Soapbox: Why Do We Treat Gaming Like a Chore?

I think another big part of it is the cost of games. While movies are usually more expensive on a dollar per hour basis, full priced games are $60 a pop. I know that I feel that if I've dropped $60 on a game I feel that I have to finish it even if it turns out I don't enjoy it as much as I thought I would have.

Regardless, I've been feeling this way a lot lately. I've been buying more games than I've been finishing, and I feel that I really need to knock some of them out before it gets worse.

Great article. I literally dread looking at the cases of Fallout 4 and Witcher 3.

Your Diagnosis @get2sammyb is open world degeneration syndrome, Its happened to me after Watchdogs and GTA and now again after MGSPP and Lego Marvel. I just cant face another open world. You need to play some Rocket League on a Tuesday night.

Great article, and so very true! I have a large collection of half completed games that just keep getting pushed to one side because they weren't the newest out, despite the fact I really enjoyed playing them, purely to keep up co- workers and friends

I can totally see where the article's coming from, and I can relate - but for me, the opposite has happened since I became a reviewer, funnily enough.

In my case, I used to force myself to finish games - or at least get to a point where I was happy with leaving it. These days, if I'm not enjoying a game, I just tell it to p*ss off and then I play something else. I'm not sure why that is, but I started doing this round about the same time that I became a regular reviewer on this very site.

Basically, I think I somehow convinced myself that life's too short to spend your free time playing games that you don't like - games are there to be enjoyed, and it they don't keep you entertained, then, well, they've failed in their purpose. And although I'm in no way making a jab at anyone, you know we're being a bit stupid when we're sat there moaning about playing games. There are far more important things - and far worse things - going on in the world and in your life.

That said, I don't want to take the moral high ground here - that's not adding anything good to the conversation, really. Again, I can absolutely see where the article's coming from and it's a problem I've had in the past, but I somehow got over it. If I knew how I did it, I'd share the cure here!

Also worth mentioning I don't give a shite about trophies. It's nice when I collect one, and I'm quite proud of my Gundam 3 platinum, but I could never sit and play games that I can't be arsed with just to fill up my virtual cabinet. Fair play to the people that do, though.

When I was younger I definitely felt like I had to finish a game before I started a new one. These days I have stopped that type of thinking. I only get an hour or two a day to game, if that, so I use it as time to wind down from work and relax. Whatever is most fun for me at that time is what I will play. Sometimes that means leaving a game half done to start a new game that released that is more appealing. Right now though that means that while I am playing I secretly wishing I had a copy of No Man's sky and am counting down the days!

@ShogunRok This is exactly how I feel. I use gaming strictly for fun and relaxation. Once a game loses that feeling, I am done with it, and may or may not revisit it. As for trophies, I only hunt them in games I TRULY adore, which is probably less than 3 a year, and sometimes only one.

@ShogunRok
"life's too short to spend your free time playing games that you don't like"

Someone engrave this wisdom on a plaque

This is my eternal struggle, especially since I'm as much a collector as I am a gamer. I know I SHOULDN'T feel like this, but I do. I've gotten a lot better about it recently. I buy a LOT of games, some of which I may never actually play, to put in my collection, but I've started making myself focus on games that I enjoy. If I don't like it, just put it back on the shelf and don't worry about it. If I never get around to it because other games come out that I'd rather play, oh well; maybe I'll eventually get to it. It's hard, though, especially when you have clinical anxiety and obsessive compulsive issues working against you.

If I want a game, I buy it, and if i've bought it I have a feeling that i actually have to play, and eventually finish it. But I feel the same way about books, and movies, and whatever other medium. If I buy a cinema ticket, I rarely walk out of the show. If I buy a book, I eventually read it, or watch the movie I bought.

I don't feel it's a chore since I've actually opted to pay for the thing in the first place. If I buy an expensive shirt, I feel like I want and should wear it on a friday night out.
I think gaming is the same thing, if you've gone as far as you've payed for it, sure you should feel the NEED to get value out of it, no?

I make sure to mix my genres to avoid getting tired of a game, if it isn't fun I'll pack it and trade it off or take a break from it for a couple months depending on why I'm not enjoying it.
I traded in dragon ball xenoverse because it was hellishly monotonous after a couple hours, I took a break from doom 3 BFG after finishing the main campaign because I was well weary of checking my corners.

I also use backloggery.com to keep track of games I stop mid-way leaving notes for myself on what I need to do when I resume the game.

You know, normally I don't treat gaming like a chore at all. To me, it's a hobby at most, and usually just something to do with my free time. It's kinda obvious that I'm more lax about gaming than most, which is I guess is pretty easy when you're 20 and young and have less responsibility. It wasn't until two recent examples with Tekken and Assassin's Creed that it felt like work.

When it was announced that Nina was returning in Tekken 7, I figured, "Hey, I always kinda liked Nina, why not learn her in Tekken Tag 2 in prep for T7, eh?" Considering she's one of the harder characters to use and that TT2 is kinda dead online, it was pretty easy to feel like I worked out a bad deal for myself. I haven't touched Tekken in a week and a half, because I've always had a hard time learning characters and it can really suck a game's fun away.

Then you have Assassin's Creed 2, a game which I almost have the Platinum for, just need those frigging feathers.... I could look at a guide, but me being me, I can't stand looking at guides, and I'd rather do stuff with my own skill. You can see how this goes.

