Backlog games for me are games you wanna play more of and maybe finish. We all own games that we didn't click with or straight up don't like. And no-one should feel pressured to play or finish every game. Just play what you like and don't play what doesn't feel good. 👍☺️
Backlog for me is like a box with tools that fix my boredom. I remember one year waiting for summer to do the backlog, just to feel overwhelmed with the amount of games. The year after that, I learned to be more "chill" about it, to play what I wanted at the moment and with that I made a lot of progress and I enjoyed my time with those games (no need to force myself to finish one if I don't like it, no need to 100% them, or no need to "prove" that I'm good at games because I played a single-player game on max difficulty, just pure fun because that's what games are about).
You read my mind about my own thoughts over backlogs. Adult mindset really deteriorate the gaming love that we had, because all adult life is finishing tasks, staying on top and keep on optimizing. I've found that doing a lot of stuff for your mental health (meditation, proper psychiatric help, exercise + food, walks in morning) helps get back that joy that you felt in your gaming younger days.
Backlog for me is to have a game for any mood. Sometimes I want a cozy rpg, sometimes I want something first person,etc. Some games hit at the right time; I had Ōkami on Wii but didn't play until PC HD version. I don't remember what life event was happening that was troubling but that was perfect for the time. My backlog is also what I plan to play ages from now if I can retire and lounge at the old folks home. :D
There's a level of fear of missing out involved when it comes to backlogs. Sometimes when I get a game and I'm not enjoying the beginning, i push through it thinking that maybe there's some hidden gem I'll find if I push through the not-so-fun parts of the game. That can be true sometimes but other times I come out of a game with nothing but bragging rights about the fact that I did beat the game. But you know, price is also a factor in this. Growing up as a nintendo kid who got around 2 games a year, It was super rare for me to get a game that I didn't complete. Because I am absolutely NOT putting that 60 dollar triple-A game to waste by not playing it, even if the game isn't fun. And as video game prices continue to increase, it's going to really put pressure on gamers to squeeze as much time out of a game to get their money's worth. But that's also partly a reason why I love indie games so much, not only are they way less creatively shackled, they're way cheaper! So even if I don't click with an indie game, most times I can appreciate the craft of the team that made the game and not resent the purchase because it wasn't too big of a financial investment. So nowadays, I mainly play indie games but that doesn't solve this "backlog problem." Because now I just have an even longer list of games that, although are more charming to me from a creative standpoint than those expensive TRIPLE-A games, it gets more daunting to pick which game to start. And now suddenly, my stack of charming treats becomes a chore list. It sucks. And this kind of thing doesn't happen with just games, it happens with music, comics, shows, movies, hobbies. Putting so much tasty food on my plate just to spend all my time just looking at the food. Or even worse, swallowing the food without even tasting it in attempt to try and finish my plate. Here's this one quote that opened my eyes about these kinds of things. "“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.” ― Francis Bacon, The Essays Art is very important to me, and viewing videogames as an artform. And dropping a game that I don't particularly enjoy is so hard for me because it's acknowledging the idea that the medium that I love so much can become disposable. Eaten then thrown away. But honestly, everything is like that. Just like food, we all have our own tastes and it's easy for us to just not eat what we don't like. And now I'm wondering about the answer to this problem, should I stop writing lists about games that I want to get around to playing? Nah. Organization is good. And being critical of games that don't click with us is even better for respecting our valuable time. So here's this quote I tell myself when I'm not sure about a game. "The game is fun... If it's not fun, why bother?" - Reggie Fils-Aime (I wanted to match your yappy energy but sorry if this is a overly wordy comment lol)
Ahah, don't worry! Thank you so much for taking the time to really think about it and share your perspective. I really enjoy these kinds of comments. It brings me back to what I value most about social media, which is connecting with other people. Anyway, yes, I think a big part of choice paralysis is making the stakes so high in your head. Having to pick the 'right' game. One that you 'have' to enjoy, instead of letting curiosity and fun take the lead. I'm also a big enjoyer of organizing and making curated lists. That is a fun all of its own. I've recognized that I have to quiet down that part of my mind when it comes to playing and creating, which is NOT always the easiest thing to do lol. Something I wrote one day when thinking about the high cost of a game I wasn't enjoying was "You already wasted the money, you don't have to waste your time too." Accepting loss can be hard, though. Sometimes we rather push through so that we don't have to face it. Ultimately, you can make more money, but you can't make more time. It really is hard to boil it down to a kind of formula. I don't know that it can be. Not only is each game unique, but you're also playing it at a unique time in your life when you're exactly who you are at the time. What I've found recently is that when I do finish a game from my backlog that I enjoyed, it usually leads me to even more games. Other games in the same series or by the same developers. Games that inspired it. It's an infinite rabbit hole lol, but I see now that it's great that it works that way. I feel like I just rambled a bunch 😂, but thank you again for the comment. We have the same outlook on games as an art form, and I relate a lot to what you've said here.
