Game collecting is not what it once was

[JoeAwesome]

Man, now I want some kettle corn from the flea market.

TV, Airline, 6 South or Long Point (rip)?

[Hobie-wan]

TV, Airline, 6 South or Long Point (rip)?

TV. If there's kettle corn at the Airline one, I haven't had it yet as I've only been there 2 or 3 times. For 6 south, you mean Mercado 6, or something else? I was thinking about going to TV last weekend, but my sleep was really screwed up, then of course the weather wasn't so great.

[JoeAwesome]

TV, Airline, 6 South or Long Point (rip)?

TV. If there's kettle corn at the Airline one, I haven't had it yet as I've only been there 2 or 3 times. For 6 south, you mean Mercado 6, or something else? I was thinking about going to TV last weekend, but my sleep was really screwed up, then of course the weather wasn't so great.

Figured it was TV. It's the only one I've had it at. And yep, the Mercado 6. Come to think of it, I usually get corn on the cob instead of looking for kettle corn. I may make a run to TV this weekend if the weather gets better. Btw, I think I've seen you there before, but didn't say hi. You're more intimidating in person.

[Exhuminator]

There are also some mortality realizations that came into play at some point

This is another big point that came into play for me. I'm about to turn 36, and I've realized in the past 20 years of buying games I haven't played even half what I've actually bought. So just doing the math I realized if I actually bought every game on my current wish list, I still wouldn't live long enough to play it all, given the time I spend on other worldly activities. That aspect combined with consciously spending less money on gaming have drastically altered my collecting habits in the past two years. For the better truly.

I think we collectors fall in love with the hunt more so than the bounty.

[dsheinem]

I don't buy every game with the intention of playing it, I buy every game with the intention of having the option to play it.

And I still think that people with gigantic backlogs can, if they put effort into more systematically working through their collections, clear out large chunks of the 'ol backlog over years and decades of devoted game playing. Assuming it can't be done is the first step towards not seriously trying

[dogman91]

If I played games just to 'clear my backlog' it'd feel like a gigantic chore IMO. I wouldn't take my time with playing through any of them.

[dsheinem]

If I played games just to 'clear my backlog' it'd feel like a gigantic chore IMO. I wouldn't take my time with playing through any of them.

Yup, that's fine and I can respect that philosophy too. Just don't complain about your "backlog" if you don't think of your collection as something you have to/want to get through...

[Gunstar Green]

I think people psych themselves out way too much about their backlogs. For me it's fun just to have a collection to curate, to pull something off the shelf I haven't thought of in a while just to look at and think about its history.

It helps that retro gaming has a lot of pick up and play titles, games I can put in, play for a half our and feel satisfied without necessarily having to beat it.

There's no sense in worrying if you can beat every game in your collection before you die or something morbid like that. They're there to be enjoyed, not stress you out, and if you beat them all before you die what will you do for fun for the rest of your life?

[Blu]

There's no sense in worrying if you can beat every game in your collection before you die or something morbid like that. They're there to be enjoyed, not stress you out, and if you beat them all before you die what will you do for fun for the rest of your life?

Pop and enjoy popcorn, that's what.

[Exhuminator]

Assuming it can't be done is the first step towards not seriously trying

Perhaps if I was only worried about beating shooters, platformers, short adventure games, and old arcade stuff yeah I could clear my backlog fairly quickly. But my personal backlog consists of a lot of RPGs and SRPGs, genres that take much more significant time investment. Those are my favorite genres, so my library is full of them. But I don't play them as often because beating one 50 hour RPG can take me a whole month given my limited free time for such endeavors.

In no way am I saying clearing my backlog couldn't be done. I'm just saying I have more important/diverse things in my life to do then concern myself about beating every game I ever bought.* I also don't like to blaze through games without smelling the digital roses. So if someday I die without playing half my games I could not care less. Whoever inherits them can carry the torch. Or sell them whateva.

*Not implying anyone else doesn't.