Topic: I've been dealing with my backlog...

...by selling or deleting a large chunk of my games. And honestly, it's quite liberating and helps me to focus on the games that I truly love.

First of all I'd like to acknowledge that I dislike the term "backlog". The term carries with it a tendency to treat gaming as a checklist, or even like a job, whereas for many (myself included) the goal of gaming is to wind down and enjoy oneself. Yet in a world of instant access to digital games (plus frequent sales), media outlets quick-firing lists of 50+ "must-play" games, and a market that has been expanding and only looks to expand further in the future, it's understandable that many get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choice on offer, as well as suffer from FOMO that they can't play every good game out there.

For years I've been a bit of a video game collector. Gaming is my #1 hobby, so it stands to reason that I'd want to obtain as many games as possible, right? It's not so much that I enjoy having a collection of games to look at - in fact, I generally couldn't care less about having shelves full of games - but moreso I've been compelled by the idea of having every game that I'd ever want to play immediately available to me - a comprehensive "game library", essentially.

In practice this led to owning many consoles (essentially everything from the PS1 onwards), with what I deemed to be the "essential" titles for each system, plus a few hidden gems. For my preferred platforms (currently the Switch and PC) I'd also have a plethora of titles across a range of genres. I took a lot of pleasure in researching games, purchasing them, and adding them to my library of games that I'd get around to some day. I'd surely play them all, right?

Then a few things changed for me. Firstly, as happens with many people, I realised that my playing habits could not keep up with my purchasing habits. I'd often buy a game on sale (and be quite excited about it, might I add), to then realise I hadn't factored in any time to play the thing.

Second, I found that, although I have some breadth in my gaming tastes, 90% of my gaming time was going into a select few things: (i) replays of a dozen or so games that I know I love, (ii) games in genres that I love (specifically JRPGs and platformers), (iii) brand new games that had caught my attention. And even then, I didn't have time for all of these! The vast majority of games in my library don't meet any of these criteria, so will forever be at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to deciding what to play next. So why do I own them?

Finally, I embraced minimalism. This is a philosophy that has appealed to me for many years, but I'd never truly applied to my hobby for gaming, outside of maybe prioritising digital collections as to reduce the number of physical items in my house. But, outside of seeing my physical items which were just living rent-free and gathering dust, I realised value in clearing up my digital collections as well. My Switch and Steam collections in particular had becoming jarringly cluttered: for every Fire Emblem Three Houses there were maybe 5+ games that I hadn't touched, or had little motivation to ever touch, and for every Super Mario Odyssey there was a game that I had tried but would rather forget existed. Why should I have to look at these games that I regret buying every time I open my library, and pull attention away from my favourite titles?

So what did I do?

• I sold consoles/hardware that I wasn't truly invested in: essentially everything but my Nintendo consoles (for my all-time favourites and childhood games), my PS5 (mostly for exclusives) and my gaming laptop. The biggest loss here was my Xbox Series X, but after a year of owning (and, admittedly, being impressed by) the console, I realised I wasn't uniquely invested in the Xbox ecosystem or its exclusives enough to keep it (and I still have access to the occasional Xbox game on PC).
• I sold basically any retro game that didn't have sentimental value, or was otherwise a game that I'm certain I'll play within the next year or two
• I cut down my online wish lists dramatically. I'm now going by the philosophy of "if I wouldn't buy it full price, it's probably not worth my time" (not to say I will buy them full price, but it's a good threshold to gauge my interest!)
• I've deleted (or hidden) a large portion of my digital libraries.

Although this sounds like a lot, this hasn't all been done overnight (it's been more like a year). The net effect has been quite liberating and I'm yet to feel regret over letting go of any game or console in particular. I also feel confident in the idea that the games aren't going to disappear forever - I'd rather get rid of 10 games today and have to hunt down one of them later on, than have 10 games I own just to enjoy the one that I eventually play.

This is all not to say that collecting games is a bad thing - I'm sure it's of net benefit to many people - but I've personally come to a point in my life where it's not for me.

How about you guys? Have you ever tried a similar approach to downsizing your collection? What was your motivation, and how did it work out for you?

Or are you a collector? Do you value your backlog/collection? Do you hope one day to play it all, or is it irrelevant to you?

Very keen to hear all sorts of perspectives on this!

