I have Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Deus Ex: Human Revolution sitting on my desk begging me to play them. Dead Island is hidden just under them while Bioshock is shaking its head telling me to finish him first. Then there’s Steam popping up first thing when I boot up my PC wanting me to login. I don’t even want to see that library right now ranging from Meat Boy to Bit.Trip Runner. Oh God, Bit.Trip Runner! Don’t even say that name. I just want to go on the internet and check my emails. But then the internet is telling me there are videogame sales over at Best Buy and Amazon. Ten bucks for a six month old game? Deal…wait, I need to finish the games I have first. I resist, I resist…I…resist…
I buy more games. Sounds like you, doesn’t it?
The art of backlogging is a common hobby among gamers and for some reason the pile just gets bigger over time. Time, usually the main culprit when it comes to incomplete games, is too small. There aren’t enough minutes in the day to keep me occupied while I play and work and work and work some more. Life sucks, but gaming along with other creative art works make living just a little bit sweeter. If only playing games was my main job, but let’s get back to the real world.
Attacking my backlog was on my “Things to do over the summer,” and yet July is almost over and I still haven’t finished Bioshock (part of a deal I made with my sister). What a useless girl I am, but I promise to finish Bioshock by the end of this week. The other games, however, I don’t think I’ll make it. God, why does FFXIII-2 have to be so damn long?
Because that’s how I roll, fool!
No, I must persist. I must finish these damn games before the year ends. I better set some ground rules for myself:
No more buying games (unless within the $10 range)
I’ll never pass up a good deal, but I should at least stop myself from pulling out my wallet every now and then. Normally I would jump on a game if the price drops around $20, but I should be a little more patient. Patient players get the better reward, or in this case more money to spend on other things and time for the unfinished games.
Finish at least one game each month
That shouldn’t be too difficult. I have 30 days to finish one game. 30 days. I should read a book during that month too. Nah, just finish the game.
Lend more
Other than the fact that you’re delaying your time with your backlog, there really is no reason to go into detail about this one. And if your friend or family member loses the game, well at least you had a great time looking at the box art.
Start a game and finish it (can’t move on to the next)
Here is the hardest part to accomplish. I’m not one to play multiple games at once, but sometimes one of those games will get pretty boring. Darksiders, for example, is a really slow starter. I could have easily popped in another game, but I’m not a quitter. I finish what I started. Don’t lose your way and make damn sure to finish one game at a time.
There are exceptions
Well, there you have it. If you have any useful ways to attack the backlog, write below in the comments.
I’m just going to say this now; I blame Pokémon. What other game created a worldwide phenomenon in the art of “collect them all?” Train your Pokémon and fight all you want, but the whole core of the game was to see how many Pokémon you could collect before Gary’s dumbass revisited you. Even when you did collect them all, did you use all of them? No, only the ones you were comfortable with. Same can be said with backlogging games. Don’t treat your games like Pokémon. Play with them.