@@cutespooky AHHH thank you so much for your response! It feels like you materialized exactly how I feel about this backlog problem. And what you wrote about cutting your losses with an expensive game is really insightful! I'll be sure to keep that in the back of my head as I try to comb through the pricier games on my backlog... There's an endless stream of games that I want to play and it's a endless battle trying to figure out which ones are worth my time... And it's scary to think about games that I don't like right now that may click with me later on. But despite how debilitating it can be to wade through those waters, I'm very grateful to be alive in a time with so much outstanding art!! One more time, thank you for ur response!! I look forward to ur future videos!!! Keep rambling!!!
yea i have same feeling too. Recently what i did i download random 3ds Gundam game all in Japanese that I cant read or understand any of it. I just try to blindly play it and have fun. I suck in game, die alot in battle but its alright, i just move on play other game and come back when i feel like I want to challenge the stage that i failed last time.
I feel if a "backlog" get's over 10 games then it's not a backlog anymore. Then it's that one bar of herb chocolate you always see when looking in the cupboard but you didn't even open it for 2 years because you actually didn't want it in the first place because you don't actually like herb flavor but it was on sale, and now it just sits there until you eventually have nothing else to eat left for some reason. My backlog is that chocolate.
My backlog is so full of crap I won't ever play, sadly. Perhaps maybe a third of my games are worth a darn to play lol. Are they really a backlog if I am never wanting to play them?
Backlog games for me are games you wanna play more of and maybe finish. We all own games that we didn't click with or straight up don't like. And no-one should feel pressured to play or finish every game.
Just play what you like and don't play what doesn't feel good. 👍☺️
@@robbiegta I like that no pressure definition!
Backlog for me is like a box with tools that fix my boredom. I remember one year waiting for summer to do the backlog, just to feel overwhelmed with the amount of games. The year after that, I learned to be more "chill" about it, to play what I wanted at the moment and with that I made a lot of progress and I enjoyed my time with those games (no need to force myself to finish one if I don't like it, no need to 100% them, or no need to "prove" that I'm good at games because I played a single-player game on max difficulty, just pure fun because that's what games are about).
Yeah, it's so funny how being more chill actually helps with progression anyway.
You read my mind about my own thoughts over backlogs.
Adult mindset really deteriorate the gaming love that we had, because all adult life is finishing tasks, staying on top and keep on optimizing. I've found that doing a lot of stuff for your mental health (meditation, proper psychiatric help, exercise + food, walks in morning) helps get back that joy that you felt in your gaming younger days.
Yeah, letting go of efficiency has been huge for me with gaming and creating.
For me, the backlog is the games I hold hostage in my libraries on Steam and Epic. I will get to them. Eventually. Maybe. Perhaps.
I love that imagery 🤣
Backlog for me is to have a game for any mood. Sometimes I want a cozy rpg, sometimes I want something first person,etc. Some games hit at the right time; I had Ōkami on Wii but didn't play until PC HD version. I don't remember what life event was happening that was troubling but that was perfect for the time.
My backlog is also what I plan to play ages from now if I can retire and lounge at the old folks home. :D
I also put off games for the right time/vibe! I'm currently playing through I Am Setsuna because it's winter hehe.
There's a level of fear of missing out involved when it comes to backlogs. Sometimes when I get a game and I'm not enjoying the beginning, i push through it thinking that maybe there's some hidden gem I'll find if I push through the not-so-fun parts of the game. That can be true sometimes but other times I come out of a game with nothing but bragging rights about the fact that I did beat the game.
But you know, price is also a factor in this. Growing up as a nintendo kid who got around 2 games a year, It was super rare for me to get a game that I didn't complete. Because I am absolutely NOT putting that 60 dollar triple-A game to waste by not playing it, even if the game isn't fun. And as video game prices continue to increase, it's going to really put pressure on gamers to squeeze as much time out of a game to get their money's worth. But that's also partly a reason why I love indie games so much, not only are they way less creatively shackled, they're way cheaper! So even if I don't click with an indie game, most times I can appreciate the craft of the team that made the game and not resent the purchase because it wasn't too big of a financial investment.
