RF Generation.  The Classic and Modern Gaming Databases.RF Generation.  The Classic and Modern Gaming Databases.

Posted on Feb 28th 2015 at 05:00:00 AM by (wildbil52)
Posted under Games, Games


We all have about a billion games in our collection.  I hesitate to call it a backlog because it makes it sound like work.  Though, if you are playing games just to get through them, checking them off a list (proverbial or otherwise) it CAN feel like work instead of fun.  How do we decide what to play next?  A better question would be: How SHOULD we decide what to play next?



It would be easy to say that games should be fun and that we should play a game as long as we are having fun with it.    The problem with that is that sometimes it takes a little time to "get" a game.  My in-laws gave me a copy of Sunset Overdrive for Christmas and it was the first game that I fired up when I was finished with Far Cry 4.  I played it for several hours and I wasn't really feeling it.  I was on the verge of shelving it and trying something else when, suddenly,  it just clicked with me.  I "got" it.  I can't stop playing it now.  My wife recognizes the title screen music and groans when she hears it.  I think about it when I'm at work.  So the question now becomes: "How much of a grace period does a game get before it is shelved?"  Not an easy question.  There are multiple factors to consider.  I have a friend who will not play a game unless it has a Metacritic score of at least "I forget his magical number."  This makes no sense to me so, similarly, it would make no sense to have a grace period rule for games.

It's all subjective and the decision to play or not play a game should be made by one person, YOU, on a case by case basis

That's not to say that I don't have a few rules for choosing which game to play next....Well, more like guidelines than actual rules.


See what I did there?

Organize games into lists
It doesn't matter how you organize them, just do it.  I used to see an alphabetical list of 247 games every time I opened Steam and I got so overwhelmed.  More often than not, I would browse the list of games for a while, select one game, then another, going back and forth, and I wouldn't end up playing anything.  I have since organized my Steam games into categories.  This way I can choose to play something based on what I'm in the mood for.  I also keep a list of "Completed Games" on Steam.  This way I can view all of the games that I have yet to complete.


So many things about this picture are so right

At the end of the day, we are all different.  We can do whatever we want with our free time.  If you are just as happy as a clam playing every game you own in alphabetical order, go for it.  If you get a crazy sensation of joy and accomplishment from maxing out cheevos or trophies on your console of choice, who am I to tell you that you are wrong.  At the risk of sounding like an old timer, I just don't think that was what the people who made these games had in mind when they were making them. 

Balancing the Collector in me with the Gamer in me is no easy task.  I like collecting games and I like playing games.  I have come to realize that in order for me to be able to enjoy modern games more and to not feel like I have to plow through them just to get to the next game, I have to play fewer games.  This isn't such a bad thing.  I feel more relaxed when I play and I don't feel any anxiety about trying to finish something ASAP just so that I can get to the next thing.  If I am enjoying a game, I keep playing it.  If I'm on the fence, I make a decision to play or shelf it.  This new, laid back approach has helped me to love my gaming time again.  I don't need or want you to play games the same way I do, I just want you to love playing games.


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Comments
 
I'm actually sitting here on the computer right now trying to figure out if I should crash or if I should stay up and play something. What is always the biggest turn off for me is the amount. Throughout the day, I ponder on about three different titles and start feeling in the mood, then lose it after my wife and kids finally are asleep.

I have started a couple genre-specific lists and a couple of lists based on completion time and difficulty, but my biggest problem is that my passion lies in RPGs, Adventures, and difficult Platformers. All of which take the most time to play out of everything I have.

I even assigned my collection numerically to a random number generator and tried to let it be random, but my first three tries were Final Fantasy XI for the 360, then Breeder's Cup for the PS2, and finally DJ Hero for the Wii. That turned me off of the random list because I don't sub to the FF service, didn't want a junkie start, and don't own the DJ Turntable controller. What good is choosing to play my games at random if I am picky about it? ha ha
 
Man, I feel you.  I am married with 2 kids and man, I'm tired when I get home and usually don't want to play anything.    I "force" myself to play at times.  I have soooooo many games I want to play, I would say 300.  Before I got married I would 100% every game unless I got bored with it after beating it.  Now, because of tiredness and time, I only play to beat the game.  Every so often, usually Mario games, I will 100%.  When did life become to "hard"?  If you are truly asking which game to play next, it's obvious.  Dragon Warrior!  Those NHL games suck. Tongue  Except the Sega CD NHL game.  I would play that game like crazy.  I loved it!
 
