I remember when I first started playing video games in junior high (I was a late video game bloomer) I would beat a game, and then beat it again…and sometimes even beat it again! A lot of these games were 40+ hour RPGs too, and I would try my hardest to do EVERYTHING in the game. I had a lot of time to burn and a lust to play video games. But alas I could only get 1-2 video games twice a year (Christmas and my Birthday). I dreamed of the day when I would have enough money to buy a whole haul of games and play new games all the time! Well that time has come…but not how my junior high self hoped it would.
I can now afford as many video games as I want, and if I cut back on figures/manga I could afford all of the newest consoles and all of the newest games. But I don’t have as much time to play video games anymore. I’m well aware I already own way more games then I have time to play, but the junior high kid in me can’t help but scream out to “BUY THAT GAME! You’ll make time for THIS game!” over and over and over. And the end result is a PILE of games waiting for me to play with them. My only comfort is that (on The Backloggery) there are people who have way more unplayed games then me.
I know it’s just going to get worse too, after having a family (someday) is there any hope for me and video games? I hope so. One guy at work mentioned if he has to sit with the baby for a long time he can play some games on his PSP for a bit. As I get older I get the feeling that my focus is going to shift from the TV console games I love to something more portable to fill in little spare moments. Actually the inspiration for this post was that after only buying 2 games in the last 6 months I crumbled and bought 6 games for the DS yesterday…I went into Gamestop because I wanted to play Time Hollow and the prices it was selling at used online wasn’t low enough for me, so I wanted to track it down new at $30 (CA-CHING!!). And then I remembered I’ve been wanting to buy New Super Mario Brothers so my boyfriend would have a new Mario game to play when he borrows my DS (CA-CHING!!). I saw a handful of yummy looking DS games I had never heard of before and I went home and researched them a bit…and then I bought them on Amazon, Theresia (CA-CHING!), Rhythm Heaven (CA-CHING!), and Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled (CA-CHING!). I’ve also been wanting Chrono Trigger for a while and decided to just add that on too (CA-CHING!).
The solution…if I had a time machine capsule I would buy lots of games and send them back to myself. Back to the time when I would have the most time and appreciation for what was in front of me. Now, I wouldn’t send back stuff that didn’t exist at the time (like a DS) because I might find myself screwed if someone discovered complete gaming systems that are still in development at Nintendo/Sony. But I’d track down a bunch of cheap PSX and N64 games and send them to my old self. There are still a lot of PSX games I didn’t have the money to play that I’d love to play.
Although I know I’m in good company in my video game situation, so many of my gamer friends do exactly what I do. We act like little kids who have been given a big allowance. Maybe I’ll play all these video games when I retire, or as my boyfriend put it “I hope there is a really good MMO out when I retire”.
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I sort of gave up on games nowadays. Most of the new games are just rehashes of old stuff, but yeah, I do hope there is a good MMO out there when I get old too…oh wait, I hope to die young. Damn.
I totally suck at rpg’s. I always liked fighting games. Back on the SNES I would always play Killer Instinct, but I know what you mean. It just seems like there is less and less time to play games. The last time I was completely sucked into a game and I couldn’t wait to play it was One Piece Unlimited Adventure. It got low scores, but I comepletely loved it! The whole collect and create aspect is what really drew me in. I do have one game on my buy list though, Rune Factory Frontier.
I have not played video games in a while. I have a list of games that I want to get but I know I don’t have the time and I have a lot of games that I have not beat yet
@Dovely-chan: Hahaha, you’re funny. If that’s all you’re gonna do with a time machine, could I borrow it? I would send laptops and iMacs back to myself, and pound the idea into my own adolescent head to study computer science and computer engineering!… Oh yeah, and maybe learn Japanese too, lol. ^_~
CHRONO CROSS. BEST GAME EVER. BEST OST EVER. BEST RPG EVER.
I don’t play games as much as I’d like to anymore, but I still buy them and try to make time for them here and there. My mom is 51 and she plays her DS quite often, though she’s only got a few games, so I don’t think the games are wasted completely.
I dont know how would I be considered, but it was until last year that I played Zelda – Ocarina of Time in my N64 emulator and I was playing Majoras Mask recently a few months ago.
Heh, the inverse relationship between free time and money…tragically ironic isn’t it? T_T
Well, as you pointed out in your post, you’re definitely not alone in this regard
@ Panther – I have a hard time finding as many unique games that sparkle for me these days. It’s probably just cause I’m getting older and less easily impressed. The last games that really made me sit back in amazement/happiness is probably Persona 3:FES and Twilight Princess.
@ Gordan – I am so so so bad at fighters it’s pathetic, they actually stress me out and the point of playing games is to have fun and relax. I stink at racing too.
@ Dan – That list is getting way too large for me, when I was younger the list was a lot smaller since I didn’t have the internet to really evaluate all the games out there.
@ Jay – Ya I was thinking that there are DEFINITELY a lot more things I could send back (like winning lottery numbers) although I might create a Butterfly Effect and the numbers will end up changing. But I figure how bad could the Butterfly Effect be on a few little games? LOL.
@ Ayu – I REALLY REALLY loved Chrono Cross but it didn’t seem like many people really liked it. Most people would just say “Chrono Trigger was way better”. I think it’s sad that because the sequel is so different from the first games it gets negative marks for being different.
@ Persocom – I hope to still be playing games at that age. Actually Penny Arcade had a comic that showed that the author’s grandma plays a pink DS. It was cute to see it on a doily on her nightstand and I was just like “I hope that will be me someday”.
@ Phossil – I’ve never played a lot of the “classic/Basic” games. Ocarina of Time happened to be one of my first games…actually…now that I think about it…it may have been my first game that I ever completed. I think I got FF8 (for the PC) after Ocarina.
@ Snark – And I make myself feel better about my purchases because I’m not the worst out there…so sad but I need that comfort.
The time capsule thing sort of makes sense, but I wonder if I’d be able to appreciate the games I play now if I were a kid. Some of the greats like Secret of Mana, sure. But more technical games like Persona, Disgaea, and Valkyria Chronicles, or niche games like Mystery Dungeon?
@Duckie-chan: Haha, but that’s the premise of a “butterfly effect”! A tiny flaps of a butterfly’s wings can cause a destructive tsunami weeks later! Then again, sending back a few games would only accelerate a “gaming society” to create a SuperNinPSWiiBox720 a decade ahead of its time, lol. Why not?
I know what you mean. When I was in middle school I would play RPG’s constantly and even into my high school years. But then, around my late junior/senior year I stopped staying up until the wee hours of the morning. I still did sometimes in my first year of college, but when I transferred to a 4-year I can’t really find much time to sit down and play. I can finally afford all the games I want, but I have housework to do, laundry, homework, theatre, activites…maybe someday.
I like the time capsule idea. My younger self would love it!