Did your pile become less of a mountain? - 2011 in review

mrtomaytohead wrote:

Well, I've still got a working Super Scope (and accessories) around here

I've still got mine as well, although it doesn't seem to work with LCD TVs. Or I'm doing something wrong. The NES Zapper didn't seem to work either.

EDIT: Here's some video of the mini-game.

http://youtu.be/qCxnEtr7a8g

Popped in MGS3 Subsistence tonight. Wow, the camera change from Snake Eater is awesome. I made it a little bit further in Snake Eater than I am currently (played about 3.5 hrs tonight) and am finally getting back into it. Shame the game save wasn't transferable.

Although I will never understand the backward-ish controls of the MGS franchise as a whole.

shoptroll wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:

Well, I've still got a working Super Scope (and accessories) around here

I've still got mine as well, although it doesn't seem to work with LCD TVs. Or I'm doing something wrong. The NES Zapper didn't seem to work either.

EDIT: Here's some video of the mini-game.

http://youtu.be/qCxnEtr7a8g

The TV should bear no impact on the super scope as it has a reciever that handles all the aiming that plugs into a controller port. Regardless, I have a Plasma with a glass covered screen, so maybe even a NES Zapper might work...

I would definitely play that mini game if I got the Kirby game.

Light guns don't work on anything but CRT televisions. They work by tracking the position of the beam used to draw the image on the television. The super scope will work, but the zapper won't.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Light guns don't work on anything but CRT televisions. They work by tracking the position of the beam used to draw the image on the television. The super scope will work, but the zapper won't.

Oh alright. Never really know. I figured they didn't work because the screen wasn't reflective enough.

I solved my too-many-games problem.

I'm broke.

The 12-month plan has become the 12-year plan - more than enough time to play what I got.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

The super scope will work, but the zapper won't.

Looks like I'll have to fire it up again and figure out why it didn't work.

shoptroll wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

The super scope will work, but the zapper won't.

Looks like I'll have to fire it up again and figure out why it didn't work.

You need to actually plug the receiver into the correct (2nd, I believe) controller port?

Strangeblades wrote:

I solved my too-many-games problem.

I'm broke.

The 12-month plan has become the 12-year plan - more than enough time to play what I got.

Same, although I'm not going to say the amount of titles I bough this year made me broke. No, that would be too insightful, and I like the "ignorance is bliss" approach to game acquisition.

In all seriousness though, we are doing a 'swap' in our household next year. I am staying home with the kids, and looking for part time work two days out of five, and the wifey is going back full time. We will be taking a dip in income for a while, so it's the perfect excuse for a "no new purchases" mantra for the year. I did that in 2010, and made some great progress on the pile.

It was a very hard decision, but I have mustered the resolve and made a commitment to it. I will buy no new games this Christmas. I won't shun gifts, but I will not make any personal effort to secure any new titles for my collection. I must vanquish the pile.

But... Steam holiday sale...

Stele wrote:

But... Steam holiday sale...

Loses it's power when you already own most of the stuff that regularly goes on sale

Has no effect on the unwashed console masses.

I'll be making no new purchases, period, except what's on The List, until I hit my pile goals.

Will be gifted something new on Black Friday b a buddy, but other than that, probably nothing new this season. I did rent Saint's Row 3 though, so at least I can attempt that this weekend. Yay Redbox!

I'm toying with some rules for buying games in the new year. The short version is no new games for a platform unless that platform's unfinished percentage (per Backloggery) is at or below 25% and the unplayed percentage for that platform is 0%. That gives me some wiggle-room for games I'm just not in the mood for or games that take a long time to finish, but I figure that if I've got games that are untouched on a platform that I ought to be at least trying those before buying anything new.

I'm also trying to figure out if I want to put price caps on new games. I've considered a ban on all 360 games until they're $30 or $40, for instance. That'll put me three or four months behind the curve for new games, but it means that I'll spend less overall. I've also considered having a set amount of money for the year that can be spent on games, divided however I choose. Monkeyboy, weren't you considering something like that at one point? Anyone else thought about price caps as a way to limit pile growth?

Items on The List are, of course, exempt from all buying rules.

Setting a budget seems like something I should do, although my list for next year's planned purchases is pretty small so far:

Borderlands 2
BioShock Infinite
Diablo III (CE paid for)
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm (WoL will be complete this year or early 2012)
Torchlight II (If a Steam bonus is attached, otherwise no buy until I beat TL2)
Final Fantasy Type-0
Kingdom Hearts 3D

The only thing up in the air is the 3DS lineup this year and whether or not I decide to get a PS3 finally. That Studio Ghibli/Level-5 collaboration is awfully tempting, and I finally have an HDTV big enough to make Blu-Ray resolution matter.

To try and focus my elimination list this year I decided to make a handful of sub-lists of about 5-10 games each... ie. nostalgia plays, 2011 hold-overs, and the lovely "finish what you started" list which is everything I remember getting about 2-3 hours into before being distracted by something shinier. Anything that fits multiple categories gets higher priority.

I'm hoping this will allow me to be a bit more optimistic about tackling the pile instead of the 40 game Sisyphean effort that has been my lists in the past. I'm also pushing myself to ignore the system lists that are older than the N64. Right now I care more about paring down the list and actually playing games I've paid for with my own money since things like Humble Bundles and Steam/GOG sales are primarily to blame for the state of my backlog.

