I realised I need to stop buying games, anyone else?

[Nihiris-]

Think of it as collecting and it will make you feel better  

 

I have quite a few games to even start but the silver lining is I know I won't get them at a lower price than I got most of them at, even if I waited, so it's not a big deal to me. Plus besides the "OMG my backlog", it's good to know I won't ever be bored for the next 2 years from what I already own lol

[Ikenda]

You don't need to stop buying games (you should if it creates a problem to your finances but if not you shouldn't) you just have to stop care about trophies and platinums. If you do that,  you are going to cut probably a 70% of the time you mentioned. I have 1170 games across all ps platforms almost all bought on sales. Don't care about platinums, i finish lots of them per month without going for the plat (except if its very very easy or i really like the game) and im very happy with this situation cause ill have games to play till i get old even if i stop buying games forever. It's just a matter of perspective. You need to save money? Stop buying. You don't need to save? Buy as many as you like. 

Edited May 18, 2017 by Ikenda

[Normalcy1]

I think the same psychology exists behind the enjoyment of hunting for trophies and the desire to own a lot of games (in my case, purchase them on sale at a cheap price). I'm pleased that I have a huge selection of games although I do regret purchasing many of them... it's also true that PS+ adds unnecessary games to one's backlog although I don't really bother with games that don't interest me so that doesn't affect me too much. 

 

I've simply resorted to removing my payment method from PlayStation, lol. I don't have time to play games for more than a few hours per week anyway really so I may as not throw more money out the window. 

[Super-Fly Spider-Guy]

I did too.

 

Then I realized you can do surveys online to get moneys for them games. 

 

Literally, I barely even do any, and in the time since the Switch dropped 2 months or so back, I've clocked up nearly 200 bucks worth of Nintendo credit alone, not counting a fair bit also spent on PSN and Xbone. Shit's dope.

[GT__Jedi]

It's funny, I buy games because they look pretty good, just to get distracted by a new game a week later.  I find myself (this year) looking at the old games and getting a new interest in them, frame of mind I suppose. Of course, I always scoop up one or two of the PS+ free games each month.....

[Eyeman-sama]

I feel the same way, I feel you.

[TheBritishBaron]

13 hours ago, tpepper1985 said:

Wondering if anyone else is in the same bucket.

 

I consider myself a reasonably smart person, and good with money but I must admit over the last two years I purchased a silly amount of games in sales on the PSN. It got to the point where I had so many games I didn't know what I owned anymore so I decied to make a spreadsheet with every game I own and a couple of stats:

 

How long the game takes to 100% / Platinum

How hard the game is

If it has multiplayer trophies

If it was from PS+

 

I removed 92 games from my backlog 98% of which were from PS+ because I have no intention of playing them

 

This still leaves me with the games I one day intend to complete / play

 

Vita: 42 ... That's: 1,360 Hours to 100% the games.

PS3: 76 ... That's : 2,720 Hours to 100% the games.

PS4: 85 ... That's : 3,330 Hours to 100% the games.

 

Total: 7,410 Hours! 

 

And that's not including the DLC that I have. I play maybe an average of 2-3 hours a day, I have a kid so my playtime is limited to evenings and sometimes I can't / don't play because I have other stuff to do with the Wife / Gym / Social stuff etc. Even if we say an average of 3 hours per day 3 x 365 = 1095 Hours per year. Holy ... Shit

 

It would take me 6.7 years to clear my backlog of games, and most of what I own is worth playing.

 

I had a wake up call, what the fuck am I doing, why do I keep buying stuff. I have not purchased a single game since this revelation which was in Febuary... I want to play Horizon, Nioh, The Surge, Nier, Persona 5, XCOM2 ... I have a wish list 53 games long on the PSN store mostly of stuff that came out late last year / this year. At some point you realise you have become a victim to the marketing machine.

 

Also worth noting I only buy digital on all 3 platforms ... I do wonder if this is one of the reasons it got so out of hand. If I had 200 boxes sitting in my living room I might have realised sooner that I had a problem haha!

 

Has anyone else gone through this? Does anyone else dare to post thier own stats?

 

 

 

I did exactly the same, I made a spreadsheet with everything on, mainly PSN Store bought and PS+

Did not include time to play, but I added the date and price when I bought it, with a sum total  

 

Got separate tabs for games, dlc, and PS+ games.

