I haven’t been gaming a whole lot lately. The reasons are typical: end of semester madness combined with writing and defending my prospectus. When I first started grad school, it was unusual for me to game at all during the semester. Not gaming during the semester was not a policy, rather it was more of a default. I wouldn’t even notice I hadn’t been gaming until the semester ended, and I fired up the Xbox only to realize I hadn’t played for months. Often I find this frustrating for a couple of reasons. Mostly because I find playing games mostly relaxing (also frustrating, but mostly relaxing), and also because not playing leads to a situation most of know as the pile of shame.
I think most of us have a pile of shame. (I say most of us because read a forum about the pile of shame and inevitably there is some poster who wants to let us know how superior he or she is for only buying games as they play them.) My problem is, with the exception of Humble Bundles, I do buy games only as I plan to play them. But, plans…well, you know, life and school get in the way. So, what this leaves me with is a big pile of half played games. I really, really want to finish these games. Many of them stick with me, and I keep thinking about them. I want to play. But, I don’t know which one to start with.
I guess in some sense, I’m happy that neither the Xbone nor the PS4 has really grabbed my interest. My current resolution or challenge is to try not to buy new games. This, of course, cannot be a complete ban. Some games I will want to play with friends and other games will be too cheap to ignore (Humble Bundles). But, I want to make a genuine effort to go back through my pile and really play and finish the games I want to play. Without even looking at my game collection, recent unfinished ones come to mind: LEGO Movie, Lone Survivor, Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate. And, these are just the ones I’ve bought in the last couple of months. When I look at my shelf, I see older ones such as LA Noire, Silent Hill, the Uncharted Series, Mirror’s Edge, etc. All games I’ve started, but never finished, but all games I still want to play.
I started thinking about this last week when I was browsing through Steam, looking for a new game. Spate caught my eye, and I thought “what the heck, it’s only $10.” And, if I recall correctly, someone compared it to Limbo. I’m in, I love Limbo! So, off I went playing Spate for a few hours. Lovely game, cool narration, beautiful artwork. And the ending? I don’t know. I didn’t finish the game. So, I can add that one to the list.
The semester ends in three weeks, and I imagine that even though I have probably played more games this year than any other time while in grad school, I will still be surprised by how long it’s been since I have fired up some of my favorite games. Games that so mesmerized me for an afternoon or possibly slightly longer, only to be (almost) forgotten about as the next shiny game comes along. After I bought Spate, I went through my Steam files. So many “new shiny” games that were on my wishlist, I already own and didn’t even know it. This summer, I plan to tackle some of these games, and instead of spending more and more money on new games, I will play the games I already own.
I promise.
