Joel Philip, June 26, 2016, at 6:45 a.m.
It’s the first official weekend of summer! You know you’ve been looking forward to this. The sun is out all day long, school is out, and work is the last thing on your mind. You’re amped to do whatever you want, however you want..until you turn around and look at your console or PC.
Then you feel your stomach drop. Cold beads of sweat start forming on your forehead. Your chest gets tight. It has finally hit you; the Gaming Backlog of Doom has resurfaced!!!!
The Gaming Backlog
Now let’s be clear. We all have games we have bought throughout the year that we really thought we’d get through. Those special Steam sales or PSN Flash sales where the price was too great to ignore.
You bought exactly what you wanted and swore you’d beat those games in no time flat. Until you didn’t, ended up buying more games, and somehow started pushing things further and further into the back.
Well, of course the summertime is the perfect time to enter gaming heaven and attack that backlog.
I won’t lie, my own backlog is pretty insane. Just look at this:
PS4 (35 in total, including)
- Banner Saga
- Gravity Rush
- Metal Gear Solid V
- Mad Max
Xbox One (19 in total, including)
- Gears of War
- Ori & the Blind Forest
- Fallout 4
- Sunset Overdrive
PS3 (29 in total, including)
- Tales of Xillia 2
- Just Cause 2
- Yakuza 4
- Yakuza 5
- Tallest of Symphonic
Xbox 360 (40 in total, including)
- South Park: The Stick of Truth
- Portal 2
- Ducktales Remastered
- Strider
- Fallout: New Vegas
Nintendo 3DS (8 in total, including)
- Persona Q
- Super Mario Bros 3D Land
- Resident Evil Revelations
- Super Punch Out
The Backlog Strategy
As is, I have almost 140 games in my collection that I never played, never beat, or got bored of and put to the side. Which is just ridiculous. I know full and we’ll it will only get worse but I’ve devised a plan to attack this backlog, and hopefully it helps you, too.
- Pace yourself. You don’t have to beat everything or even play everything. Just take your time with the games you favor highly first.
- Set a goal for yourself on how much time per day and per week you want to play these games. Start moderately, like 4-8 hours for the whole week, and if you feel like progressing from there, take your shot.
- This is the most important. DO NOT play games that aren’t fun to you. Games are supposed to be an enjoyable experience, not a full time job. If at any point, you’re not having fun and it feels like work instead, you’re doing it wrong. Completely wrong. Games will leave you exasperated if you play on principle instead for your own amusement. Just remember that.
So, I wish you all the greatest of luck with your gaming backlog. As for me, I’m pretty sure my social life will be dead. Probably my will live too. But at least my trophies and achievements score will feel loved.
What games do you have in your backlog? Let us know what you plan on beating in the comments below.