The Momentum of New Games

Tribes Ascend

For the last week, I’ve had the pleasure of a very rare thing in my life — lots of time to play video games. With the house to myself for several days, I’ve been able to play some CS:GO, Tribes: Ascend, Walking Dead Episodes 1 and 2, Dear Esther, Stacking and Diablo 3. These games represent just a small dent in the overall backlog, but it’s nice to have completed a few of them.

I’ve run into an interesting problem, though. I’m not quite playing the games I’m most excited about. For some reason, I’ve been choosing to stay away from them. At first, I thought it was maybe because I was not wanting to rush through those experienced, and instead savor them as much as possible. But then I realized that the bigger the game was, the harder it was for me to want to start it.

Now that I look back on it, I often dawdle instead of starting a big new game, even though I really want to play it. I think this is because big games require a lot of momentum to get through. Just like trying to push a heavy object, it takes a lot of force to get rolling, but once it does, it’s hard to stop. When I’m sucked into a huge game, it works just the same way. I need a few hours with it just to see what it’s like, and then after that, I’m completely sucked in. At that point, trying to get me to stop and do other responsible things is like trying to stop a boulder that’s rolling downhill.

Do you guys experience this kind of gaming momentum? If so, how do you deal with it? Do you find that it takes you a while to get started on new games, or do you just dive right in? Curious to hear how your guys approach it. Go!

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I write about samurai girls and space marines. Writer for Smooth Few Films. Rooster Teeth Freelancer. Author of Red vs. Blue, The Ultimate Fan Guide, out NOW!

One thought on “The Momentum of New Games”

  1. I think for me it depends on how long I was waiting for the game. Max Payne 3 was a game I’ve waited for for a long time, and even though I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I thought I would, I finished it with little interruption. Same for Deus Ex 3 (which was awesome). With other big games like Skyrim or LA Noire, I kind of fiddle in them when there isn’t a game I’m really excited for. I haven’t finished either of them (not even the main quest line in Skyrim) and I don’t feel like I have to at any point. They’ll probably get finished eventually…

    And of course, CS and CS:GO always eat up a lot of time..

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