Completing Video Games

[WaysideMaze]

I've noticed in the recent Hitman thread [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118121-Hitman-Absolution-Dev-Says-Most-Players-Wont-Finish-the-Game] a lot of people seem surprised that people would buy a game and not play it through to completion, unless that game was bad.

In my (very brief) search to find statistics about completed video games, I stumbled across this article [http://articles.cnn.com/2011-08-17/tech/finishing.videogames.snow_1_red-dead-redemption-entertainment-software-association-avid-gamers?_s=PM:TECH] from last year, which states that only 10% of players will actually finish a game they start, regardless of the quality of the game.

It just got me wondering, what games (if any) do you currently have lying around that you never finished, and why?

-EDIT- When I say complete, I'm referring to finishing the main story campaign and seeing the credits roll.

However, if you want to use a different yardstick, like hitting 100% in GTA for example, then go ahead.

 

[Jedoro]

I'll stop playing a game if I get to a part that pisses me off, but most times I'll go back later and finish. Right now I've got The Witcher I and II waiting. Bought II first, went and bought I before I got too far, something in I pissed me off, and now they're both waiting. I've heard nothing but good things about them, and enjoyed what I've played, but I keep getting drawn back to Fallout: New Vegas. 250+ hours.

 

[Zhukov]

I finish about 8/10 games I start. A game has to be either bad or very boring for me to completely drop it.

However, this isn't normal. If you go on steam and look at the achievement statistics you'll see that usually less than half the people who played a game got the achievement for finishing it.

Some random examples:

Batman Arkham City: 45%
Half Life 2: Episode 2: 50%
Deus Ex: Human Revolution: 42% (Only 23% managed to save Malick, you monsters.)

 

[Veldt Falsetto]

When I was growing up I would hardly ever complete games but now I'm making a much bigger effort to finish them

I only really have my Xbox 360 down here but I'll list what I have with me and my completion and finish rate

Star Ocean: The Last Hope - Finished but not Completed
Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing - Completed
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron - Completed
Final Fantasy XIII - Finished (3 times) but not Completed
Alone in the Dark - Completed
Mass Effect - Completed
Mass Effect 2 - Completed
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Finished but not Completed
Catherine - Finished but not Completed
Skate 2 - Unfinished (I can not stand this game)
Final Fantasy XIII-2 - Finished but not Completed
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Finished (around 60 or 70%) but not Completed
Vanquish - Finished but not Completed
Project Sylpheed - Finished but not Completed
Portal 2 - Finished single player, still finding time for co-op
RAGE - in play (though I dunno if I will finish this)
Mass Effect 3 - Finished (though re-finishing due to the new ending stuff)

and that's all I actually have with me, I have plenty more with my brother, including a Ps3, Wii, Ps2, Gamecube and others

My DS and PsP, I dunno, I think I've finished quite a few but yeah...I must be in that 10 or 20% of people who actually finish games

 

[scnj]

Sometimes, something comes up and I put a game down and never end up picking it back up. Or at least not picking it up for a long time after. It's happened a lot more recently, since I have less free time and more hobbies.

 

[DoPo]

I can think of two types of games I won't finish.
1. Ones that aren't heavily focused on SP. So, usually some games I enjoy playing with others, for example stuff like Worms, Mortal Kombat and so on. Chances are, I'll be booting up the game for the MP only, and occasionally to try the SP. There aren't a lot of them...mainly, it's that - Worms.
2. Really bad/bland/boring games. Although, they'll be really rare - I do my research on whether I'll like a game or not.
3. (secret option) Spore. I don't know why, but I've never played much more than 5-10 minutes after the galactic tutorial. I love the game, though - I bought it on Steam the other week and even played it for quite a while (today included) but I usually stop at civilisation stage. I just like messing around on one planet, I suppose.

Other than that, I may have games that I've got "on pause" but I do finish them.

 

[BenefitEvil]

When I start a game I have to complete it 100% no matter how long this takes. Sometimes it takes me months to finish because of a lack of free time. For some reason I can't start another game until I finish the previous one. Consequently I have a huge backlog of games that I haven't played. I figure I will get to them once I retire because I haven't stopped buying new games.

 

[Hazy992]

Depends what you mean by finish. I beat the main game sure but it's rare I 100% something.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

It's easier to ask me what games I've finished. The last one I played all the way through the campaign was... Portal[footnote]Technically I've completed several of the paths on Katawa Shoujo more recently than that, but I've still got Shizune's route and the rest of lilly's route before I can say I've played them all. Then I have to do Emi and Rin again because I lost my saves in an accidental hard drive reformat. Such is life.[/footnote], I think? It takes a really good game with a really short campaign for me to actually stick with it. Multiplayer, on the other hand, is another story. As are storyless games with a lot of randomization (think 4X games.)

 

[Total LOLige]

I've got a few games to complete but I usually play them to the end. I'm on the last boss fight on Deus Ex: HR I just can't be arsed to finish it.

 

[ntw3001]

I don't usually complete games. I generally get to a point where I just lose interest. Like, I'll play a particular game for a week or so, then one day I don't feel like playing, so I don't, and then I never play again. I don't fret too much over story-based games any more; my method of play seems to indicate that, as a rule, they're generally not very good. Apparently there's not enough going on there to drive my interest. Really, I think AAA games are on a bad tack when it comes to storytelling. It's not the quality; it's just that the way the narrative-building process works is constantly wrestling with the medium. The Nuzlocke Challenge is a display of how storytelling in games can actually work; it's a collaborative effort between the game and the player.

 

[The_Lost_King]

I have only not finished 3 games
Human Revolution: That last boss fight is just unfair
Witcher 2: Runs like shit on my pc
Arkham Asylum: Those destroying Gargoyles are killer
edit: no wait I never finished portal 1. My ci.dll got corrupted and I need to reinstall windows. haven't re downloaded it off of steam.
oh and Dungeon Siege 3 which sucks on pc

 

[Waffle_Man]

I can't truthfully say that I have a 100% completion rate, but I actually have trouble starting a game and then not finishing it. The major exception to this rule is for games that I have absolutely no idea how to advance in (and can't be arsed to look up a walk through for because it would be a sign of weakness), or when it's become fairly clear that there is no real progression of mechanics or narrative occurring.

 

[WaysideMaze]

Depends what you mean by finish. I beat the main game sure but it's rare I 100% something.

Good point. I guess I'm referring to completing the main story.

Although I suppose each persons definition of completion varies. I'll edit my OP.

 

[Crumpster]

I haven't completed Batman: Arkham Asylum and Skyrim because I just didn't like them and I haven't completed The Binding of Isaac because.. I just can't, I simply just can't do it.
So that's 3 out of an uncountable amount of games. Seems like I fail to complete something around 3/350 games, I tried to count anyway.

 

[kommando367]

The only current generation games I've never beaten are Shadows of the Damned becuase of chapter 4-1 and Lost Planet 2 becuase of that giant fucking worm.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well yes most people are just ADD consumers who will jump on new and shinny every time they see it, so obviously most games won't get played, if I remember correctly Steam had a statistic that showed gamers buy ever more and play less.

As for myself I usually have really long games on my backlog, like Fallout NV and Skyrim, and those that are just too bad I put on ebay.

 

[EHKOS]

I finish most games on the current consoles. I'll buy a shiton of PS2 game and never finish them though. IDK why. Except for Scaler. That game sucked.