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

SallyNasty wrote:

When the hell am I going to play all these games!

I asked myself that same question when I was your age, and look at me now.

I am the pile of consoles future... WooooooooooHOOOOOOOOOoo Arrrrrggghhhhhhhhhhhh!

I threw in the towel on Catherine. Definitely one of the more interesting/unique games I've played in a while, but I was starting to dread the block puzzles by the 6th Night, even on Easy mode. My only motivation for continuing was just to see how the story played out, so I'll just watch the rest of the story on YouTube. Also, I was admittedly embarrassed to play this game while my fiance was home, so my play time was very limited, which isn't very conducive to later stages of the game. I sent it back to Gamefly today, so hopefully I'll get Gears 3 next week.

I successfully did not buy Starfox 64 and Ocarina of Time in a very nice deal on 3DS games. Combined with actually returning the extraneous PS2 games I bought earlier in the month, I'm feeling pretty good about my self control.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I successfully did not buy Starfox 64 and Ocarina of Time in a very nice deal on 3DS games. Combined with actually returning the extraneous PS2 games I bought earlier in the month, I'm feeling pretty good about my self control.

Good on you, man. That's awesome.

As for me, I'm finding being cash challenged is making me peruse my backlog a bit more (doesn't it always?) and staying out of the big threads for new games (I'm looking at you Gears 3 and Deus Ex) is for the betterment of my happiness.

I'd love to be playing all the new stuff (and I will be doing so with Deus Ex, thankfully ), but I was thinking about my upcoming replay of DA2 and getting excited about it. And I can't wait to get FarCry 2 finished up soon.

So, some forecasting of what I'd like to do this fall:
- Wrap up FarCry 2 in September
- Start Deus Ex: Human Revolution before the end of September
- Consider starting either Dragon Age 2 play #2 or Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence play #1 in October
- Misc other stuff in-between all of this

trueheart78 wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

I successfully did not buy Starfox 64 and Ocarina of Time in a very nice deal on 3DS games. Combined with actually returning the extraneous PS2 games I bought earlier in the month, I'm feeling pretty good about my self control.

Good on you, man. That's awesome.

+1 on all counts!

Also, Slyght, it's been a busy one for me down here but I'll get your games in to the Google doc over the weekend (probably Friday night even).

I don't know about other people, but I have not been keeping the google doc up to date. I find it much easier to track on backloggery, though that's partially because I was doing that anyway, and duplicating the info on the spreadsheet wasn't worthwhile. Now that registration is open again on backloggery, should we consider using that instead?

Whoops. Wrong thread. Sorry.

Well, I think I've got the best reason to not buy new games now. I don't have the time (to even check the deals thread) with a newborn in the house.

trueheart78 wrote:

Hit 50% on FarCry 2 tonight. Up more than 2x from where I was at yesterday (24%). Hoping to wrap this up before I crack open Deus Ex: Human Revolution...

Take your time and savor it. I rushed the 2nd half a bit, but enjoyed the new truck (added via fortunes pack) more than just about anything when I hit the 2nd half and it showed up.

Garden Ninja wrote:

I don't know about other people, but I have not been keeping the google doc up to date. I find it much easier to track on backloggery, though that's partially because I was doing that anyway, and duplicating the info on the spreadsheet wasn't worthwhile. Now that registration is open again on backloggery, should we consider using that instead?

I've been thinking about this myself.

The Google doc is kind of like a Backloggery lite. I know Hemi had some reservations at the thought of entering it all into the system over there. I found for myself that it was quite beneficial. Almost like some aversion therapy. When I thought of buying a new game, I remembered the time it took me to enter in what I already had, and that gave me reason to pause.

I'm happy to throw it open to the group for suggestions.

I could 'purge' the Google doc to keep those that are using it on there (therefore making it easier for them to navigate), while those of us backloggerised use that system (top tip too Garden, using the wishlist for future purchases).

I am also happy to do the data entry for people's lists if they want a gateway remedy for enablement on the Backloggery server. Set yourself up an account over there, with a generic password, then I can go in and fill in the titles for you, PM you back when it's done, and then you change your password. Piece of cake.

Those interested in this 'service' shoot me a PM anyway, and I'll happily get the info from the spreadsheet into the Backloggery environment for you.

It's a shame we can't have 'groups' over there, other than the multitap, but I guess if it had a lot of chatter, it might bog down the system.

Some of us use the TA feed for that anyway

I'm on Backloggery now.

