The infamous backlog. That growing pile of unfinished games is even more annoying as we embark on a winter and then spring season 2011 where there will be so many new and great games soon to be released.
Your backlog should be your main concern right now. Dealing with it the right way will save you lots of money and make you a better player. Here is why.
MONEY WASTED
That backlog is costing you money. No doubt for many of us our backlog is growing faster than the list of games we actually complete. We often end up buying games at full price that we never get very far in because a newer game comes out and what you were in the middle of is abandoned. Temporarily? Days turn to weeks. Then that game case on the shelf gets dusty. You never finished it.
As expensive as new games are at full price most of them drop in price like a ton of bricks. I have bought games recently that have sat on my shelf for a few weeks before I even got to them. They drop in price by a third to even half price by the time I actually played them. I should have waited to buy it until I was really ready actually to play.
For me recently it was Need for Speed Hot Pursuit. Great game but it dropped in price by one third within just two weeks following the release! it went from $59 to $39 and even less in some cases.
Do your wallet a favor and only buy games when you are ready to play through them. In the meantime, work through that backlog. It’s in your wallets best interest. By the time you are ready to tackle that new game it will be much much cheaper.
BACKLOG ATTACK STRATEGY
First Strike: Consistency
I think the key to whittling down your stack of unfinished games is actually to be consistent. If you have a game you like then keep at it. Going back and forth between games is worse than sticking with one. Every time you switch and come back to a game you have to get acclimated to the controls and subtle nuances all over again. This wastes time and you end up spending less time playing each game at a level where you are at your best.
Second Strike: Exploitation
There are tons of studies that prove that multitaskers are worse at each task they switch between compared to people who stick to one at a time.
“High multitaskers just love more and more information. Their greatest thrill is to get more,” he said. On the other hand, “exploiters like to think about the information they already have.” – Huffington Post Study finds people who multitask often bad at it
As a game enthusiast many of us are always salivating over that next game. Anticipating that new experience. The truth of it all is that we would be better off if we stuck to a particular game at a time. Exploiters learn subtle nuances that give them advantages. These can net higher scores, make it easier to get platinum trophy’s and all the achievements. It also has huge advantages when dealing with online games.
Play games to completion then move on. You will be much better at the game by the time you move on to the next. Not only that but that annoying backlog will decrease.
Save money and become a better player by playing though that backlog and buying games when they are cheaper.
YOUR BACKLOG?
How do you feel about and deal with your growing backlog of uncompleted games?
This is me all day every day. My shelf count this morning was 54 games, and that’s on PS3 alone.
I try to keep my backlog short, and only buy games that I plan to play within the next week or so, time permitting. I try to hold off buying sports games until the middle of their respective seasons, because they drop the price by $10-20 dollars. When I do stack-up on games, it is normally with B2G1 free deals or sometimes a B1G1 50% off sale. My backlog is deep, but normally with partially finished games. I bounce around games. I’ve yet to fully complete Fable 3, Assasins Creed 2 or Dead Rising 2 and I payed the full 60 for every one of those games.
I learned the backlog story the hard way, purchasing Bioshock 1 on release day and not playing it until January, which was nearly 5 months. I played it because the game depreciated in value so much using it as a trade-in would’ve been an insult.
The strategy is hard to follow if you enjoy Multiplayer gaming. I’ve lost tons of gaming hours to COD:MW, MW2, Black Ops and Gears of War 1 & 2.
My strategy: Singleplayer games should be played and focused on in as few sittings as possible, as to not dilute the story. I beat Bioshock 1, in one sitting, from 8pm until around 445 AM with no breaks for anything short of the bathroom. It made the experience all the more enjoyable.