Are your number of unplayed games increasing? And is that a problem?

[CaptainMidlands]

On my to play list:

PS3
Trinity Universe
Hyperdimension Neptunia 1 and 2 and V
Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel
Mugen Souls
Cross Edge
Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland
Tales of Graces

Wii
Pandora's Tower
Xenoblade Chronicles
Rune Factory: Frontier
Monster Hunter Tri
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
The Last Story
Sakura Wars: So Long my Love

Saturn
Sakura Wars 1 and 2
Princess Maker 2
Dragonball Z: Legends
Panzer Dragoon Saga

Playstation
Legend of Dragoon

DS
Chrono Trigger
Infinite Space

All while trying to play League/Dota2 and replaying Knights of the Old Republic

Sadly, i tend to buy games on impulse before thinking about how many i have to play, then again a lot of my PS3/Wii one's seem to be hard to get

 

[antidonkey]

My backlog doesn't seem to be getting any smaller. Right now it's around 15 games. The problem is every since I broke my wrist I have a hard time gaming for prolonged periods. It's getting better but still causes me pain after about an hour. It's even worse now that it's the winter months. I only find it a problem in the since that I don't know if I'll ever catch up. The good part about it is it makes it very easy for me to wait for sales to buy stuff. Even things I really, really want to play I can hold off until they are $10 or less.

 

[Qvar]

Lol punny humans, with only a couple dozens of unplayed games. I have a backlog of 110 games rigth now, according to Steam, having only played the other 95 I own (and by played I mean it has 0.1 hours or more logged in). It's a problem... In a way. I feel like I've been throwing money out the window every time I look at my library. Fortunately I've been throwing euro coins, not 50 euro bills.

My collection of games has pretty much frozen for the past ohh three years. However thanks to a website called Backloggery(and there are others of the same type). I've actually shrank my backlog of games and I'm pretty happy with that. I personally like the fortune cookie that decides what game I should play via random choice.

I'm totally going to try that.

 

[Lightknight]

It benefits me greatly. I never pay new release prices anymore and when I run into a terrible game I can just kick it to the curb and run to the next one.

For example, I threw a really old game of my backlog into my system last night. It was Stranglehold. Now, I knew going into it that it was a mediocre game at best but I got it for free thanks to a deal I have with my local game store. But damn if an hour in I wasn't done. So I tossed it aside and am moving on through the Assassin's Creed series at the moment. Fortunately though, most of my backlogs are only a couple years old.

The only downsides I can think of are:

1. If a new game comes out for an existing franchise and is considered incredible, I feel obligated to play the games leading up to it. For example, before I played Hitman Absolution I almost compulsively played most of the earlier games. However, as with this example, it turned out that I really liked the series. But sometimes it really wrecks a game for me if the title is too similar.

2. I always feel like I have a lot to get through. Like so much is unfinished. It's not much of a negative but it is a negative.

3. Spoiler territory. I beat Bioshock Infinite on Sunday. I have no idea how that ending wasn't spoiled for me.

 

[Bug MuIdoon]

Another example would be: just now. I bought The latest Humble Bundle purely for Gemini Rue. All the rest are Androidy games, and I'm not really big on mobile gaming. So, to relieve my ever growing backlog somewhat, and to add to yours (heh heh ) I have 3 keys I don't want.

Little Inferno
Jack Lumber
AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! for the Awesome

If anyone wants them, just shout! First come first served though. Merry Christmas an' all that



Edit: 1 down, 2 left.

 

[TheWanderingFish]

I tend not to get bogged down with games I own, as I only buy when something really looks interesting, or when I'm ready to add something to my library. However, the number of games I actually want to buy seems to be dropping as time goes on. There was time when I would buy a game or two a month, and now it has dropped to maybe one every 3 months, in AAA titles anyways.

I guess that kind of upsets me, although it could be I've just developed a filter for what I truly like now.

 

[duwenbasden]

I need to break my cycle of:
- buy games
- play Fallout
- buy more games
- play Fallout
- buy even more games
- try a new game
- play Fallout
and so on and so on...

around 20 for me.

 

[Islandbuffilo]

I have 4 (going on 5) $80+ collector editions I haven't even touched yet, I own 2 entire series I haven't even begun to play... all of them really lengthy games....

 

[Exhuminator]

I define "backlog" as games I own and wish to play someday, but have not played yet. By that description my backlog is enormous indeed. I have hundreds of games I own but haven't played yet. There are still NES games I've yet to play, all the way up to PS3. By that measure my backlog has been increasing for generations / decades now. Last weekend I was organizing my PC collection (I've been building it since the early 90's), and I was finding games that I didn't even remember buying, let alone played yet. But is this a problem? Well, I like to tell myself at least I'll have something to do when I retire. Realistically, I've realized I've bought too many games, and I've been consciously trying to limit myself lately. Only buying the very best of the best in the genres I love most for now on.