........i just stop buying games. i dont like wasting money so if backlog is more than 6+ icons, i hold off

Collecting is a legitimate approach to the hobby, but I don't have the space or money to do so properly, so I'm not too worried about it.

I've had mixed feelings about selling games and downsizing my collection. I've sold a few games that, I won't lie, I regret doing so now, even if I probably wouldn't have played them for another ten or twenty years.

It's easier to control your spending once you realize you really don't need to buy games as soon as they come out. Especially if it's not something you plan to play ASAP. And especially if you're not religious about buying games physically, because digital distribution has largely made FOMO pointless (and publishers know it, which is why they try to elicit it with "pre-order exclusive DLC" and that sort of stuff).

Ditto with sales. Aside from, maybe, two games I can think of, I've never regretted passing on a sale. I used to track sales religiously. My new approach is this: if I'm waiting for a particular game to go on sale, I might grab it when it hits a certain price threshold, but there's no value in grabbing stuff on sale to play in the future. That future might not even come, and it's not like I have a lack of software to enjoy in the meantime.

I could spend a few years not buying anything and just playing what I already own, but I also like remaining engaged with the hobby. And, frankly, some stuff I remain deeply excited for. I'm grabbing Xenoblade Chronicles 3 on day one. Ditto with the Advance Wars remakes, assuming the collection ever actually releases. Ditto with BotW2.

If I limit my purchases to key releases like those, though, I won't have to worry about the backlog. I play enough games every year that it'll eventually sort itself out.

Another thing: I think I'm done being a multi-console ecosystem gamer. In the last ten years, I've owned a Wii U, 3DS, Switch, PS4, PS Vita, and a gaming PC. That has led to an almost paralyzing level of choice at times. I was happiest when I was gaming on nothing but a 3DS, and while I won't go that minimal in the future, I do think I'm going to center my future attention entirely on PC and Nintendo. Especially now that the Steam Deck is a thing.

@Buizel
You know, I want to collect a lot of consoles and handhelds as possible.
I like to try different games, even the worst choice like Gamecube, XBOX and Wii U for me.

@SoManyHaveDied My issue with this is that I get some of my greatest enjoyment out of brand new games just as they release. It's a core part of the experience for me, and I don't like an existing backlog holding me back from trying out new games.

That said, I'm certainly becoming wiser with my purchases, and will now aim to only buy games if I intend to play them immediately.

@Ralizah I can relate to a lot of this. I will say that digital distribution doesn't necessarily remove the FOMO though. If anything it makes purchasing games on a whim all-the-more easy (see all your friends playing Elden Ring? You could be too at the click of a button...), and it's been a challenge to resist the FOMO when the Wii, PS3/Vita/PSP and 3DS stores have threatened to close down.

Absolutely agree with your approach to sales. And I increasingly relate to the comment about being a multi-console gamer. I've always liked the idea of choice and buying in to loads of ecosystems...but in the end it can be very tiring, and I always favour one system over another. Plus having the choice of multiple systems to buy a game on is one less thing to worry about.

I generally avoid buying games for a particular console when I have a few games I haven't played yet on it, unless it's a brand new game I can't wait to play or a particularly good deal that's unlikely to come up again. With Switch games that's not too hard to do because at this point in the system's life, pretty much every sale will happen again and most physical games will still be readily available when I'm ready to buy them.

However, the impending shutdown of the Wii U and 3DS eShop has scuppered my plans a bit. I'm having to hurry up and buy every digital-only game I want, as well as physical games that are likely to get more expensive in the future, so I'm building up a big backlog for those systems. It's frustrating, I'd much rather have an indefinite amount of time to buy the games when I want them. But I'm trying not to go too crazy and buy more than I'll ever be able to play (not that I could really afford to do that anyway).

....badly.

I used to have such a handle on things as well since I'd almost always finish any game I started. That chain however was broken with Octopath Traveller in which I beat the first chapter of each character and haven't picked up the game since due to a harsh level spike. That must've been the warning shot though because as soon as the NSO apps came out, I was done for. I start and stop games on that at the drop of a hat. AND THEY JUST KEEP ON COMING OUT AAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

Needless to say, I need to stick with things a lot more than I do now.

