Why do we have a ‘Backlog’ in Gaming

[Omnistalgic]

I'm just wondering, do avid movie goers and book readers feel they have to watch & read most good books and movies? That seems to be why we as gamers garner a collection of software we don't have time to finish or perhaps even start. If you're like me, it can be particularly disheartening looking at unopened games sitting on the entertainment center. A daily reminder of your lack of commitment. Witcher 3, Persona 5, and MGSV haunt me daily lol...

I tend to eventually get to them, but I find myself going back to the same games. Titles like Mario Kart, Street Fighter, Gran Turismo, Destiny 2, and now Mario Odessey are so much easier to jump into. In comparison I feel like I'm about to commit to a month long relationship by popping P5 in, it's simply daunting, and I keep avoiding it...

Why do I even buy it? Do I really have to play every quality title for my PS4 & Switch? Most? Half? Lol...maybe it's because there's so many more books and movies it would be impossible to have that type of attitude in other forms of media but gaming is catching up. IIRC, 5000 games get released on Steam every year! Is it time to kill the term Backlog? I mean, we don't have to finish these games...or do we?

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[Spyware]

I have a movie backlog and a book backlog too.
It's not like I have to play/watch/read "most good" stuff, I just happen to like a lot of different stuff.
I think I fell into a very common trap: I never had much when I was a kid. Then when I started getting my own money and got to spend it on fun stuff I got everything I had ever wanted to have. So to speak. Nowadays I buy a lot less and focus on finding things in my backlog.

But sometimes what we have is not what we want to spend our time with. I mean, having 40 RPGs doesn't really help if you really want to play that new racing game, right? So that's why we get more stuff I guess? :)

 

[Syril]

If movies took tens of hours to finish there would probably be backlogs of those too.

 

[The_Inquisitor]

Cause more is coming out than we can play with real life responsibilities. I have gotten better at choosing what games to play but I still have a backlog!

 

[Weebos]

I definitely have film, book, and television backlogs as well.

My game backlog is bigger because they're longer (the ones I enjoy anyway) and I prefer games to other mediums.

 

[Zing]

I empathize, but Persona 5 is well worth the time. It is a masterpiece. I played through casually, as it was my first experience with a Persona game, and not one moment of it felt wasted or forced. The pacing is spot on and the finale is unforgettable.

Do it.

 

[Accoun]

If movies took tens of hours to finish there would probably be backlogs of those too.

Click to shrink...

Pretty sure people have them even with movies taking so much less time. Same with TV shows.

 

[Hex]

I do have a backlog of books and movies and games.
I work 40+ hours a week and then try to be at least marginally social.
Finding time to sit and relax in front of a game for an hour or two at a time is a special thing.

 

[Possumowner]

Yup I've got a backlog in films and tv most definitely,not a book person myself.

But yeah I use IMDB as my backlog check list

 

[JdFox17]

I have probably a dozen seasons of various series I'd like to watch. Then there's a whole DVR of movies and individual television episodes. I have probably eight to 10 books I want to read. And then there's the game backlog. So yeah, it comes in all forms of media.

 

[Neo-Rudo]

well first off, Books and movies are Linear, you read from first page to the last, but games it's not that simple. you might start the games story then do some side quests then go horse or chocobo racing, might do some grinding or gathering for weapons or materials you need, in books these things could be covered in a matter of pages, in games it takes hours and hours.

though to be fair, i finished W3,l P5 and MGSV as they all took me in and didn't play other games during them.

to be honest you answered your own question, you keep going back to old titles, i do it from time to time and have to stop myself.

No you don't have to play every single game, i mean. i wasn't interested in one game shown at Sony's conference just now, on the other hand i will replay >hack//G.U in a few days and replay Nioh too.

maybe you just don't like or have the time to play those long games anymore? in the time you can get a strike done in destiny and it feel awesome you have prolly gone to school and been told to go to sleep cause you're tired from the Cat in P5.

 

[Aters]

I never tried to play all the good games, but I still have a backlog because some gemes I just don't want to miss. I do have a film wishlist though so it's not just for games.

 

[The Albatross]

I definitely have book and television backlogs that I'll likely never get to.
I only have a couple of hours a week to play games lately, and I buy games at a faster pace than I play them. I often buy a game because I'm in the mood for that game, and then put it down, to buy another game later. I don't necessarily feel an overwhelming desire to go back and play them, but they do create a backlog for me and one day I would like to go through and play through those other games.

