Do you open your backlog or leave everything sealed until you play it?

Viper187

Viper187

CAG Newbie
I've been stacking up more of a backlog lately and I thought I'd get see how other people handle it. I thought about leaving things sealed for now. I dunno. It drives me nuts when I open an Xbox game and the damn sticker leaves glue on the case.
 
I usually open them immediately since I was going to play them anyway.

But last week I bought Starfy and still haven't removed the sealing to start playing. I guess its too much of a distraction for me at the moment to even dare open yet. Then again, it might make a good present for my little sister.
 
[quote name='knotfan123']Seal it up[/QUOTE]

^^^

Sealed until I play it. Might decide later that I don't have time for the game and re-gift it or since I only buy new games at awesome deals goes on Ebay for no loss (with fees etc).
 
[quote name='DarkRider23']I don't believe in backlogs. No point in buying a game if I'm going to be waiting a year to play it.[/QUOTE]

Exactly.

Why store a game on your shelf when amazon will do it for you. Longer you wait cheaper it is, probably end up cheaper than whatever "deal" you got it for in the first place by the time you get around to playing it.
 
[quote name='DarkRider23']I don't believe in backlogs. No point in buying a game if I'm going to be waiting a year to play it.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='Lice']Exactly.

Why store a game on your shelf when amazon will do it for you. Longer you wait cheaper it is, probably end up cheaper than whatever "deal" you got it for in the first place by the time you get around to playing it.[/QUOTE]

Hard to argue with $13 or $19 in the recent sales. Games worth a damn hardly go lower. I've seen some games go OOP before they drop to that $20 price point too. Like that goddamn Lost Odyssey game. Anyone noticed Amazon itself hasn't stocked it in a while? Gone on NewEgg as well. I had to grab a $30 copy from Tigerdirect. These damn Microsoft titles seem to either go platinum or disappear entirely too fast. happened to N3 too. You can get the sequel, but nobody's stocking the original at $20 like lots of other games. :(

and good freakin luck getting a cheap sealed copy of things that were limited editions or just random 360 stuff. NFS Carbon LE anyone? I think TDU got a little on the rare side too....Destroy All Humans, etc.
 
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My backlog consists of games I get from Goozex so they aren't sealed. If I buy something brand new I will usually just open it the day I get it to play it for a little bit then go back to whatever I was playing previously. Unless there is a great deal on a game I dont really see any point in buying something you aren't gonna play for months or might not ever get to.
 
I voted yes, but honestly it's more like 50-50. Sometimes I'll want to open it up to make sure everything is intact, other times I don't feel the need and leave it sealed. Usually if I'm sure I'm going to play the game at some point in the near future, I'll open it. Though recently my backlog has been less physical games and more Steam bargains, so the question about whether to open them is moot.
 
[quote name='WhipSmartBanky']Open. Never know if the disc is going to be damaged or missing and don't want to get past the return/warranty period.[/QUOTE]

I've thought about that too, but to be sure the games are inside there. After the incident I had at sears a few months back it left a sour note in my stomach but I've gotten past the point that I don't want to freak out over it.
 
[quote name='Lice']Exactly.

Why store a game on your shelf when amazon will do it for you. Longer you wait cheaper it is, probably end up cheaper than whatever "deal" you got it for in the first place by the time you get around to playing it.[/QUOTE]

But perhaps not new, and some people actually care about that.

I'm kind of a mixed bag, but I usually wait until I want to play them. Although sometimes I wait too long, and they stay sealed for a crazy-long time (Noticed Fatal Frame 2 for the original Xbox is still sealed yesterday. Go figure. Still didn't open it.)
 
I used to keep them sealed until I finally got around to playing them, but after hearing about a number of CAG's finding out much too late that games they picked up cheap had been sliced open and the games removed I started opening mine since then.