Just in time I think. I was priding myself on my new, laser like determination to buy only the very best games when I went into a Gamestation and saw a few games I'd been holding off on at 2 for twenty pounds used. I bought Need for speed: Hot pursuit and Enslaved. I then went on to Game and got a used copy of Crysis for £10 in a trade in deal.

I'm unlikely to get through even one of them before the seasonal games monsoon hits so at least two of those games will go straight to my pile. Still it is rather nice to have a game or two in hand :).

Just added you to my multitap, feel free to use me to find 'others' in the GWJ pile fighters league.

My God, what have they done?

My family that is! I now have $125 in Amazon gift card money from my birthday this week. Just screaming at me to expand the pile.

Must... resist..

Thanks for the offer, but I don't need to be tracked on the Google Doc. I actually have a very large doc of my own that I use to track not just my video game backlog, but pretty much all media: books, tv series, games, etc.

Another good backlog resource site is howlongtobeat.com, which is primarily a database for how long it takes people to beat games, but you can also use it to personally track games in your backlog. The nice thing about it is that it will list the average time to beat all the games you have in your backlog, which I've found useful for planning out what games to play next in my backlog.

I've seen howlongtobeat. Seems like a decent site, and I use it on occasion for planning. If I didn't have backloggery already, I might use it for the backlog, but transferring my collection over doesn't seem worth it to me.

Resistance 3 can be scratched off the list. Holy crap that game. I didn't care for the first one, the second looked boring, but this one was just... It's exactly what I've wanted in a game's campaign since Halo 1. I loved it, I can't wait to co-op it. This and Heavy Rain justify my PS3 purchase more than enough (inFamous as well, but not as much as those two games).

Another game go. Just...31 left on the pile!...yay...

If you want a bit of a sobering experience, pick the ten untouched games from your pile you most want to finish, then look up the average completion time for each on HowLongToBeat. Add those times together, then divide by your average daily play time. That'll give you the number of days it would take you to finish those ten games.

My console track from my road map will take me until February of next year, assuming I play nothing else at all. Yipes.

However, more than half of that time is just Persona 3 and 4. So, word of advice to pile-clearers: don't be friends with Minarchist.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

However, more than half of that time is just Persona 3 and 4. So, word of advice to pile-clearers: don't be friends with Minarchist.

Now you tell me... I've just picked up those two, plus SMT: Lucifer's Call (Nocturn in the States) and SMT: DDS 1 and 2.

m0nk3yboy wrote:

Just added you to my multitap, feel free to use me to find 'others' in the GWJ pile fighters league. :)

Ok done :). I've added a few people just to get started. I'll do a more thorough pass later. Feel free to add me fellow backloggers.

Having seen all your pimped out pages I've also gone in and done a bit of window dressing on mine.

AUs_TBirD wrote:

Punch-Out! (Wii) - Had my eye on this for a long time. Price dropped very low.

I technically already beat it (not the harder run after you beat it the first time, but I count that as a bonus). However, I've been wanting to pick it up since I originally rented from GameFly. How low did the price dive?

The original version is currently $22.40 on amazon, and the nintendo selects is $19.99, although I got it for $14.96 plus 3.99 shipping from the goHastings amazon retailer.

How much you like Sin & Punishment is going to depend on how much you like SHMUPs. I haven't finished it, myself, since I'm sadly lacking in leet skillz, but I have enjoyed what I played.

Also, your list of purchases came dangerously close to enabling me.

I've been a bad boy and I need to be punished....

My weakness didn't come from the deals thread; it came from the "convince me Blade Runner doesn't suck" thread. As a result I went to Amazon to buy the book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Of course, while I was there, I saw that some things in my "save for later" cart had dropped in price, and so the slippery slope began...

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (NDS) - I love this style of game and it had gone down in price.
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (Wii) - From the Xenoblade thread, somebody said that this game had also been fan requested for NA, and then bombed. I imported the original for the N64 and didn't even like it very much. What's wrong with me?
Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii) - Total impulse buy because dirt cheap, came as a recommendation with Sin & Punishment, and some people here rave about it.
EDIT: I also really liked Odin Sphere and Grim Grimoire.
Okaminden (NDS) - Price dropped. I barely got anywhere in Okami, but that was only because of the new (and much shorter) shiny always distracted me.
Punch-Out! (Wii) - Had my eye on this for a long time. Price dropped very low.
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (PS2) - Desperately seeking a co-op game to play with my gf which she might like and which won't make her motion sick.
de Blob 2 (Wii) - Found out that the original de Blob was actually a school project that hit it "big." Apparently the studio was shut down after the sequel. Plus it was really cheap.
Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii) - Another quality Wii release by Nintendo that was not at full price? I was interested and bit at $27.46.
Shadows of the Damned (360) - I love Suda51, and was sympathetic to this game being a nuclear explosion of retail fail. Full price was too high for me, but $37.00 was low enough for me to order it.
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On a positive note, at least I knocked off Quake II Mission Pack: The Reckoning about a week ago. That makes up for those 9 failures, right? Right?

