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Dust To Dust - The Plight Of The Unplayed Game

Posted by simoniker on from the stacks-of-discs dept.

Thanks to Eurogamer for its editorial discussing the phenomenon of having too many videogames and too little time. The author starts by suggesting: "Take a look at your own shelves. Look closely. Spot any shrink-wrapped games you definitely will get around to playing some day?" He continues: "Let's have a look at this writer's personal 'to play' pile: MGS: The Twin Snakes, Super Mario Sunshine, Knights of the Old Republic, Full Spectrum Warrior, True Crime, Deus Ex 2", before concluding: "Games. We love them. We could fill about 47 lifetimes playing them. But we hate them too. Most are overblown, bloated, and chaotic in their design. If they were movies, most of the footage would be on the cutting room floor. Few games designers seem to know how to edit, and weigh down the production process in the belief that we need bigger games."

6 of 122 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not me by LincolnX · · Score: 5, Funny

    OK, I clicked on the "Reply to This". Now what?

  2. Plight? by bottlerocket · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "The Plight Of The Unplayed Game"? Hell, this article should be retitled "The Plight of the Guy With More Money Than He Knows What to Do With". He goes on and on about the games he's bought and never played, and I'm sitting here thinking of how I'm going to make this month's rent.

    --
    where the comment ends and sig begins
    1. Re:Plight? by AdamPiotrZochowski · · Score: 5, Insightful

      bullshit

      its a story about a guy who now:
      1) has a job that takes 8hrs a day plus 1hr of driving
      2) has a wife (husband) / kids that require time and attention
      3) has a house / shopping / food / cleaning to take care of

      and finds it hard to play recent games.

      assume you have 2hrs a day of free time, of that you can dedicate
      1.5hr to games (the rest is to catch up with news/read book).

      this means a game like baldurs gate will take you 53 days to play
      (assuming that you can pass it within 80hrs of gameplay). This is
      almost two months. In those two months of play there will be
      atleast two games released that will be added to your to play
      list and out of a sudden you notice that the only games you can
      play are ones that take 20hrs to pass. Max Payne albeit short
      had the advantage of being short, people could start and finish
      it without wondering where the time was lost.

      Thats what the complaint is all about. That games should have
      'easy' mode that limits the scope of all of the quests, rather
      than making the enemies easier to kill.

      When I was at university I had tons of hours to play games, climb
      ladders, read on the web strategies, howtos, faqs, guides, etc.
      Now with work one cannot put that much effort to game playing
      any more.

      Even cherry picking games is hard. I am currently 4years worth
      of gaming lag. There are some games that take too long to pass
      and should have options:
      - 'Core Gameplay (75% of quests removed, easier bosses)'
      - 'Complete Gameplay (80hr of game play minimum)'

      My current list of games to finish, or atleast try to:
      - fallout brother hood of steel : Tactics
      - planescape torment
      - arcanum
      - lionheart : legacy of the crusader
      - baldurs gate 1 + addons
      - baldurs gate 2 + addons
      - ice wind dale 1 + addons
      - ice wind dale 2 + addons
      - deus ex
      - max payne 2
      - kotor
      - halo
      - etherlords
      - age of wonders
      - majestic
      - c&c generals + condition zero
      - Disciples 2
      - HOMM4
      - Thorgal : Odin's Quest
      - Serious Sam 1 / 2
      - Silent Hill 2
      - Lemmings 3d Revolutions
      - no one lives forever 1/2
      - Sheep

      blah, am lagging in games way too much...

      --
      /apz, only if life were as customizable as games.

  3. Re:Not me by Guppy06 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, you could mock him for this line right here:

    "Personally, i can't afford to buy games i don't plan on buying."

  4. KOTOR should be played! by jebiester · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I also have some unplayed games on the shelf, but it would be an injustice if Star Wars:Knights of the Old Republic was one of those games. Seriously, try it out!

    Every now and then a game comes along that miles above the rest (especially for RPGs), like Fallout, the original Deus Ex or KOTOR. If you don't have much time, it's a good idea to not buy many games, and just the quality games when they come out. As the article says - be more discerning.

  5. I wonder about the ages involved by babasyzygy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have to wonder how age correlates with the people who can't afford many games, vs. those of us who collect more games than we can play.

    I find that as I age, I have less and less time for game playing, more and more disposable income, and as much of a desire as ever to play the great games that come out every year.

    The people who are, say, under 30 and are saying "you have too much money" are missing the point: this is the plight of the aging gamer. I'm 34, and it's only the last few years that I've found myself to have more games than time.