Although I still do have a few that're still sealed:)xbox: Psychonauts, :ps3: Godfather II and :ps2: Just Cause).
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I used to keep them sealed until I finally got around to playing them, but after hearing about a number of CAG's finding out much too late that games they picked up cheap had been sliced open and the games removed I started opening mine since then.

Although I still do have a few that're still sealed:)xbox: Psychonauts, :ps3: Godfather II and :ps2: Just Cause).[/QUOTE]

I've been giving mine the rattle test. You should be able to hear the disc rattle inside and be able to tell if it's loose or not.
 
I keep them sealed with the exception of Club Nintendo code games. Those I log immediately to get the bonus coins and easier time reaching reward levels.
 
I open mine because I don't trade/sell games. Years and years ago I used to trade in games I had beaten that still had a high trade in value, but now...I just can't do it. I feel like a hoarder because I buy enough games to never have time to go back and play through titles like "Lost Odyssey" or "Persona 3 FES" again, but I'll be damned if its going to be sitting anywhere but on my shelf. I have spent the past 2-3 years of my life at gamestops tracking down the games I once owned just to buy them again and stick them back on that same dusty bookcase. My wife says I have "A" problem, though she knows I have lots of problems
 
[quote name='Viper187']I've been giving mine the rattle test. You should be able to hear the disc rattle inside and be able to tell if it's loose or not.[/QUOTE]
A blank CD-R sounds identical to a retail game. The stories I've heard about this curtail any need for me to keep the game sealed.
 
[quote name='DPsycho']I keep them sealed with the exception of Club Nintendo code games. Those I log immediately to get the bonus coins and easier time reaching reward levels.[/QUOTE]

Ditto.
 
[quote name='WhipSmartBanky']A blank CD-R sounds identical to a retail game. The stories I've heard about this curtail any need for me to keep the game sealed.[/QUOTE]

1. These all came from Amazon. 2. 360 games have that sticker sealing the spine. I'd say that makes things a little difficult.

I'm mainly holding off in case I see better deals on certain things right now, but it'd have to be a major difference for me to even consider the hassle of returns anyway, I guess. I'm happy with the deals from Amazon. I kinda wish I'd held off on L4D2 since that'll probably get a GOTY edition later, but those have been getting fucked lately by only having codes instead of content on disc. I dunno.
 
[quote name='Viper187']1. These all came from Amazon. 2. 360 games have that sticker sealing the spine. I'd say that makes things a little difficult.

I'm mainly holding off in case I see better deals on certain things right now, but it'd have to be a major difference for me to even consider the hassle of returns anyway, I guess. I'm happy with the deals from Amazon. I kinda wish I'd held off on L4D2 since that'll probably get a GOTY edition later, but those have been getting fucked lately by only having codes instead of content on disc. I dunno.[/QUOTE]
1. Difficult, but not impossible. 2. It's not common, but I've personally seen an apparently sealed game, sticker and all, opened only to contain an AOL CD. I'd say I would never take that chance, personally.
 
I voted "sealed" but truthfully it depends. I usually dont open till im ready to play but sometimes Ill open it to flip through the manual or something if I anticipate playing it soon or if theres something like DLC inside.
 
[quote name='Hell Monkey']I open them to roll around in a pile of instructions. Forget money, I fill my bed with game instructions![/QUOTE]
I used to crack open my games just to take that first whiff of the manual and case inside. Mmmmmm plastic fumes.;):drool:
 
Always open them. Read too many horror stories about games coming scratched, having a CD-R in the case or simply no game in the case at all. Don't want to open a game months after I buy it and screw myself over. As for returning the game, it doesn't matter if I open it or not, I won't be able to return it anyways if I don't intend on playing it for a couple of months since it'll be way over the return period.
 
Never open them. A sealed game has more of a chance to appreciate than an opened one, for sure. I've gone back to my backlog when i want to play one and have sold sealed games because their sealed counterparts go for way more than the used ones.
 
