Yes and no. As always, moderation is the major key here.
Up until recently for the most part, I finally came to peace with the fact that there probably will be a lot of platforms I never dive too deeply into. The Sega Saturn is a big one. After I bought two modded ones (from people here actually, ages ago when I first joined up)... I burned a few games and that was about it. Yeah, there's still some oddballs I want to check out on it, but it's not hard for me to see the reality of this case now. My actions really summed it up and at this point, I'm completely fine with that.
TG16, Dreamcast, Gamecube, and some others also come to mind. Again, there's still some games on these I want to check out, but they will never be the priority. I don't want to say I've become narrow minded at this point in my gaming career, but I've felt better about hyper focusing on more select things as of late. This applies to both platforms, and games/genres/devs. I was very impulsive back in the early 360 days and regret probably like 70% of my monster collection of it. I really haven't had any regrets with my slower purchases since then (well Yaiba Z Ninja Gaiden could probably seriously be thrown in the literal trash). It was kind of a "bro" phase for me overall I guess, got on that AAA hype bandwagon for most things, jumped into stuff by word of mouth from friends until realizing years later my tastes can be extremely different. All that said I think the industry has shifted in ways I prefer as well though, it feels like Japanese titles have become a little more prominent again and my NES blood runs deep so I'll always lean into that stuff more, and I'm not that much of a social gamer in the long run. I guess as usual I find myself to be a bit in the minority, but I am absolutely loving this current gen, even at my snails pace at keeping up with some new releases.
I am pretty much always rotating an old game between a new one, so there's always this nice balance. My backlog has never been out of control and keeping lists of things, putting my unplayed stuff on another shelf, and making separate lists on Steam, etc have all helped me keep way more organized and even feel rewarded and accomplished when I knock out unplayed stuff. Right now I have 46 physical games I need to play, might not be much compared to others, and the end is in sight and exciting to think about. Like I only have 2 PS3 games I need to play. Yeah, I'll buy more, but I just love keeping it organized and getting that accomplished feel in keeping it clean.
Exhuminator wrote:I find myself feeling like an odd-man-out, because I don't seem to find the immediate attraction to something just because it's "new". Even on RacketBoy, a supposedly retro-gaming website, I notice a lot of folks around here buy new hardware platforms as soon as they release. (And that's not a knock against anyone who does, just an observation.) For example I see a lot of talk about people having pre-ordered the Switch, and people taking days off work to play it, and that whole concept is just alien to me. I need for the Switch to prove itself to me as a viable platform, before I even consider adding it to my existing stockpile of unplayed stuff, that I can only very slowly whittle away at.
I guess the question is; those of you who consistently jump on new platforms as soon as they release... why? Have you already played everything you already own? Or did you just buy the most popular games for your systems, so you've played the greatest hits? Are you bored with all the systems you currently have? Is the attraction simply that the releasing platform is
new, and new is always "better"? Are you uncomfortable staying a generation or two behind? Do you ever see yourself reaching a gaming saturation point, where you find yourself content with what you already have, for like at least five years? Or am I the only one who feels this way?
I still get excited about new hardware and always will. Still get that giddy kid under the Christmas tree when I'm opening one up.
That said I'm feeling completely okay on waiting out on the Switch for a long time. Super Mario Odyssey will tempt me, but there's still a few dozen games on the Wii U I want to check out and I love that system. In ways I like that it's getting its life support cut right now, so the Wii U has an beginning and end I can sift through and grab what I want without worrying about more. All the while the Switch builds up and I can really pin down exactly what I'll want and not.
There is also a TON of new PS4 games coming out this year I'm excited about. I'm holding off until moving though, but I only buy maybe like ~3-5 new games at max a year thesedays anyways... and guess who wins? I do, because prices tend to drop faster than ever thesedays and you often end up getting Ultimate + all DLC editions so you pay less for the better versions.
Ziggy has a fair point about being caught up socially though. Now that I'm into some gaming podcasts that's also been interesting. But a year into listening to a ton of them and being on the top of all the news, I don't feel any extra pressure in having to constantly keep up.
For the most part I usually did get all the platforms. But the Xbox One is something I can confidently say I have zero interest in and feel great about that. Like the Sega Saturn deal, I think some people should just try not to stress about it and know that it's okay to be content with less sometimes.
As for the PS4, yeah I am very happy I bought it right away and was able to play the superior versions of those cross gen releases, an era that I really hated. So I want the tech and platforms to keep moving and evolving, there needs to be a beginning and end for a console lifespan that can give us a static list of titles to look at and research. Would I want a Switch more if I didn't have a PS4? Possibly, so I would say I like to have some hand in the new tech. If there's a big new release I absolutely must get, I want to be in an able position to play it.
Gonna stop there since this is too big. Overall this isn't something I tend to stress or think much about at all (guess my huge ass post says otherwise) and I feel great about how I digest my gaming thesedays. Dip my toes in everything, stay informed, be a little selective, keep the moderation and organization consistent, and have fun.
Yeah it's portable, that's great I guess. I do most of my gaming at home, so that really means squat to me. Hopefully the Switch will get plenty of third party support and have some killer exclusives.
). That just isn't worth it. Additionally, I am not employed and don't plan to be anytime in the near future, so I can't spend money frivolously on hardware that "may" eventually support games I'd enjoy. 