This is a black and white view on backlogs. Yes you can just not buy a game when you’re not ready to play it. That’s not usually how it always plays out. Yes I do buy games while they’re on sale and have been out for 5+ years. I buy games with the intention to play them. That doesn’t mean right away as soon as I buy it.

Most games I buy I fire up at least once. For the rare handful of games that I bought and never tried it’s not a big deal because I only paid a few bucks for these games. If it doesn’t click right away but I want to keep trying it goes on the back burner. If it doesn’t click at all, I refund it. If it’s a game I started and liked but fell off of for something else it goes in the backlog. Sometimes I just want a game in my collection. I know I won’t play it right now but if I have the means to buy it, I’m gonna get it so it’s in my collection and I don’t have to worry about it later. That’s a more rare situation and most games like that will sit in my Wishlist for years, but it does happen.

Sometimes games do go away. Command & Conquer wasn’t on Steam for years and then all of a sudden the whole collection showed up. Same as Dino Crisis in the last couple days. I used to have physical copies of the games but they got lost to time, be it giving them away to friends who wanted to play them, or losing them in moves, or selling them. Some of my backlog is older generation games that have been freed from their console shackles. They just announced MGS4 for PS5 and PC. I last played that game almost 15 years ago on PS3. I would love to play it again in the future. Even if I wait for a sale, I know I want it in my collection.

Games don’t always get cheaper as they get older either. Most Japanese games stay above $35 these days when not on sale. Even classics that are multiple generations old at this point. If I think a game is worth it at full price, I will pay full price.

Lastly my Wishlist isn’t just a catch all for games I want to play in the future. If that was the case there would be thousands of games on it. It’s a little bit more curated than that. It’s mainly for smaller games I do wait for because they’re in early access. Most big AAA games on my Wishlist are waiting for sales. The majority isn’t released or I’m waiting for reviews to see the quality on. Yes there are games I’m interested in but are not 100% sure I would play. That’s why I cull the list every few months or so.

If I’m not cremated feed me to an animal, otherwise mix my ashes in with a bunch of psychotic drugs and let my essence take you on a magical journey.

As big as my Steam backlog is, it would be 100x bigger if not for the Wishlist. I try to limit myself to 100 games in the Wishlist and trim it every once in a while when a game has been sitting in it for more than a couple years. It’s the same psychology here. Put it in a cart and let it sit there for a while. If you don’t really want it put it back.

Is the inside filled to capacity or are we letting the toppings roll around and fall to the bottom?

Imma say something controversial here. 3 is the best game in the series. People shit on it because of the ending and act like the whole game was a bummer because of it. That’s not true at all. 3 was the best game literally right up until the ending. It had improved the mechanics of 2, a better story than 2, and resolved most of the story in a great way until the very very very end. Honestly unmasking Tali was a bigger sin than the end of the 3. Dont ever let anybody tell you 3 sucked as a whole.

I feel this one. I was a Mercy main too. I picked up Zarya as a second but couldn’t really get into anybody else. Then the game just stopped being fun after a while.

Ohhhhh, I’m gonna defend NMS here. It’s light years better than the release version. It has an extremely weak endgame. It’s almost non-existent, but everything else has been such a step up that I don’t think it matters. Why? Because the expedition system makes restarting the game the most viable way to play it. All your special gear and some new parts come from expeditions. Having to start from nothing to discover what new things they add to the game is really appealing. You can transfer it all over to a standard save too.

The only problem I have with it is that it is a bit of a pin the tail on the donkey situation with the way they tack on new system after new system. It does feel disjointed in parts but you can ignore the parts of the game you don’t want to interact with. Like I never fuck with the big capitol ships. I don’t do much farming. Most of my time is spent designing ships and bases. That’s a perfectly viable way to play.

I was a day one purchaser. I remember waiting half an hour to load the game just for it to crash. All these years later I would say it’s easily the most enjoyable space exploration game of this generation.

I checked the Steam page and damn near every review is over 500 hours. Even the not recommended ones. Might have to check this one out.

Without mods I can kinda see it. With mods I still enjoy it a lot.

Early access was when most of my time was in the game too. Stuff like underground pipes was barely integrated yet. It felt better then compared to now. Now there’s almost too much to do to get a town starting and that’s the most frustrating thing.

Damn, that’s a long time to figure that out. Did you feel that way early on and work around it, or did you have that realization 1200 hours in?

I wish I never sold my deck.

Good try RFK’s brainworm.

Fuck it. Battletech.

ZeroSpace is to Starcraft the same way Tempest Rising is to Command & Conquer.

All the RTS games. ZeroSpace, Dorf, etc. I’m into Tempest Rising and if they’re all half as good as that game we back baby.

ZeroSpace you’re our only hope. Please be the Tempest Rising to Command and Conquer that StarCraft needs.

If you see my saying ‘God Damn’ as I’m looking at items it means they expensive as fuck.

Gonzo or Beaker

WE ALL JUST WANT TO FUCK!! - Tommy Rogers, Between the Buried and Me - The Primer.