I just broke around 2500 games in my collection Tongue out of which I've probably beaten around 1/4th-1/3rd. Anymore I just treat it like I'm at a nicely stocked game rental store I just pop up my collection list or go to the shelves/boxes. Then I pick 4-5 games stack them by my console shelf and play through them until I either run out or my mood changes.

The steam list idea is great though I definitely need to do that. With over 500 games on there it's really hard to focus on what I want to play. Having even just a completed and shelved category would help out a ton.
 
I had a film professor once tell me, "Just watch the good movies.  Life's too short for all the crap, just stick with what's good."  At the time I didn't understand (especially since I like most movies, even the ones I think are "crap"), but now I'm beginning to finally get it.  Life really is too short.  I still don't agree with him (as monkeys know, sometimes crap is fun), but I see his point.
 
I've got a big collection, but I don't feel compelled to try and play it all. I play what I enjoy. Sometimes that means I replay the same games, even though there is a big stack close by. Gaming time is short, so you might as well love what you're doing. I've got several games lined up in the future that are on my list to hit when I'm ready, and it always seems that there are a few to go though coming up, so I don't run into this too much.
 
These days, community playthroughs, are dictating a lot of what games I play. I am ok with that.
 
@Fragems: I wish I could say I beat even a 4th of my collection. I have recently hit the 2600 mark and maybe have played 250 of them total. I would say I have beaten maybe 30-40 of all that I own. It also doesn't help owning so many games that I don't have the system for.

@MaterialHandlerMike: When I worked from home, I could easily multi-task and joined a couple playthroughs during that time. I was really feeling it too, I had time and drive to play more of my games after work since I could easily stay up until 2-3 in the morning and roll out of bed 5 minutes before I clocked in. Now that I have been promoted, I have to get up around 5 a.m. for things like showers and breakfast and the commute, and don't have the same energy to stay up later.

@shaggy: The wife and kids situation hits me too, spending time with my kids is becoming very important now that they are both in a developmental age that needs as much of my nurturing as I can spare, I might get to play from 8-10 in the evenings, and even then I have been spending time on the computer tracking amiibo dates, or on Facebook, or completing Club Nintendo Surveys when the site isn't down. By the time I am settled to get ready, I am ready for bed.

On the plus side though, the Wii U and 3DS are options while I am in bed, so I still get a little bit in.
 
Funny, but I have a larger collection as well, and I have no problem deciding what to play next. There's something about walking into my gameroom and being surrounded by physical copies of games and choosing from what I feel like playing at that time. Sometimes I make small stacks of games to play next, but more often than not, I just play what I'm in the mood for at that time. The playthroughs have been a great source of playing games I get to choose and alternating choices with my partner and trying out something I maybe haven't heard of or played before. I sneak in a few extra games from time to time and I find it quite fulfilling and a good fit for my lifestyle. I think it's all about balance and playing what feels good at the time. Sure, I have a lot of great games in my collection that I have yet to play, but if I didn't wake up tomorrow, I would have still had a very satisfying gaming life. You can't play them all.
 
I feel you all on balancing family time with gaming. I have three kids, one is 6, one is 4 and the other is 2 months. Fortunately, on my days off, since the boy is the 6 year old, he wants to play all the time. While maybe I want to play Mario Kart or Smash Bros, he typically wants to play something like Lego Batman, but I can usually meet him in the middle and play Pokemon Stadium 2. And that's so cool to be able to share my obsession with him and he really does enjoy it. However, this does leave less me time to play on my own and I NEVER have the house to myself anymore.

More often than not, outside of a shiny new release, I find myself on my umpteenth playthrough of Final Fantasy VI before I am bothering with a game I bought two weeks ago after it had dropped in price from last year's release date.

There just isn't one way to pick what to play. We all gotta figure out which one works best.
 
@monkees19:

It also doesn't help that my wife really isn't into games much at all so getting an affirmative answer to playing something together is an exercise in futility most of the time. And 90% of the time we settle on Mario Party, which is defeating because no matter what I do, she beats me every time. I can hope the girls pick up on them too and we can overrule her!

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