I forgot to mention the other part: bans on games older than a certain date. No DS games past the one year anniversary of the 3DS, for example, although that might be harder than a ban on 360 games released prior to 1/1/11.

Im actaully surprised how well it's gone for me this year in BacklogAttack™. Between the combination of work being more demanding, having a tighter budget than usual and just not spending a lot of time looking for new stuff to play, I consider this year a success in BacklogLand™.

I haven't beat as many games this year as I have in the past, but with so few new ones coming onto the scene that interest me and that I can afford both time and money to play, it's helped.

Overall, I am happy with my performance this year. I will get some quantifiable results together soon, but just knowing that I'm making it a point to play the older stuff and have a BacklogMostWanted™ list, it really makes it easier to stay focused.

Oh, I'm totally down with bans. Nothing over $30 (hence no new, top tier titles), previously nothing until I've beaten my pile down to 25% of its current size, but now I'm thinking down to 10%, No Joke.

Ok, so I made it through the weekend mostly unscathed.

I got DiRT 3 (360) and Batman Arkham City (360), but will likely be returning the latter (need the money more than the game). I also snagged 2 x 3 Month Live Gold cards ($8 a pop).

Then today, I bought Beyond Good & Evil (XBLA) for 240 space bucks ($3 for those of you playing at home).

I also am getting the bug to finally start Final Fantasy 13 (watched the newest trailer for FF13-2).

I've made it through the weekend unscathed despite shopping around for deals on The List (Catherine will never go on sale again, will it?) However, Beyond Good & Evil HD, which is not on The List, is sorely tempting at just $3.

Edit: I posted this, and then noticed Catherine is $35 in Amazon's Cyber Monday sale.

I avoid Black Friday like the plague so I dodged a big bullet there, and the Steam sale was just picking up DLC on the cheap for a couple of games I already owned. No harm done.

I also got Dirt3 this past week, but because it was near the top of my Steam wishlist and I paid $7.50 for it thanks to all the giveaways with video cards. So far, I'm mostly happy with most of the events, but feel the rally stages are too short. Most are 2miles or less and I feel like they should be 4-6miles.

Updated the spreadsheet. I actually got 10/11 of the 2011 purchases, thanks to Batman and OkamiDen in the last week for half price or better. Only thing I didn't get was ME3, which is of course pushed to the spring.

The real question is, did I limit myself to just those purchases? Mostly yes. A few cheap Steam games like Dungeon Defenders, Sanctum, Worms Reloaded, and Hydrophobia on sales. And some gifts like Orcs Must Die and Fallout:NV added to the pile.

Overall a fairly good year for restraint.

Pile progress is slower though. Dabbling in MMOs like Spiral Knights, STO, DCUO, and CoH as well as my other f2p passion, League of Legends have wasted a lot of time.

Guess I'll check out the backloggery idea for pile games. But I still think we need a spreadsheet of "games to purchase" or something, so that we can help try to keep our adding to the pile in check.

Stele wrote:

But I still think we need a spreadsheet of "games to purchase" or something, so that we can help try to keep our adding to the pile in check.

That's what I use the Backloggery wishlist for.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Stele wrote:

But I still think we need a spreadsheet of "games to purchase" or something, so that we can help try to keep our adding to the pile in check.

That's what I use the Backloggery wishlist for.

I've got a list in my post I manage in this thread. I've been pretty meticulous about it, as well.

While I haven't been as diligent about clearing my pile, I have at least managed to stave off most of the intended/desired purchases for the year.

I just got gifted a PlayStation 3, though... so I may end up getting at least one game for the new machine... c'est la vie!

Not complaining at all!

I caved on BG&E as well. That was a steal for $3.

I have also ignored Steam this whole weekend (the client, and the forum thread). As of 16mins and 45 seconds ago, there are 743 temptations I have not read.

I realised I was only opening Steam to see what bargains were there, rather than what games to play. This was highlighted when I went back into my Backloggery and used the 'not played' option under unfinished. 100% of the PC games not even started (I bought them with the intention of setting up the Mac to Dual Boot) and then another 62.5% unplayed on the Mac. Those percentages wouldn't be too bad if I only had a small number in my Library, but the Mac represents 45 unplayed games.

I think I shall be abstaining from purchases in 2012.

trueheart78 wrote:

I also am getting the bug to finally start Final Fantasy 13 (watched the newest trailer for FF13-2).

I have logged in almost 70 hours on it. Best decision I made three weeks ago. The first 10 chapters of 13 are really linear, but no more than FFX was on the PS2. You live by the mini-map, turn around in new areas (because you know there is a chest behind you, right?) and explore all areas as much as possible. It makes Chapter 11 really pay off. I won't say any more, but it has taken my attention away from Skyrim, and even got me looking at FAQS for guides to upgrading weapons in the most effective manner. I'm enjoying it, and it's definitely rewarding for 'fans of the JRPG grind'.

So, how do you mark games in your backloggery that you no longer own or want to play?

I've just finished marking the games I no longer own as Null, but I'm tempted to remove them outright.

trueheart78 wrote:

So, how do you mark games in your backloggery that you no longer own or want to play?

I've just finished marking the games I no longer own as Null, but I'm tempted to remove them outright.

If I've completed them, and I am proud of that achievement, I will leave it on the list (it also helps with the completion %, which is one of my driving factors).

If I don't want to play it, it's not even on the list. Given the pile, there is no space/time for interlopers.