 

However I have been buying store games for 8 years

 

I have around 200 physical games on my shelf too, I am in the same boat Too.Many.Games and I want to play them ALL!!!! (When I get time)

 

[RJP_X]

i think i'm going to try to do better when i get a ps4. so many games, on ps3 and vita, i've bought a bunch of uninteresting games cause they got a little bit of praise. where i'm like, well $6 is cheap. buying impulse is tough, especially when every game no matter how cheap does add up, for someone who has to manage spending. also, even though i'm mostly home, i still don't find it always easy to put in the necessary time for each game.

 

like i was having huge temptation to buy everything that interested me on golden week, but i settled with what i wanted most somehow, even though the urge to get more was very high, it was a tough week. at least the flash sales are only 3 days so i was able to tough it through for the one game that sort of interested me lol. i'm definitely going to want to somehow have that mind set when i get a ps4. only grabbing what i know i'll like so i don't end up with little money and having the kinds of games that are worth buying.

[OJ9999vr]

Got a bit of the same problem myself, but i've tried to be more strict about buying new games. The only thing stopping me is tempting PSN sales, because i've got no reason paying full price while i'm not still finished with previous games.

Currently i got 7 games waiting be be played:

Horizon Zero Dawn (I was never hyped for it, but then a sale came and i thought of giving it a chance)

Assassins Creed Chronicles Trilogy (might be a quick one)

Assassins Creed Revelations PS4 (Know nothing about it)

Assassins Creed Brotherhood PS4 (Possibly the hardest AC??)

Steep +DLC (Played the demo, only thing i didn't enjoy was the trick controls. I'd like the good old snowboard game controls like ssx)

Nioh +DLC (I enjoyed dark souls and similar games, but the dlc will probably be very though)

The Last Guardian (Don't know a lot about it)

Currently working on Batman Arkham City

 

It's definitely not as bad as others have posted, but it'll take some time getting trough it all.

[lumphy101]

Same here. I have tons of games in my digital backlog, and I just ordered 5 more games within the past month. I'll make a spreadsheet as well and I'll be sure to post just how many games I have here. I'm still working through my backlog too I don't have time for all these games!

[GoldenShaka]

You can buy games, but check if you're becoming a hoarder, just accumulating and not clearing your backlog at all.

I don't have a family of my own yet but I still have just a few hours for gaming during the day.  So, every time I see a sale I ask myself no less than 4 times: Are you really going to play that in a near future? Is it possible to find that game cheaper than that offer?

Yep, I know that that question could sound weird considering many gamers have said It will be cheaper on the next sale, but most of my backlog is physical, so it's different.

So when I find something like: LOH Trails of cold steel 1 and 2 a little more than 20 each, I had to buy them. I threw the runes, checked the market, it was the right moment.

But I can patiently wait for Tales of Berseria to drop the current price ($40).

Other ones need more patient, just a miracle will make me find Odin Sphere PS4 in the twenties, but it's possible. I mean, right? :/

 

[stellanovas]

3 hours ago, Super-Fly Spider-Guy said:

I did too.

 

Then I realized you can do surveys online to get moneys for them games. 

 

Literally, I barely even do any, and in the time since the Switch dropped 2 months or so back, I've clocked up nearly 200 bucks worth of Nintendo credit alone, not counting a fair bit also spent on PSN and Xbone. Shit's dope.

Where? How? Teach me your ways!! My wallet will thank you.

[GarciaFever]

It would help a lot of the developers would stop making awesome collector's editions for games, especially when they include an awesome toy figure or item that you will never be able to get anywhere else. That's what I did when I got the collectors' for games like Skyrim, Mortal Kombat, Tales of Xhillia 1 and 2, Borderlands 2, etc.

 

Also, I at least try to maintain my completion percentage above 80%, and surprisingly it's slowly going up.

 

Oh and to the developers out there: STOP ADDING FUCKING DLC! It's one thing that it takes me a lot of hours to get the platinum ,but when you do shit like add dlc trophies and make me go back to a game that I never want to play again, that just pisses me off. *glares angrily at Naruto Storm 4*

Edited May 19, 2017 by GarciaFever

[TheSleepyBeauty]

I'm too broke to afford games right now. I'm happy to play with the games I have. It gives me a chance to clean-up those extra trophies in some of the games like The Last of Us. I learned my lesson from over spending on games years ago. I'll only save up $$$ for awesome games I can enjoy. Like Crash Bandicoot DUUDE! 

[ratchetdude231]

4 hours ago, Super-Fly Spider-Guy said:

I did too.