That's the odd thing. I like most shooters. For example, I love the Darius series, Ikaruga, Jamestown, and Zero Gunner 2, to name a few. Sin & Punishment just didn't click too well, however. That was 7 years ago, though, so I'm hoping for a better result now.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Also, your list of purchases came dangerously close to enabling me. :P

The only way I'll actually get around to playing all of these is if I figure out a way to freeze time. - Hope that helps you resist.

But when the day comes that we learn how to freeze time, I want to be prepared!

And I just finished inFamous. Don't know why the few remaining red areas aren't popping up with side missions, so I might check back later. It was a fun game, though the presentation of the story and cut-scenes made it tough for me to care what was going on. Good stuff nonetheless.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

But when the day comes that we learn how to freeze time, I want to be prepared!

In an instant, I would age 20 years...

I thinking of cancelling GameFly.

It's putting weird pressures on my game time. Since it is a monthly charge, in order not to waste money (even if it's only $17), I feel like I have A) make sure I nearly always have a game out, which means not necessarily playing the game I'm most interested in, and B) playing that game through as quickly as I can and returning it, in order to get the most games per month possible. For instance, I've had Terminator Salvation for a week and a half, and barely played it, since I've been playing Dead Island. If I don't finish Terminator soon, then I reach the point where I paid more to get it through GF than to buy it outright. There are a bunch of good games in the backlog that I am ignoring just to get value from the service.

The only thing keeping me from cancelling is that the benefits for being a long term customer (10% off on keeping / buying games from them, and a $5 coupon every 3 months). Last time I thought about cancelling (when I moved, and didn't have a TV for a while), there was an option to put the account on hold, but that just amounted to keeping the info on file; you still lost the benefits, and it takes a year to get them back up to the same level. When I moved it was only going to put it on hold for a month, until I could buy a TV, so I just paid the $17 to keep the benefits, and I had a smaller backlog. That is no longer the case. I currently have an unused $5 coupon, so I'll use that up, either on something from the list above, or something I rented before and have wanted to get back to.

I do want to mention that I still totally love the service itself, and would encourage anyone thinking about signing up to do so (though maybe not anyone in this thread). It just doesn't work for me right now.

I do have a Goozex account, currently with 3000 space bucks (equivalent to ~$150), so I will probably start being a bit more liberal in using that (i.e. not restricting it to The List, necessarily), but only getting games there that I specifically want to play but don't care precisely when. At least there, it is on demand, not a monthly charge.

Garden Ninja wrote:

It's putting weird pressures on my game time. Since it is a monthly charge, in order not to waste money (even if it's only $17), I feel like I have A) make sure I nearly always have a game out, which means not necessarily playing the game I'm most interested in, and B) playing that game through as quickly as I can and returning it, in order to get the most games per month possible. For instance, I've had Terminator Salvation for a week and a half, and barely played it, since I've been playing Dead Island. If I don't finish Terminator soon, then I reach the point where I paid more to get it through GF than to buy it outright. There are a bunch of good games in the backlog that I am ignoring just to get value from the service.

Drop it.

If it unnecessarily adds to the pile or forces you to switch focus from other games that are on your hit list, it's less of a service and more of a disservice.

Garden Ninja wrote:

The only thing keeping me from cancelling is that the benefits for being a long term customer (10% off on keeping / buying games from them, and a $5 coupon every 3 months). Last time I thought about cancelling (when I moved, and didn't have a TV for a while), there was an option to put the account on hold, but that just amounted to keeping the info on file; you still lost the benefits, and it takes a year to get them back up to the same level. When I moved it was only going to put it on hold for a month, until I could buy a TV, so I just paid the $17 to keep the benefits, and I had a smaller backlog. That is no longer the case. I currently have an unused $5 coupon, so I'll use that up, either on something from the list above, or something I rented before and have wanted to get back to.

Well, if you aren't a day-1 purchaser, the 10% off and $5 coupons don't really compare to the trend of $25 off sales within a couple weeks of release. Add in the $17 a month savings, and 2 months of no service almost gets you a new game when it hits a $35 sale, above and beyond what you already buy.

trueheart78 wrote:

Truth

Listen to TrueHeart, for he knows the ways of the pile...