 

[shogunblade]

I have three classics on PS2 to play, The Mass Effect Trilogy, Uncharted 3, Aliens: Colonial Marines (It's not THAT bad) about seven or eight Steam games I picked up during humble bundles and two a friend bought me for Christmas this year (Oh god... Left 4 Dead 2... it's so tasty!)

I have a lot of games but I have such little time to play them... which is what I tell myself.

And Walking Dead: Season 2 just came out, Borderlands 2 on PS+, I'd like to try Binary Domain as well... This holiday season, I need to just finish games, which is what I attempt to do every year. Did it last year with Bioshock and was quite pleased I finished it before the New Year.

 

[veloper]

Unplayed? no. Unfinished? Yes.

I usually return to old games after trying some new games. I still get round to trying out the occasional game I got for free or with another game so the unplayed list isn't growing. I just return to superior games after testing a game that doesn't grip me.

 

[J Tyran]

Yeah its becoming a problem for me, between PS+ and Steam I have at least a couple of dozen or so games to get around to playing. At least it doesn't cost much, for that two dozen games it only hit my wallet as much as going out and buying three new AAA console games if that.

As for games I don't own but want to play, I cannot even begin to start thinking of a comprehensive list. There are just too many.

 

[Bullfrog1983]

It's not so much of a problem as a catalog of awesome games that I can play whenever I want to. There are a few exceptions of course, some games got bundled in with others so I have a few I don't want at all.

Otherwise the games I purchase are usually ones I want to buy and seek out on my own after watching reviews of certain games.

 

[DementedSheep]

I have to big a backlog. Mostly because I've been buying all the old games I want to play or try out but never got around to when they come on sale. They are already as cheap as they are going to get so I don't really see this as a problem and since I've got most of what I want last year I'm not buying much anymore....well with games at least. I need stop buying books. Having a kindle is dangerous. I also have some that I got during bundles that I don't really want but that's only if buying the bundle was cheaper than buying the games out of it I do want.

Mu problem is that I keep restarting and replaying games I've already played and ignoring my new ones.

 

[tzimize]

Yes and no.

I do have an increasing backlog, but I play at an erratic rate. Sometimes I can swallow a game in a day, other times...it stretches out to weeks or months.

The thing is, I find myself coming back to the indie titles the most. FTL, binding of isaac, terraria...bite sized chunks of pure distilled awesome gameplay.

If I spend a lot of time on a game, its usually because it doesnt live up to my standards...and then I just abandon it. I dont HAVE to finish every game I start. I used to, but I've ended up finishing only the ones I enjoy a lot.

 

[Odbarc]

I have less of a problem with games I haven't played as much as games I don't care to finish because they aren't fun or I stop playing entirely because they are too short and not worth replaying.

I would estimate my 'wasted money' tally is probably lower than most since I don't complain about it.

My two largest investments are likely Borderlands 2 (and much of it's DLC) and League of Legends (with it's constant skin sales and my disdain for classic/default skins).

 

[Robert Marrs]

Its an issue. Ever since coming to pc my backlog just gets bigger and bigger. Even if its a game I previously owned on consoles when I see something on a really good sale I need it. According to steamdb I have not even installed 60% of the games I own which is pretty bad. Funny thing is the majority of the time I don't even try to get into the ones I have not tried I just end up playing the same few games that I have already beaten.

 

[veloper]

I have a backlog of... ZERO.

The reason for this is because I don't use Steam, and even if I did I'd rather pay $60 for a game I really really want than pay $4 for a game I'm incredibly hesitant on in the first place. With how much people talk about their Steam backlog, I often wonder if Valve is a retailer or a con artist.

Those same $60 games are often in the range of $10 - $20 on Steam and all you have to do is wait a year and then check the xmas sale, or summer sale or autumn sale, whatever is on then.
A game being a bit older doesn't suddenly make it crap. There is a lot of crap, but there's also enough good stuff to fill all your time with.

 

[Zetatrain]

For my consoles, no. I only have two unplayed games at the the moment, Resistance and Valkryria Chronicles.

PC on the other hand....well I wouldn't say its a problem. Sure I doubt I'll ever get to playing most of them and there are a lot of them, but they don't take any physical space and any games I don't tend on playing anytime soon aren't even installed so they don't take up space on my computer.

And yes my massive backlog is due to Steam.