 

Then I realized you can do surveys online to get moneys for them games. 

 

Literally, I barely even do any, and in the time since the Switch dropped 2 months or so back, I've clocked up nearly 200 bucks worth of Nintendo credit alone, not counting a fair bit also spent on PSN and Xbone. Shit's dope.

What's this about? Please fill me in. 

[AlchemistWer]

It's our manner of life, more when the goal is get the 100% in a game, more game you want to play and more time you spend with that in mind. 

[DuckSwimmer]

I roughly have about 150 or so physical games for my PS4. Obviously haven't completed/platiumed them all. I know I have about 50 - 60 physical vita games.. many I haven't even started. My digital games for the PS4 is 430, only a few I have played and fewer I have platinumed. My digital backlog for my vita is god knows what. (I'm not gonna even bother with my PS3 backlog)

 

Let's just say I have enough games to last me for the rest of my life time (and more) if I wish to play and platinum/100% them all.

Edited May 19, 2017 by DuckSwimmer

[tpepper1985]

Reading through all the comments this morning, and many people having a similar situation to me I do wonder if there is other examples of this in other media?

 

I mean I can’t see this happening with film or music, sure people also have massive collections of those but I would think they actually consume that media, is this problem of buying more than you can possibly consume more unique to Video Games?

 

I can kind of understand collecting physical media a bit more, it’s a thing, you have it and it (should) always work. As it gets older it may increase in value and even if it doesn’t it still has some value. Digital on the other hand is pretty much worthless to anyone else except the account holder (all of my games are digital)

 

We all have the intention of one day playing that game, but in reality we never get there our backlogs just keep getting bigger and bigger. How many of us are supporting the industry by buying games we might never play?

 

Interesting thoughts.

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

Just now, tpepper1985 said:

I mean I can’t see this happening with film or music, sure people also have massive collections of those but I would think they actually consume that media, is this problem of buying more than you can possibly consume more unique to Video Games?

 

Wrong. I have many unread books and unwatched DVDs / blu-rays.

[tpepper1985]

17 minutes ago, BillyHorrible said:

 

Wrong. I have many unread books and unwatched DVDs / blu-rays.

 

Ok, I don't buy any other media really so I have no idea, books I get they can take a long time to read. But movies suprises me a bit more since those are shorter

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

11 minutes ago, tpepper1985 said:

 

Ok, I don't buy any other media really so I have no idea, books I get they can take a long time to read. But movies suprises me a bit more since those are shorter

 

Mèh, books don't necessarily take that long. It's a problem if you buy a bunch at the same time or get a lot of them on birthdays etc. Movies can also be often bought in sales, and we also have Netflix to watch... Amongst others, I still have unwatched on blu-ray: the Dirty Harry Collection, the Predator trilogy, The Magnificent Seven, Sausage Party, The Artist, The Nice Guys, Django Unchained, Ghostbusters 1&2, The Dark Knight Rises, God Bless America, the better part of The IT Crowd, and a whole bunch of other stuff I can't recall right now.

 

Note that except for The Nice Guys, The Artist and perhaps a couple of Dirty Harries, I have actually already seen all of these, I just didn't watch them since buying them on blu-ray.

Edited May 19, 2017 by BillyHorrible

[Nightstream88]

I'm pretty sure I should stop buying games, currently have 30 Physical games I bought and haven't played yet.
Don't know how many of my digital games I haven't played yet either. Probably should stop buying games on release day as well.
But to little too late for that now.
 And for the most part I seem to just go back to playing pokemon, legend of zelda or Animal Crossing New leaf anyway.
 Been trying not to buy games on release date as of late mostly just so I can use that money to buy more of them later.
 On the Positive side I'm just about done with buying games for the Nintendo Game and PS3 probably 50-100 games to go though.
 

 and I also have quite a books I've bought and haven't gotten around to reading yet sometimes feels like 24 hours isn't enough time in a day to finish things.

[StewartBros]

I made a conscious decision late last year to not buy any more PS3 games, and aside from a few PS+ titles here and there, I've stuck to that.  My aim is to clear as much of my PS3 backlog as possible so that I can start focusing on PS4.

 

However, I do tend to buy a lot of books and movies that I the take forever to actually get around to reading or watching.  At last count, I have 34 books and about 52 movies that are yet to be read/watched.  Just ain't enough hours in the day.

[Super-Fly Spider-Guy]

11 hours ago, ahoyimzoe said:

Where? How? Teach me your ways!! My wallet will thank you.

