I have the same problem as you do. Some gamers don’t want to talk about it, but I think it’s healthy to do so. We don’t like to look at it, but every time we turn on our consoles, there it is. You can’t run away from it. It stares us down and tells us that we need to get rid of it, but we don’t. Instead, we add to it, making the problem greater than what it was.
What am I talking about? You know what I’m talking about.
The backlog.
Remember that time that store had a sale and you bought those games? That large pile of games (digital or physical) that you’ve never opened or clicked, the list of Steam games you got on sale that you’ve never even seen the first scene of. Those are the ones that I want to talk about, and I think it’s good to have a goal this year to minimize or get rid of this 1st world problem that gamers have.
Whenever there’s a certain game that we have been wanting for a while goes on sale, a lot of gamers will buy it but then won’t play it for months or even years. This becomes a habit that every year we add to, and instead of playing the games we already have, we buy more. I’ve done this myself, and having PS Plus doesn’t help because you get two free games a month (as well as Epic Games weekly game and Twitch Prime). There’s always a digital sale going on, buy one get one, or demos of upcoming games.
Having a backlog can be helpful though, because as long as we have one, we don’t need to keep buying more videogames. We can just play what we already have and enjoy them! This helps us save money and be better stewards of what we have, since we are told in His word not to chase after the things of this world.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and[c] we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
1 Timothy 6:6-10
These verses challenge me as well, looking at my own backlog. Sure, I have other belongings that I likely don’t need but since I’m mainly writing to gamers or those that enjoy the genre, I want to point out something that we deal with as a community. There’s nothing wrong with having a pile of games we haven’t played yet, but I encourage you to play those than buying more of them. Why keep getting them if we aren’t playing them?
I’ve made a commitment to myself that this year, every month, I’m going to play 1 or 2 of my backlogged games and either beat them or drop them. Even if I play through most of the game, at least I tried them out. This also helps with blogging because it gives me more content to write about! Try making a goal for yourself as well, focusing on how you could eliminate your backlog. Whether it’s playing a few games a month, or going back and beating that game you almost finished but didn’t.
Making a list helps as well, which could just consist of all the games you want to get through this year and rewarding yourself by buying a couple of the ones you’ve been wanting to get. In the end, you’ll be experiencing new games, saving money, and feeling good about yourself since your achieving a goal.
Some of mine on Steam are: GRIS, Half-Life 2, Hyper Light Drifter, Ori and the Blind Forest, Spyro Reignited Trilogy, To the Moon, That Dragon Cancer and others. On my PS4 there are several as well, even on my PS3!
Let me know what games you have had sitting around in your backlog. We can do this, one game at a time!