Swamped! Too Many Games, Not Enough Time

3 Sep 2008 | Posted by

I used to have so much time to play video games. When I was a kid, if I got a new game, it would keep me going for months. At Christmas time, when I got a bunch of new games, I was set until NEXT Christmas.

My favorite memories of playing games are in that post-Xmas haze, surrounded by ravaged wrapping paper and trying to decide which game to play first. In the end, it didn’t matter: I had enough time from Winter Break from school to play and beat most games before I went back.

Summer vacations were even better. One summer, in high school, I got mono. Best summer of my life! I played Final Fantasy Tactics, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and dozens of other games all summer long. I read Lord of the Rings and started jotting down ideas for my epic fantasy masterpiece that is currently on hold. I had all the time in the world and I was content.

Even in college, I managed to work my class schedule so I had plenty of time for girls, drunken debauchery, school and videogames. I had class only 2 days a week and the other 5 were always full of fun. I went on a game buying spree, playing games, buying games I would play once I beat other games and borrowing games from friends.

Now, things are so different. Working 40 plus hours a week, I barely have time to play any games. I get maybe an hour a night, and a full day on Sunday playing, if I am lucky. I have a backlog dating back to 2006! I am still trying to muddle through Kingdom Hearts II! I can’t tell you how many games I bought and then traded back without ever really playing them.

Thankfully, things have started to turn around for me. I traded away everything I am not going to play. I have Gamefly.com now, which allows me to play all sorts of games, but instead of playing against a deadline like when you rent from Blockbuster, I can take my time and even play other games and not feel like I am being wasteful. I only buy games that I KNOW I will play again one day. As much as I love Star Wars, The Force Unleashed is a rental. Sorry, but that game probably does not have a ton of replay value for me and I am immune to the lure of Trophies and Achievements.

It’s getting better all the time for me. What follows is a partial list of my backlog of games:

  1. Final Fantasy IV DS
  2. Final Fantasy III
  3. Final Fantasy Tactics A2
  4. Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
  5. Ratchet and Clank 2 and 3
  6. Jak 3
  7. Final Fantasy X-2

What games do you guys have on the backburner and do you find yourself short on time when it comes to games?

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9 Comments »

  • Eddy said:

    So true. I barely have time to play the way I would like to.

    Currently, I’m trying to finish MGS4, GTA IV, Castle Crashers, Braid, Lost Odyssey, FF 7: Crisis Core.

    September 3, 2008 at 6:50 pm
  • SNOWMAN7 said:

    Dang, I thought I had a lot of games!

    September 3, 2008 at 7:43 pm
  • Ridickulous said:

    Act 4 of MGS4 is taking me forever xD

    September 3, 2008 at 10:01 pm
  • Anthony (author) said:

    Act 4 of MGS4 is taking me forever xD

    That’s b/c you watch most of it, right?

    September 3, 2008 at 10:38 pm
  • Aaox said:

    Ugh, I’m have TOO much time to play games. Games never last more than two weeks for me. Oblivion was the rare exception.

    September 4, 2008 at 1:36 am
  • Anthony (author) said:

    Ugh, I’m have TOO much time to play games. Games never last more than two weeks for me. Oblivion was the rare exception.

    Is that b/c you have time to play them or you get bored with them after two weeks?

    September 4, 2008 at 9:02 am
  • Aaox said:

    I play them to completion, and then mess around, and then I get bored of the single-player. This is usually about 2 days to a week, and very rarely 2 weeks. I only stick around if there’s a multiplayer. A good multiplayer
    (a la CoD 4 or Halo 3) will last me months. But I’ve only ever seen three that I liked that much: CoD 4, Halo 3, and Halo 2.

    September 4, 2008 at 12:30 pm
  • Eddy said:

    Agreed, COD4′s multiplayer is a blast. They did a good job of giving you plenty to do up front and loading the back-end experience so that you always felt equipped, but still had something to fight for.

    September 4, 2008 at 1:34 pm
  • Anthony (author) said:

    Agreed, COD4′s multiplayer is a blast. They did a good job of giving you plenty to do up front and loading the back-end experience so that you always felt equipped, but still had something to fight for.

    Yeah, man that one is way too much fun. I go through spurts where I can’t stop playing it, then I get tired of it and don’t play it for a few weeks and then I am obsessed again. Love it.

    September 4, 2008 at 1:51 pm