 

10 hours ago, Ratchet said:

What's this about? Please fill me in. 

I'll copy what I sent to someone on here before about it.

 

There's plenty of sites out there that do this sort of shit, but I don't bother because I tried a couple once or twice and they all basically gave you piss all or fucked you around to get piss all. The one I use is MyOpinions, the Australian version, there's a US version too but I can't speak for how well their point setup works or the rewards available. Basically you sign up with your email and you do a basic thing about yourself, like the town you live, the number of people in your house, the amount of cars you have, how much you roughly earn, etc. and then you'll get surveys sent out to you based on who you are. I have a second account where I'm a 20 year old girl, because then I get a bunch of surveys about feminine hygiene products and whatnot that I otherwise would not get. Most of the time I don't even do the things legit and just spam the I don't know button until I get them points. The way it works is you can either get these things called eGift Cards, or direct PayPal payment. You cash out when you get 10, 30, or 50 bucks with the gift cards, though through PayPal you can do any amount over 20 bucks. You get points for each survey you do, 1000 points is 10 bucks. Pretty simple for conversion there. There are some small surveys worth around 70 or a hundred points, but they're really quick, most of the ones I get are worth 270 points on average, and they will take usually 2 or 3 minutes at the most to do. I personally cash out with a 10 buck voucher whenever I hit 1000 because it's emailed to you instantly, where the PayPal can take up to 2 weeks to come through and I'd just spend it on the same shit anyway. Here, because I don't know what you can do in the US, you can cash out a 10 buck thing for Coles and Woolworths (supermarkets), Big W and Target (department stores), JB HiFi (the leading entertainment store here, and where I go for PSN vouchers with this), Dominos Pizza, and so much more. There's also some rewards that only work for 30 or 50 like direct PSN cash (you can cash out as a 30 or 50 buck PSN voucher, but I rather just a 10 buck JB voucher and then buy a 10 buck code through their website with it because it's quicker) and whatnot. I did a long ass survey the other week, took probably around 40 odd minutes (but you can pause and pick up whenever you want, you had like a week to do it) and that alone got me 40 bucks, which then bought Mr Shifty and Graceful Explosion Machine. I think I'm explaining it right, but if not feel free to ask me something. If you're interested, it's a great way to get AU PSN money if you have an alternate account in the region for whatever reason, though usually it's us making US accounts and not the other way around. Hit me up if you do wanna bother because if you sign up through a referral link it gets us both 500 points I think, I'm not sure if they still do that though. I got this bird in class on it the other week and she had 40 bucks sent to her PayPal in like 2 days of doing them, and she's bloody slow as hell at them as it is. 

 

I should say though, it's luck of the draw. There won't always be surveys to do at all on some days, and on others, you'll get 10 bucks popped in 10 minutes. Whenever I make a new account (my first one I lost the password for, so I made a new one, then I made one as a girl, then I made one with a school email for the fuck of it) I'll usually have 10 bucks popped off the sign up surveys in 5 or 10. They do take a few days to verify your account though, so that might slow you down. Which reminds me, I think you might need to put your phone number in, I'm not sure if you NEED to though, either way, just use an online thing like Mailinator, but for phones if you don't feel comfortable sharing.

 

tl;dr I use MyOpinions, they pay you in gift vouchers or PayPal money for doing surveys and shit online, it's completely possible to bullshit your way through surveys and still get that sweet, sweet PSN dolla.

[lumphy101]

On 5/18/2017 at 9:49 PM, lumphy101 said:

Same here. I have tons of games in my digital backlog, and I just ordered 5 more games within the past month. I'll make a spreadsheet as well and I'll be sure to post just how many games I have here. I'm still working through my backlog too I don't have time for all these games!

Finished my spreadsheet. 181 games (it was 182 but I just started AC4). What. The. Hell. 181 games I haven't even touched, not even considering my backlog. Some games are dumb PS + titles that will never get to know the cramped confines of my PS4 hard drive, though.

 

On 5/19/2017 at 10:19 AM, Super-Fly Spider-Guy said:

tl;dr I use MyOpinions, they pay you in gift vouchers or PayPal money for doing surveys and shit online, it's completely possible to bullshit your way through surveys and still get that sweet, sweet PSN dolla.

This. Thank you for this. I'm going to sign up right now and use this so I don't feel as guilty as I keep buying games and stacking them in the heap that I still haven't touched.