@Fizza dont remember any harsh level spike in octopath. just do the second chapter of your main character then with the people you had brought along do theirs next, repeat.

dont quit! its one of my top 5 games ever on switch its sooooo gooood!

I had very little backlog for games for the longest time. Eventually I had a couple of Wii and 360 games I mostly still have never gotten to, but otherwise I did a good job of playing the games I bought.

...that is no longer the case. Currently I also have about 6 unplayed Ps3 games, 1 unplayed Ps4 game (the only PS4 game I've bought so far, since my brother has that console), and even ignoring my still unplayed 2nd GAA game, 4 unplayed Switch games. And that backlog doubles if you include digital games. Which is not a ton by some standards, but I'm shocked at how many that is. Certain massive games, ESPECIALLY Xenoblade 2, have really gotten in the way of me playing more games. And its gonna get a bit worse thanks to 3DS shutdown.

But in terms of actually selling games...nah. I did that for a long time, got nothing from it, now I miss enough of those games. Unless I need money, I'm not selling.

@Buizel If I have an overriding desire to play something immediately, I'll just play it, personally. That's different to me than: "It looks good; I'll pick it up and get to it at some point." 95% of games fall into the latter camp for me.

Digital stores closing is totally a fair point, and FOMO regarding that is actually far more legitimate, IMO, since a large percentage of those games will be impossible to legally acquire after the shops go down. I've actually carved out an exception for myself for digital 3DS/Wii U games I might want before the stores close. Although, outside of Pandora's Tower, there's just not a lot I feel the need to buy on those storefronts, thankfully.

Yeah, with multiplats, I've gone back and forth a lot between: "Well, do I want it on Switch where it's portable? Do I want it on PS4 where there's trophies (I know PC/Xbox have 'achievements,' but they're not nearly as interesting to me)? Do I want it on PC where the performance is best?"

Owning one platform would be ideal from this perspective, but I'm just... not gonna stop PC gaming, or playing Nintendo games, so cutting out the other console manufacturers is the best option for me.

I like the idea of having all the platforms, so that I can have access to whatever I want, but it doesn't stop me from wanting to play certain games on Switch anyway. I've waited years to start playing PS4 games I would have jumped on at launch on Switch, for example. At that point, it's probably better to just own the platform I want to play on anyway.

I respect the commitment to minimalism, though. When you're a passionate gamer, it's easy to end up swimming in clutter.

I generally don't allow myself to have that big of a backlog. If I have a good amount of unfinished titles, then I try to beat them before buying another wave of games. I also try to stick to playing about 2 to 3 games at a time so I don't start a game, then move on to another one too quickly.

I can appreciate this.

As someone who jumped in the deep end 10 years ago and built up a collection from scratch, I’ve recently discovered the merits of curating my collection and focusing only on the games I truly love. The problem is I’m already invested in my switch collection with 500 physical games and I’m not going to just stop collecting when we’re only a few years away from the generation being over. But having come to appreciate the convenience of digital, I started double dipping for games digitally if they’re in the top 1% of best games I love.

And I prefer it this way. By still purchasing any game that interests me physically I can still try out a whole bunch of different games and genres to see if I like them, then buy digitally if it’s a game I KNOW I’ll play.

But I love so many different types of games spanning so many different genres, it still ends up being a crap ton of games. I’m hardcore into Splatoon, so Splatoon 3 is a must have, day one digital purchase and I may even take a vacation day off work for it. But I’m also a diehard Monster Hunter fan, so the same is true for Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak. And… I’m a diehard Xenoblade Chronicles fan, so the same is true for Xenoblade Chronicles 3. And Bayonetta 3, and Mario Rabbids, and so on and so forth.

A lot of people just play JRPGs, or just play shooters, or just play retro games and indies, or just play AAA, or just play big Nintendo IP. I play all of it. I love certain JRPGs (SMTV, Xenoblade, Persona, etc), but I get kinda bored with a lot of them. Even picking and choosing the very best of each genre, it still results in a mind boggling number of games that I just can’t keep up with.

But I always purchase day one because if a game doesn’t interest me enough to buy it on the first day then I probably don’t want to waste my valuable time playing it. There’s too many great games that I do want to play right away. So I don’t really buy games on sale. I mean, sometimes I do but I never really end up playing them. I tell myself an excuse to justify spending the money but I never get around to playing them because I was never that interested in them.