So nowadays, I mainly play indie games but that doesn't solve this "backlog problem." Because now I just have an even longer list of games that, although are more charming to me from a creative standpoint than those expensive TRIPLE-A games, it gets more daunting to pick which game to start. And now suddenly, my stack of charming treats becomes a chore list. It sucks.
And this kind of thing doesn't happen with just games, it happens with music, comics, shows, movies, hobbies. Putting so much tasty food on my plate just to spend all my time just looking at the food. Or even worse, swallowing the food without even tasting it in attempt to try and finish my plate.
Here's this one quote that opened my eyes about these kinds of things.
"“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”
― Francis Bacon, The Essays
Art is very important to me, and viewing videogames as an artform. And dropping a game that I don't particularly enjoy is so hard for me because it's acknowledging the idea that the medium that I love so much can become disposable. Eaten then thrown away. But honestly, everything is like that. Just like food, we all have our own tastes and it's easy for us to just not eat what we don't like.
And now I'm wondering about the answer to this problem, should I stop writing lists about games that I want to get around to playing? Nah. Organization is good. And being critical of games that don't click with us is even better for respecting our valuable time. So here's this quote I tell myself when I'm not sure about a game.
"The game is fun... If it's not fun, why bother?" - Reggie Fils-Aime
(I wanted to match your yappy energy but sorry if this is a overly wordy comment lol)
Ahah, don't worry! Thank you so much for taking the time to really think about it and share your perspective. I really enjoy these kinds of comments. It brings me back to what I value most about social media, which is connecting with other people.
Anyway, yes, I think a big part of choice paralysis is making the stakes so high in your head. Having to pick the 'right' game. One that you 'have' to enjoy, instead of letting curiosity and fun take the lead.
I'm also a big enjoyer of organizing and making curated lists. That is a fun all of its own. I've recognized that I have to quiet down that part of my mind when it comes to playing and creating, which is NOT always the easiest thing to do lol.
Something I wrote one day when thinking about the high cost of a game I wasn't enjoying was "You already wasted the money, you don't have to waste your time too." Accepting loss can be hard, though. Sometimes we rather push through so that we don't have to face it. Ultimately, you can make more money, but you can't make more time.
It really is hard to boil it down to a kind of formula. I don't know that it can be. Not only is each game unique, but you're also playing it at a unique time in your life when you're exactly who you are at the time.
What I've found recently is that when I do finish a game from my backlog that I enjoyed, it usually leads me to even more games. Other games in the same series or by the same developers. Games that inspired it. It's an infinite rabbit hole lol, but I see now that it's great that it works that way.
I feel like I just rambled a bunch 😂, but thank you again for the comment. We have the same outlook on games as an art form, and I relate a lot to what you've said here.
@@cutespooky AHHH thank you so much for your response! It feels like you materialized exactly how I feel about this backlog problem. And what you wrote about cutting your losses with an expensive game is really insightful! I'll be sure to keep that in the back of my head as I try to comb through the pricier games on my backlog... There's an endless stream of games that I want to play and it's a endless battle trying to figure out which ones are worth my time... And it's scary to think about games that I don't like right now that may click with me later on.
But despite how debilitating it can be to wade through those waters, I'm very grateful to be alive in a time with so much outstanding art!! One more time, thank you for ur response!! I look forward to ur future videos!!! Keep rambling!!!
yea i have same feeling too. Recently what i did i download random 3ds Gundam game all in Japanese that I cant read or understand any of it. I just try to blindly play it and have fun. I suck in game, die alot in battle but its alright, i just move on play other game and come back when i feel like I want to challenge the stage that i failed last time.
Omg that's so interesting to me, because I feel like I'd be so frustrated not knowing what the heck is going on loll
I feel if a "backlog" get's over 10 games then it's not a backlog anymore. Then it's that one bar of herb chocolate you always see when looking in the cupboard but you didn't even open it for 2 years because you actually didn't want it in the first place because you don't actually like herb flavor but it was on sale, and now it just sits there until you eventually have nothing else to eat left for some reason. My backlog is that chocolate.
This is so specific but exactly right omg
@cutespooky yeah, I hate herb chocolate so much...wait was that video about? Oh right, lesbian fisher cats. They really are everywhere nowadays.
My backlog sits firmly behind games I want to replay. I guess if I finish Skyrim for the 50th time, I might get around to Civ4.
This is so real 🤣 Why is it always skyrim??
My backlog is so full of crap I won't ever play, sadly. Perhaps maybe a third of my games are worth a darn to play lol. Are they really a backlog if I am never wanting to play them?
I feel the same sometimes 😭