Looking Ahead: Too Many Games, Too Little Time, Too Few Dollars

Written by Kevin Alexander

Tuesday, 26 August 2008 10:05

The busy time of year is coming around the bend at work which means six day works and me grabbing all the overtime I can get my hands on, leaving even less time for gaming. It also means that fall and the holiday season are also coming up quick bringing the annual deluge of hot, new games to the marketplace. While I've been running through Too Human and repeatedly watching The Wrath Of The Lich King opening cinematic it started to get me thinking about all the games that are coming out this fall and how I'm basically going to have no time to play almost any of them when they come out (let alone having all the funds to purchase said games).

One simple solution would be to simply wait and play them one at a time or wait for a price drop, which is perfectly reasonable and a rather smart thing to do. Unfortunately I have to fight that the urge to but them at launch since I tend to enjoy games more then when most of my friends are playing them. At launch it's easier to find people for co-op and more fun to talk about your experiences as you're plowing through a game together. Then I really have to start questioning how often I actually do play the online portions of games or how much being with the hip crowd is really going to matter in the end.

There's also the issue of my "Pile 'O Shame": the huge back catalog of games that I've never gotten around to. Why I should I keep buying more games and not playing the ones I've had sitting on my shelves for months? It would be cheaper to go back and play through Sly Cooper than it would to pick up the new Crysis: Warhead or S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Skies (even though I have yet to finish Crysis or S.T.A.L.K.E.R.).

Ever since I started writing about video games I've always found myself pondering the themes of my circumstances about free time and what games I spend my time with...basically what it's like to be a working, adult gamer with responsibilities. In the past six months my financial situation has definitely gotten tighter and that probably won't be easing up any time soon. The easiest and smartest thing for me to do is play the ever loving crap out of the games I have and only spend money on new games that I know I'll spend time with (like Wrath Of The Lich King). It seems like I'm going to have to try and resist the shiny appeal of games like Fallout 3, Gears Of War 2, Left 4 Dead, Rock Band 2 and the new Prince Of Persia...or just pick and choose carefully...or just sell off everything I own and quit playing video games...

Ah, who am I kidding?

Comments (9) Add Comment

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written by JJ BANKS, August 26, 2008

I feel your pain man.

What I really hate is that everytime you fill up your gas tank you're spending $60 that could've been a new game.

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written by Eudaimo, August 26, 2008

You speak my mind. The crowded fall is looking even more oppressive when you look at release dates. To be clear: Both Gears of War 2 and Resistance 2 (games that, in a fair world, would each deserve months of attention) will be releasing at approximately the same time. Left 4 Dead has been pushed back to just 2 weeks after Gears 2. And by then you better be tired of the open world of Far Cry 2 and of mastering Mirror's Edge. I'm quitting my job....oh wait, how would I pay for all of this.

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written by Max Malm, August 26, 2008

Piracy... sweet piracy...

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written by bojy, August 26, 2008

I've given up my bus to work in favour of walking, saving me £50 a month - or if i'm careful where i buy from, two new games! I've also found its only 5 mins longer to walk (Around 45 mins), so it hasn't even cut into my game time. That's eased the money side, but the time - well i'm mainly a weekend kinda guy for gaming, and living near the coast all my friends from afar are staying with me all summer = no game time. Hopefully cold, miserable winter will come soon and drive them away, so i can once again become a social recluse and attack the pile of shame. Luckily i get plenty of holiday/vacation on my job, so i might be able to sneak a few days off after mirrors edge comes out

Wow, that was a long post....

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written by Ryan Hewson, August 27, 2008

Yeah it's always like this in the fall.

The thing that bugs me is the RPG situation. Fable 2 comes out a week before Fallout 3. How annoying.

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written by Kevin Alexander, August 27, 2008

Yeah, the Fable/Fallout thing isn't a question of picking one over the other. I really want to play both of them since I LOVED both Fable and Oblivion. It's a matter of which one I play first.

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written by Dan Zuccarelli, August 27, 2008

Fallout all the way.

Also, my wallet screams when I looks at this release schedule.

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written by rdaneel72, August 27, 2008

I've repeated this truth many times online...

Adult Gaminer Irony
As a child, you have time to play games, but no money to buy them.
As an adult, you have money to buy games, but no time to play them.

But since my wife has been out of work, I've had neither.