 

[Factory41]

I'm a big reader and game player, and my book backlog is miles beyond my gaming backlog

 

[Sioul]

I only buy a couple of games in the year and only the ones that I have intent to complete but I have a huge backlog thanks to the "free" games accompanied to my online subscription

 

[TP-DK]

I got a backlog of movies. I probably have around 30 blu-ray movies in my collection that I haven't watched yet. Some of them I bought more than 2 years ago.

 

[Blade Wolf]

Because we can be lazy sometimes.

 

[Gun]

I have over 200 movies on my watch list on Netflix
So the backlog problem isn't only with games

 

[Anubis]

I have a backlog in games, movies, books, news articles, and the like.

I don't think it's exclusive to gaming. There is an ample amount of content spread across various platforms these days.

 

[Omnistalgic]

I empathize, but Persona 5 is well worth the time. It is a masterpiece. I played through casually, as it was my first experience with a Persona game, and not one moment of it felt wasted or forced. The pacing is spot on and the finale is unforgettable.

Do it.

Click to shrink...

I know I've read how amazing it was...just can't sit down with it and insert that disc lol. Help! Lol What experiences do you guys think are truly worth not skimping?

MGSV
Witcher 3
Persona 5
Dragon Quest Builders
FF15
Yakuza 0 (already stated this one)
Gravity Rush 2 (have to finish it)
Nier 2
Dark Souls 3
Grand Kingdom
Uncharted LL

 

[Neo-Rudo]

my biggest culprit of Backlogs is online games be it Paragon or MMO's as these games have no real end, you just play and play and you tell yourself you'll play other games .... but it doesn't happen.

 

[Darth Vapor]

I pretty much stopped watching TV and reading books to work on my gaming backlog.

That was two years ago, smh. 2017 has been a spoil of riches. I'm still working my way through Zelda and Persona. I picked up Mario Odyssey and still have Nier on my shelf.

After that I still want to play Stardew Valley and Golf Story and there are countless other smaller titles and PS+ freebies I'm waiting to play once things slow down. (Things have to slow down, right?)

I guess I'm catching up...

 

[808s & Villainy]

I don't know why you're acting like this is primarily gaming. People have book backlogs, movie/TV series backlogs, musical album backlogs. You buy them because you'll get to them eventually. Yeah, you don't have to buy it immediately, but it's nice knowing that at any time when you feel like it you can start it

 

[ShinMaruku]

I have no backlog because I do sit what I buy then move on. Also I am not a hyper consumer, most of these games do. nothing for me so I tend to buy maybe 6 games a year.

 

[carlosrox]

I take my time with every game I play. I literally walk around in games, take in the sights, etc. I skip some days, take breaks, etc. I'm close to the end in Samus Returns for example but haven't played in a week or so now. That's normal for me. I don't believe in "binging" media for the most part.

It took me 300ish hours to beat BOTW and I still missed a TON of stuff in that world. I didn't see entire regions, entire sections of the map. I'm now on game two (Master Mode) and about 75 hours in and I haven't done a single Divine Beast.

I'm in no rush when I play games. That's one of my main reasons.

My other reason is I just have a lot of other stuff on my plate. I can't game and game and game like some people can. My brother games almost nonstop and I just can't do that. Like I said, I like to make time for other stuff, and I literally get headaches and feel like a shut in if I game too much. Having said that I still definitely game more than your average person/gamer, just not to the levels some people take it. I wish I could. But then when I do, I need a break lol.

Sometimes I buy games just because I feel it's a game I just need to buy, to support it, out of respect, it's the kind of game I WANT to see more of, you name it. So I can build up a bunch of games like that.

Steam and Nindies are two great examples of that.
And I have huge wishlists on Switch, PC, and PS4. There are some XB1 games I want too, but I don't own one personally.

I'm also notoriously bad at starting games and not finishing them. I have sooooo many games I start and didn't finish, and it's not about not liking them. I was IN LOVE with Paper Mario Color Splash and just ended up stopping. And believe me, I want to go and play/finish that game. But it's just one of many..

 

[Neo-Rudo]

I know I've read how amazing it was...just can't sit down with it and insert that disc lol. Help! Lol What experiences do you guys think are truly worth not skimping?

MGSV
Witcher 3
Persona 5
Dragon Quest Builders
FF15
Yakuza 0 (already stated this one)
Gravity Rush 2 (have to finish it)
Nier 2
Dark Souls 3
Grand Kingdom
Uncharted LL

Click to shrink...

depends for me i would play:

MGSV
Witcher 3
Persona 5
FF15
Yakuza 0 (already stated this one)
Nier 2

and when im bored of fighting and want a chill game i would play Dragon Quest Builders.

whilst FFXV has a bit of a Marmite/Vegemite situation going for it, IMO its worth the exploration, fishing, combat and dungeons.

