Buying games and not playing them

I have this terrible problem that I'm sure some of you also suffer from; Sometimes I buy games but never play them.

For example, when Morrowind came out I bought Resident Evil for the Gamecube the same day. I still haven't popped it into the GC.

Another example: I bought No One Lives Forever 2 from gogamer.com when it was on 48 hour madness a few months ago. Nope, haven't played it yet.

I bought Castlevania Chronicles for PSX, never been in the machine.

And most recently I bought Xenosaga last week but I still haven't popped it in yet. I keep telling myself that as soon as I finish FFX I'll pop it in. We will see, we will see.

So, my question is: How many of you buy games intending to play them but just never get to them? Am I the only one?

Actually that''s a problem I''ve never really had. I''ve always been amazed when I''ve read about someone who''s still got the plastic wrap on a game in their house. I have a tendency to open any new game in the car on the way home. I''m gnawing at the corners of the wrapping at every traffic light, just trying to get that first tear going. I used to torture myself by forcing myself to read the entire manual before playing, too. However, now that a lot of manuals just repeat what you learn in the first stage of the game, I have given that up. I always boot up or install a new game the second I get home.

I do have a problem playing them much longer than that, though. I played Resident Evil for hours when I first bought it and booted it up. Once I turned it off and left it for a few days, I forgot where I was and what I was doing in the game. I haven''t really touched it since. The same goes for any number of games. I log about 10 hours into a game and that''s it. I never really go back. For the Cube that includes Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, RE, Animal Crossing, Phantasy Star Online, and any number of others. For the PC it was Warcraft 3, Dungeon Siege, Diablo 2 LOD, Neverwinter Nights, and a host of other games.

I also only play games for a limited time such as Sway. I have been recycling a lot of games on e-bay lately. I love e-bay. I used to keep every game like they were trophies, but I am a little more realistic now. Plus the wife just isn''t impressed by the box art from games that I used to keep up everywhere.

yeah, guilty as charged. I''ll put the game in, play for a short time, and never touch it again.

I have a few grocery bags full of games that never got full attention.

I hate that. Wish they had a video game service like they do for DVD''s....can''t remember the name now, but you get mailed a few, keep at your leisure and as you send one back, the next one on your list gets mailed to you. I''d pay for that service.

I went through that phase. For me, it was a result of being on the net a long time(in the office), reading a lot about games, getting excited about them, but when you buy them you really don''t have time to play them.

I now have a rule where I have this list of games I''ve got to finish before I buy a new one.

I cheat, of course.

This normally only happens to me if it''s a ""Buy this game and get this one free"" offer. Most of the time this is because the second games a dog that''s not selling well. When I bought NWN I got Battle for Naboo free, After playing for 5 minutes (The Horror....the horror) I was desperately trying to put the cellophane wrapper back on the game!!

At the minute I just can''t justify spending money on games that I''m not going to play a lot. I''ll only buy something if I''ve played a demo or like the genre or Know that the games going to be good!

It is a big problem for me, too. Sometimes I get three games in a month. Usually one of these end on my shelf collecting dust. I have Splinter Cell here, only played until mission 2, Otogi played until Mission 3, Morrowind XBox barely touched and the list goes on :). Still I am already planning on getting Yager or Panzer Dragoon Orta when they get released here by the end of the Month.

I do this more than than I like to think about. I miss all the free time I used to have before commiting myself to going back to school. Oh well, they''ll be waiting for me some day.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 and the Zelda Freebie disk.

I hope I get around to them, and with baby Pulse coming along I''m guessing my gaming budget is going to go to $0...so there is hope for those two gems on my shelf.

It''s a horrible problem for me. I usually start games, lose interest in them within 5 minutes, and pop in a movie or something. In the worst of examples, earlier this week I had seven games in the shrinkwrap:

Xenosaga (PS2)
Apex (XBox)
Dark Cloud 2 (PS2)
Final Fantasy X International (PS2)
Xenogears (PSX)
Vagrant Story (PSX)
Chrono Cross (PSX)

I have actually started Xenosaga since then.

This tends to happen to me with X-box titles... I think *ooo* that might be fun, I play it for a few minutes, or not at all then I get distracted by something shiny for the PC. Odd.. I don''t really have that problem to much in life with other things...

Hey Chris is that a German localized version of Morrowind?

it is, but thankfully you can set your xbox language to english and everything is fine again. The german localisation is an affront to my ears.

Hmz what would it cost to send something to a postamt in the Emsland? I can fetch it there myself with proper i.d.-ing right?

"Yomm" wrote:

Wish they had a video game service like they do for DVD''s....can''t remember the name now, but you get mailed a few, keep at your leisure and as you send one back, the next one on your list gets mailed to you. I''d pay for that service.

You mean a netflix for video games? If it''s the internet, then chances are your idea is already a site: http://www.gamefly.com/

And yeah, I try my hardest to not buy games on a whim, so that I actually play all of them. But for some reason, Ghost Recon hasn''t seen much time in my xbox.

Same problem here, far as finishing vs gathering dust. Seems to break down into two categories- either I play the crap out of something until it''s beaten, or I play for ten minutes and never load it again. This goes for all platforms. I''ve logged exactly three hours into Panzer Dragoon Orta, for example. Dragon Quarter, on the other hand, I played obsessivley for three weeks straight.

Pc games are actually worse. In my pre-console days I''d buy three or so at a time. If I played two out of three, that was a good batch. Not so much a problem with console stuff as it''s so easy to trade ''em in towards your next impulse buy.

Unlike some other folks here, I have this problem with other stuff, too.....books, namely. My unread book stack is probably registered as an official Alien Menace.

Thanks Bag!!

Now I have to decide if I can afford the $21/month, though if it saves me from buying a few stinkers, then why not??

Oh well, there goes my idea into quick cash buisness.

I can''t personally vouch for their service, but I''ve heard good things about them. 21 a month is too much for me, but then again I don''t do netflix either.

Koesj trust me you do not want the german translation

Probably too true I bought a German version of the NES game Darkwing Duck at Karstadt back in the early nineties, boy did that turn out to be a disappointment.

That was like my favorite NES game ever.

I''m guilty of buying a game and only playing it for a little while too. Morrow-wind, Jedi Knight II, Black&White, and a few others. I think the problem is that I play for hour at a time until I get stuck, and get frustrated. I put it away at that point and just never get back to it. I especially hate getting stuck because of tiny control problems, like a jumping puzzle. How many times have you missed a jump because you were 3 millimeters to far away and your character seems to lack the ability to lean forward a bit and land safely?

I get really over excited about games and I pre order them and can''t wait to get them... then when I get them, the thrill of it has arrived and then passed and i just keep playing the same like 3 games I''ve been playing for months. I think i fear the let after all the anticipation... lol. I''m doing it now with the game Primal (I''m a PS2 addict) I''ve already ordered everything possible for the game... I even have and listen to the soundtrack (which is the center of my current musical obsession) and I can already visualize myself with game in hand and then game on shelf and then game remaining in package for the next 3 months. Is there a support group for this?

Yesh Me-Ayin

No, but there should be. Sad fact for me: most of the time, the hype, talk, forums, screenshots, pushbacks, and anticipation of games is more fun than the actual game for me. When it actually comes out and I get it, I feel like I''ve defeated the game, because it actually came out. Now Duke Nukem Forever, that''s one tough Female Doggo, I don''t know if I''ll ever defeat ole George.