I can definitely relate about multiple consuls because I never touch my PS5, Xbox Series X or PC. I’m always playing Switch OLED. And no matter how good a game is on another system, I just lose all interest in playing it if it’s not on Switch. There’s a reason I still haven’t beaten Persona 5 Royal to this day. There’s a reason I still haven’t played more than an hour of Final Fantasy VII Remake. I’m just not into those systems. But my compulsive nature leads me to own all these systems so I don’t miss out, but then I never bother playing the games anyways because they’re not on my preferred platform. Idk

A year or two ago I sold my PS4 Pro, Xbox One X and 100 physical games with a similar mindset you described. But here we are two years later and I’m right back in the same situation owning all the platforms again. I’m no longer buying games physically for those other platforms, in fact I’m not really buying many games for those platforms at all, digital or otherwise.

And then there’s Wii U. I just bought Splatoon digitally last night, because I am so enamored with Splatoon 2 again, and wanted easy access to the first game in case I want to go back and play the campaign again. But I hardly ever play that system either.

When Switch 2 launches, I’m done with all this game buying. I’m going 100% digital and only buying the very Best games that I know for a fact I will be enamored with and play.

@Ralizah I think the panic around the digital stores has kinda helped me cut things down to some extent. When the Wii store shut down I bought a few games...none of which I've actually played in the several years since then. When the PS stores threatened to shut down a bought a load more games and...again, didn't really play anything. Now that the 3DS and Wii U stores are shutting down, while I do have my eyes on a select few titles, I've mostly come to accept that if haven't had any interest in playing something for the past decade, I'll probably never get round to it.

I feel very much the same with multiplats. If I could play every graphics-intensive / "cutting-edge" game on my PC, and everything else on my Switch, I'd be perfectly content tbh.

@JaxonH I really like your approach to physical-first, but then digital for your favourites. I dived in head-first into digital gaming about 5 years ago, motivated mostly by convenience. But the main thing I miss about physical is being able to resell a game if its not quite for me. I'm considering taking the approach of buying new games physical and only moving to digital when I know it's a game I'm going to get a lot more time out of. That way there might be less regret moving forward.

I do relate to your approach about games "grabbing" you and buying games on sale. I think these are good metrics to go by when determining just how interested you are in a certain game. With how much choice there is available, it's not just enough to be somewhat interested in a game - I need to be very interested in it.

Also a shame you've not got around to finishing Persona 5 Royal and Final Fantasy VII Remake. I'd use those 2 games alone as excuses for keeping my PS5, and they're both probably in my top 10 games of all time!

@Buizel
I've gotten less and less interested in JRPGs over the past couple years. Xenoblade Chronicles HD was the last one I completed. I'd probably finish them if they were on Switch.

It does suck not being able to sell, but if you're only buying the absolute best that shouldn't be an issue.

I’ve tried to stop playing rpgs for a while and stay out of my lifer games (skyrim and the sims) as that is time I could be spending on games I have not played. If I hit end credits I move on instead of replaying or 100%ing a run. The one benefit of being stuck in a studio is I pretty much only use my switch and on occasion the PC. I literally only turn on the xbone to get the free games with gold. Of course I am in the process of moving so it’s going to be like having new games because I have so many games in cellophane. So I can essentially shop at home. I am super grateful that I can’t find a ps5/series x and the games don’t interest me currently.

@Buizel
this was an eye opener, thanks for the story. 😁

Although I'm not a fan of minimalism in general, I do recognize its uses for the people who do practice its aspects.

I've had games i'll give a quick go of and never play again but my motto is better to try than keep wondering about it i have a fair bit of junk or games i lost intrest in but i also have games i have way too man hours in that i'll rebuy or redownload

Physical i'll sell things on digital i delte stuff and if possible have a hidden list

@StarPoint if i'm no longer enjoying a game i don't see it as a backlog i say it was fun now off it pops

I'll either stick with a fun game or sack off a boring,grindy or frustrating game

I'm guilty of buying rereleases and completing a game again or selling a game i was enjoying because i want a different genre game or due to not having time(one day i'll book a week off to replay and complete evil within)

I used to collect games now i see it as unless i had a dedicated room its no fun as instead of a curated collection it looks like tat

I like replaying them at a later date other wise i know what to do in tge puzzles ect