 

[Harley Quinn]

Because this forum exists.

I don't actually have a backlog now since I don't play games anymore.

 

[Neo-Rudo]

Because this forum exists.

I don't actually have a backlog now since I don't play games anymore.

Click to shrink...

^-- Has a backlog of all the things :D

 

[raketenrolf]

Because you tell yourself you have one. When I got really cheap games from the UK last gen I sometimes just bought them because they were cheap. Even if I was only slightly interested in them. Nowadays I just buy stuff I really want to play. Even if that means I play only 5 new games in a year. I'd rather replay my favorite games, as I did this year. Or just wait for new games to get cheaprer or until they will be released with all the dlc included. And it feels so much better, because just looking at something like a "giant backlog" is depressing. All those games you got from bundles for example. I wouldn't even look at them in a store because they just aren't my type of game (they don't have to be bad games), so why would I play them only because they are in my (digital) library?

I also don't feel the need to play everything on release anymore. That also helps a lot. Who has time to play all those great RPGs this and next year? Seriously, who? I would have to rush from one to another. But sometimes I enjoy to play through them twice in a row and change some things in my second playthrough.

Also don't buy anything if you don't want to play it immediately or if it's heavily discounted. Don't do backlog lists. If you don't remember a game you have in your collection, it's probably not worth your time. I still have a lot of games released this year that I want to buy and play, I just don't have the time to do so. I will buy and play them when I am in the mood for them.

Don't start more than one RPG if you don't have time (most working people won't). I always play one game with a lot of content (like an RPG or something) and something I can just jump in to play for a few minutes (like Isaac, Mario Kart etc.).

 

[Zing]

I know I've read how amazing it was...just can't sit down with it and insert that disc lol. Help! Lol What experiences do you guys think are truly worth not skimping?

MGSV
Witcher 3
Persona 5
Dragon Quest Builders
FF15
Yakuza 0 (already stated this one)
Gravity Rush 2 (have to finish it)
Nier 2
Dark Souls 3
Grand Kingdom
Uncharted LL

Click to shrink...

I've played most of those. The true works of art are Dark Souls and Persona. I'd save your game time on the other games and put it toward Super Mario Odyssey or a multiplayer game of your choice.

 

[Uncleslappy]

I took my backlog very seriously a few years back. Made a blog about beating every game I own going back to when I was a kid with my NES. This process taught me two things:

1) Play games until you stop enjoying them. Grinding and beating your head against a wall to check off a box that no one else cares about but you is a waste of your time.
2) Don't buy games unless you intend to play them. Even if they're on sale. Paying $40 for a game you never play theoretically costs more than paying $60 for a game you do play.

 

[rochellepaws]

It's a blessing for a game like Persona 5 to last over 100 hours, I was really sad when I finally finished it. If it maintained that quality and was over 1000 hours I'd see it as a positive since my the important thing for a hobby is to maximise enjoyment and not to play as many as possible.

 

[corasaur]

i definitely have a book backlog. I walked into a clearance sale one time and bought like 7 things.

then it happened with some other sale someplace else.

it can happen with any entertainment

 

[Omnistalgic]

I don't know why you're acting like this is primarily gaming. People have book backlogs, movie/TV series backlogs, musical album backlogs. You buy them because you'll get to them eventually. Yeah, you don't have to buy it immediately, but it's nice knowing that at any time when you feel like it you can start it

Click to shrink...

besides having some movies on my Netflix watchlist, I don't consider it a Backlog like I do with games. Same with books, I just finished the Wool series but definitely never felt like something I have to get to. Hmm maybe it's because I'm only active on an actual video game community and not for books or movies, though I guess that could easily change with a few searches right here on Reset lol.

 

[mute]

Because we are incentivized to get in on day 1, rather then holding off until we finish what we are currently playing.

 

[Starburns]

I know I've read how amazing it was...just can't sit down with it and insert that disc lol. Help! Lol What experiences do you guys think are truly worth not skimping?

MGSV
Witcher 3
Persona 5
Dragon Quest Builders
FF15
Yakuza 0 (already stated this one)
Gravity Rush 2 (have to finish it)
Nier 2
Dark Souls 3
Grand Kingdom
Uncharted LL

Click to shrink...