[quote name='DarkRider23']I don't believe in backlogs. No point in buying a game if I'm going to be waiting a year to play it.[/QUOTE]
[quote name='Lice']Exactly.

Why store a game on your shelf when amazon will do it for you. Longer you wait cheaper it is, probably end up cheaper than whatever "deal" you got it for in the first place by the time you get around to playing it.[/QUOTE]

/thread
 
I keep the games sealed, once in a while I will decide I don't want a game I bought (impulse buy like a $5 clearance game) and can sell it for what I paid most of the times and a few times more than what I paid for it.
 
[quote name='WhipSmartBanky']Open. Never know if the disc is going to be damaged or missing and don't want to get past the return/warranty period.[/QUOTE]

Bingo, I open all my games you never know when you'll be missing a disk. Seems to happen alot with target games on clearance. It's happened to me so now I open my games in the parking lot, driving back to the store and telling them how there was no disk in the box and trying to convince them you aren't ripping them off is something I never want to do again.

It seems we get a thread about a missing disk or CDR in a case about every few months.
 
This poll needs another option- I buy almost all of my games used, so opening them isn't an option to begin with. When I do shell out for a new game, it's usually something I'm really looking forward to, so it gets opened and played right away. I only have a few exceptions- a couple sealed games from the holidays when I (obviously) got more than one and picked others to play first (this includes Xenogears on the PS1), a copy of Zelda: Minish Cap I only bought to get rid of a Kmart gift card becuase we don't normally shop there, and the Miles Edgeworth game becuase I went on a game spree with my tax return last year and just haven't gotten to that one yet.

I don't sell my games, so I'm not terribly concerned about it one way or another- they'll all get opened and played eventually (not nessecarily by me, but someone I know will borrow it sooner or later.)
 
It depends... If it's a game I'm really excited about I'll open up the game as soon as I get in my car so I can skim the manual. If it's something I'm not sure about I'll keep it sealed until I decide if I'm going to return it or not.
 
Depends, they all get opened at some point, its just when. I have a backlog but its not too horrible (10 games maybe?). I have some still sealed but after reading this thread, I think I'm going to open them up to make sure they are indeed there lol :p
 
I usually open them and test them to make sure the disc works and isn't scratched. It's very rare for there to be a problem but you never know. It's better to open it and make sure it works then to open it in a few months and find out its too scratched to work or its a bad disc and you're out of the 30 day return period.
 
Usually, I open them, for the reasons Banky mentioned.

Plus, I usually pop a game in at least once...even if it's going to sit on the shelf for a while.
 
I don't keep sealed items around for the most part unless I'm looking to flip them or as an investment (meaning, got them for next to nothing). I think it's a bad idea to have too much money locked up in these "rocks" when you can just as easily have a complete game with mint discs for a fraction of the cost.
 
Whenever I buy a new game I always open it, and test the disc out. Even if I am not going to play it for awhile. This way I know the game came in good shape and there is no problems with it. I remember when I bought the orange box for PC, my game was apparently resealed or some shit and the orange box discs were replaced with a portal disc. Luckily gamestop understood my case and I got a new copy. Also with Bad Company 2 for PC, some fucking employee used my multiplayer key and not trying it out would of left me fucked.
 
[quote name='WhipSmartBanky']Open. Never know if the disc is going to be damaged or missing and don't want to get past the return/warranty period.[/QUOTE]

This.

Also, resale value of a game is nothing if the disc doesn't work.

And I have gotten sealed games that are defective.
 
I keep them sealed but I have been more caustious when buying clearance games that are not in the protective cases. Not that I have had any missing disk game wise but a dvd I bought from the circuit city closing was missing when I went to watch it.
 
i havent got any blank or missing disc yet but have seen slit open case many time at sears, walmart, and target .. i still keep my backlog sealed and lock in individual alpha security case like how frys does
 
I open them.

I don't trade or re-sell, but you can bet that if I paid for something, I'm making damned sure that I got what I paid for before the return period is over.
 
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