 50+ games that were all purchased under the same pretense it turns into a mission of conquest to play catch-up and sucks the fun out of playing games.
 
I made a list up at the beginning of the Summer of all the games I wanted to try to beat before this year's Fall gaming rush. The only one I didn't get to was God of War II, but the way I see it I have plenty of time to beat it before GoW III hits.


My Summer List
Battlefield: Bad Company
Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Dead Space
Mirror's Edge
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Final Fantasy VII (this one I am proud of)

Other Backlog Games Finished This Year
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Heavenly Sword
The Witcher
Indigo Prophecy
Yakuza
Assassin's Creed
LEGO Batman

This year has been freakin great for my backlog, I am almost completely caught up on games I want to beat that I know I will actually play someday.
 
I told myself the next game I am going to buy is Borderlands, so I've got until October 20th to shrink my backlog.
 
My plan: weep softly at the realization that I'm never going to play through all these games. I jump on too many deals to make the "beat 2/buy 1" strategy feasible, plus, I mostly play RPGs. I bought ten games since I started playing Rogue Galaxy.
 
First, put Bioshock at the top of your 'to do' list. It is the best game I've ever played. As far as backlog I also have a lot of games I played and never finished and sometimes it annoys me but it's also up to the game to hold your attention long enough to make you want to finish it. And, if you finished every game you played that would diminish the feeling of accomplishment of finishing a game. Only the games you enjoy the most need to be finished. That being said, my backlog still does annoy me but there's no way I'll ever finish them all anyway. Play Bioshock!
 
Whenever my list gets too big I just sell them in to whatever place is running the best deal at the time.. Gamestop, Amazon or Goozex...

Currently my to-do list includes a bunch of games - some I'm partway through and got distracted and others I haven't even touched. Sometimes I feel like I *have* to buy certain games and then I never play them. It's sick. Right now I'm working on Batman AA which is pretty fucking amazing. Great blend of Metal Gear Solid meets God of War. Once that's done, I think I'll probably be trying to finish up Fable II, Halo 3 or Valkyria Chronicles. I've been feeling rather warlike lately.

Blazblue
Conan
Fable II
Gears of War 2
Halo 3
Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
Mercenaries 2
Orange Box
Too Human
Valkyria Chronicles

This doesn't even include all the downloadable and handheld games... those are a post in and of themselves...
 
To my mind, a "pile of shame" is not the same as a backlog. It's not just games you own but haven't played - where's the shame in that? A proper pile of shame is a list of great games that you SHOULD have played but haven't. Judging by the inclusion of Kung Fu Panda, I take it the OP did not intend this usage.

Topping my pile of shame is Resident Evil 4 which I have for both GC and Wii but haven't played more than an hour of.
 
Games I own but haven't played: is this a pile of shame? (no particular order, somewhat by console spanning several generations)

Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Goldeneye
Perfect Dark
Tomb Raider 2
Tomb Raider 3
Metal Gear Solid
God of War
Devil May Cry
Viewtiful Joe
Viewtiful Joe 2
Metal Gear Solid 2
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Ninja Gaiden Black
Knights of the Old Republic
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star IV
Neutopia
Dungeon Explorer
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GC)
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Mass Effect
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Gears of War
Shenmue
Skies of Arcadia
Sonic Adventure 2
Space Channel 5
 
Oh, if you're going to include consoles earlier than PS2 then my list jumps to the 100's. When I was rebuilding my collection of SNES and NES titles I picked up plenty of others along the way. Stuff I'd like to play but might not.

I avoid all those lame console FPS's (I require M/KB like in UT3) and don't play sports or fighting games so my piles shouldn't take THAT long. It also helps that I'm not much of a trophy whore. Sure if it's a really good game (LBP) or fairly short and easy to earn (Dead Space and Ski Doo Challenge) I'll go for the plat. But most of the time it's one play through to get all I can, then I move on.
 
I would suggest playing Fallout 3, it has more atmosphere than any game I can remember. I have Red Alert 3 and the game guide because I badly want to learn to play RTS games, but I'm usually to tired to think that hard!
 
I gave up on it. I'm to busy with other stuff nowadays to have the time and when I play games I feel like there are more important things I should be doing instead. I haven't really found a game that grabs my attention completely like when I was a kid.
 
By "Pile of Shame" I mean games you haven't played yet. The "Shame" part refers to a large pile of games you haven't played yet. If your pile is like 5-6 games, it probably shouldn't be considered shameful. It's more like a pile of games that makes you think "Why did I buy all of these? When will I ever get to them all?"
 
I don't have a large list for my 360, but my problem is 3 of them are RPGs.

No plan to get through them yet, but for my other games, I can always put off looking for a job. ;)
 
I cleared out my pile of shame twice in the span of three years, but I don't recommend either methods to this. The first was being out of work for three months following back surgery. The second was getting laid off and being unemployed for four months before finding a job. Anyway, the later happened six months ago, so the list is not too long:

-Bourne Conspiracy
-Mirror's Edge
-Wolfenstein
 
At the start of this generation I ditched all my last gen games on Goozex--including 5 or so I never got around to playing.

And for the most part I only pick up games when I plan to play them right away (they'll be cheaper/less points on Goozex down the road when I have time to play them).

As such I only have 2 games untouched on my shelf. Prince of Persia (which I'll start soon, maybe this weekend) and Fallout 3 (not sure when I'll get to it, not really time for an RPG currently).


So my plan was to just simply never again build up a backlog. I've never collected games, always just beat them and trade/sell them, so now I just do that and hold off on picking up stuff until I'm ready to play.
 
I've never really bought any games just because they were cheap, I've always made sure at some point in time I'd actually want to play them. Except for that darn blazblue CE, I'm still considering bringing it back.
 
Yeah, I've never bought anything (game or otherwise) because it was cheap.

I buy things because I want them, and I wait until they're cheap when it comes to games as they're just not worth anywhere near full price to me, with very few exceptions.
 
It's simple, really:
Step 1: Buy Less games
Step 2: Finish More games.
Repeat until backlog is gone.
I haven't bought a game since April, and using this method I've gone from ~100 games at the beginning of the year to ~30 right now.
 
[quote name='Danil ACE']Do you guys put games on your backlog if you simply haven't beaten them, or only if you haven't opened them?[/QUOTE]

I consider something as a backlog game if I haven't beaten it, and still want to play it. I've taken some out when I got tired of them and decided I didn't care if I ever finished it.
 
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