Per my experiences, you shouldn't skip Witcher 3 or Yakuza 0. And don't just dabble in them, lean into it. They both have a ton of side stuff that's worth getting into. The rest of your list I either bounced off of, didn't play, or was underwhelmed. FF15 was my underwhelming one. I was glad to have played it, but I was very glad to be done with it.

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

I would say my movie backlog is just as big, if not bigger, than my game backlog. If we count shows/movies on streaming services I'd like to get to, then it's way bigger. Books, not as large, but I have a decent amount on my kindle waiting to get to as well.

 

[GFdoom]

I've been getting better at only buying a new game (that I want) only after I've finished a previous game. It's something I've started with this generation of gaming. With the Ps3 and xbox, it was too late, my backlog was too much to tackle.

 

[Crash331]

Movies can absolutely have backlogs. It's a bit of a dated concept in 2017, but many of us spent many hours curating our Netflix DVD queue.

 

[Deleted member 279]

I just play what I feel like playing, and stop when I don't care anymore. if a game has a story I'm interested in but I want to quit halfway, I'll just youtube or wiki the story.

Many games turn into a gameplay loop that I get tired of before I can finish. To me, that means I'm satisfied and ready to move on.

This perspective has also allowed me to do two things that have reinvigorated gaming for me:

1) replay old games that are still relatively great and specific to my interests

2) wait for ultimate editions of games that come out a year after

 

[MKAllDay]

My wife and I have a pretty sizable TV backlog. I seem to have an issue with games and television where I slowly start watching/playing less and less as I approach the end. It might be a subconscious fear of something I greatly enjoy ending so the backlog keeps building.

 

[Drexion]

I think one of the biggest contributing factors is the fluctuating prices of the digital versions of games. Could be 60 this month, 30 next month (due to a sale), then back to 45 regular price, then 30, then 10 to a sale, then back to 20 etc. Almost like a sine wave - so you'll have a lot of gamers picking up games when the wave is at a dip, even when they might not be planning on playing it anytime soon.

Other forms of media don't have this price fluctuation, seeing hordes of people buying products they 'might' use at a later date is not a common occurrence.

 

[ghibli99]

I buy what I want, play what I want when I want, and haven't worried about the so-called backlog problem in a few years now. It was kinda fun tracking it, but it made it feel like a job, and I was talking myself of things I really wanted to buy just based on the fact that I had this pile of games I hadn't played yet.

But yeah, I kinda feel the same way about other media... there are albums I want to listen to, books I want to read, shows/movies I want to watch, etc. I'll buy what I want, and they could sit for years, and of course most of them will be much cheaper by the time I get around to them, but again, I just don't worry about it. I mean, I just bought Wolfenstein 2 full well knowing it'll probably be 50% off on BF. Don't care. :)

 

[Snake Eater]

Same thing with book readers, we have massive backlogs in that. Movies you just sit down once and usually in 1.5 hours it's done. Books and games can takes tens of hours, huge commitment when you have other responsibilities

 

[Kayotix]

I just play what I feel like playing, and stop when I don't care anymore. if a game has a story I'm interested in but I want to quit halfway, I'll just youtube or wiki the story.

Many games turn into a gameplay loop that I get tired of before I can finish. To me, that means I'm satisfied and ready to move on.

This perspective has also allowed me to do two things that have reinvigorated gaming for me:

1) replay old games that are still relatively great and specific to my interests

2) wait for ultimate editions of games that come out a year after

Click to shrink...

Im with u 100% here. Im the exact same way now

 

[Rob2K19]

I don't know about you, OP, but I have to finish my backlog. I put it on the list because I intend to play and finish it no matter how long it takes.

 

[Geoff]

I have a backlog of books like you wouldn't believe. I have a small backlog of movies but it only takes two hours to watch a movie so it's quite small.

 

[Cozmo]

I have backlogs in everything. Games, movies, tv-shows, music, books...

 

[maximumzero]

Because Nintendo games generally tend to go up in price after they go out of print. I have a tendency to buy games when they're still in stock, on sale, even though I likely won't get around to playing them any time soon.

 

[OriginalJonty]

Chiming in to say I have a movie, TV and book backlog as well as a game backlog.A movie backlog is easier to get under control because of how short they are in comparison to games. One eight hour game equals approx 3 or 4 movies. Books I usually read on my break at work or on days I don't feel like playing a game or watching something. What further compounds the game backlog is the sheer amount of games coming out each week. There's always something new to watch while with movies the rate of new releases isn't as fast I feel.