In general, I hold enjoyment of games in high regard, so if I don't feel like playing it, I won't. Doesn't matter what it is, who made it or how "revolutionary" it is. I've always told myself that games should never feel like work. It's supposed to be something to enjoy, but those two examples are where I seriously felt like doing a hard job that won't pay me, yet still went with it.

Sounds all too familiar this. I touched upon this subject more than once and somewhere around the time when I was playing MGSV and I caught myself worrying about how I would find the time to play Halo, Forza 6, Fallout, Tomb Raider, CoD, Destiny, Xenoblade CX and some other games I hadn't finished or I'm forgetting now, I realized I had a problem; gaming was suffocating me!

I don't know when it exactly happened, but I guess I started seeing gaming more as a chore in the PS3 era. It was in that era that my job required me to live away from home several months a year and instead of spending all my spare time and money on partying, prostitutes and drugs while my wife and kids where waiting for me back home, I started to excessively game to kill time. I always used to game, but not as much as I do when I'm away from home. But maybe the bigger mistake I made is that I stopped playing Nintendo games because I didn't like the Wii. Games have become more and more time consuming and we're now at a point where we even expect CoD to have a 10+ hour campaign and because of all the trophies there always a reason to play games just a bit longer. I forgot how beautiful games could be the way Nintendo still makes them; they offer you intense fun for just a 15 minute round, but you can also play for 6 hours straight and have a wonderful time. And not only that, but in Nintendo games you set your own goals, you create your own challenges, instead of a sadistic game dev who makes you play the same thing 5 times before you get your "seen enough?" Silver trophy.

I bought myself a Wii U and realized what I was doing wrong and for about a year and a half or so I was doing way better. But as the games on the Wii U dried up and excellent games on the PS4 and One were coming, I fell back into old habits: I started pre ordering everything because somehow in Holland that is cheaper than just buying it day one (whereas in SA I never pre order anything) and I would get a new game before I even started the one I got 2 weeks earlier. So there I was, playing MGSV, a game I enjoyed thoroughly but that relied on a (satisfying) gameplay loop that I've already experienced enough of at that point and I realized I was doing it all wrong: I somehow made the mistake of letting gaming become a chore, again.

I immediately popped out the disc and played some Rocket League instead and I decided just to play games till I had my fill. I canceled Fallout 4 because it seemed more of the same and I decided to go for Halo, Tomb Raider and Xenoblade instead. I bought Destiny and after 4 hours of playing I immediately realized that it just wasn't doing it for me and I stopped so Halo could give me my scifi shooter fix. I bought Forza, a game that I always play religiously unless there is a GT out which I still prefer, and I just raced when I felt like it; no more 4 hour challenges or grinding to get the car I want. No more expensive DLC to extend a game that already has 200+ hours of gameplay in it. This new approach to gaming means I'm missing out on a lot, for weeks I couldn't talk to my brother without him going crazy bout fallout, but now the dust has settled Fallout has been long forgotten and he's already talking games that are yet to come out, while he's playing Bravely Second, a game I know he doesn't like... Ha, what a fool he is, I'll never let that happen to me ever again! ..... I think....

@get2sammyb so funny you wrote this article. I beat the Nathan Drake collection last night and I started Killzone Shadow Fall, but not because I've been dying to play it but only because I felt I had to beat it and "get it out of the way". I play a lot of the time like its a chore for me, so what you wrote resonates with me. at the end of the day im glad I play everything I do but it does feel like it's a pain sometimes. glad to know it not just me who feels this way

I'll tell you exactly what started this. Trophies and Achievements. Before those two things, games were fun. You either beat them or you didn't, and there were a few that played games to 100% completion, but there was barely any competition on who was a more hard-core gamer. You either had played a game or you hadn't, and if you had, you had fun talking about it. But now, it's all about who has the higher Trophy Score etc etc. laaaame!

I turned off my trophy notifications the moment I got my PS4.

This is a definite discussion to have as I've heard it a lot. But strangely, I have fallen victim to it a little bit in the last few months. Luckily I've managed to calm it down.

Strangely for me, it's largely about knowledge. I'm a freelancer who has written largely about retro or older games and, like any medium, there are things I will have missed. This is simply because there is so much. For me, not being in that position of knowledge sometimes makes me feel as if I'm a fraud, particularly if it's a big or famous series (e.g. I have never played a Ratchet and Clank game). So I felt a rush to be on terms with some games that were the heavy hitters, as in a way they've become part of the main unofficial gaming cannon in some way. But of course, you end up missing new things and the cycle continues.

Although another aspect of it was last year. Last year there were so many games that were brilliant, or looked brilliant, and I wanted to experience them all. Of course, when some of these are huge long RPGs, that doesn't always make it easy!

In the last few weeks however, I have managed to calm myself down and just say to myself "Hey, look it's cool. Your gaming knowledge is fine" and just enjoy what I have, and am playing. I pick a few titles throughout the year that look right up my street and enjoy the hell out of them. The funny thing is that without thinking about it I always look up details on games without thinking about it (I'm the same with any medium), so I know what most things are even if I've never played them.

As for trophies, I've never bothered with them too much as I think the concept is a little silly, but if there is a game that I've truly enjoyed, then I will see if I can get them as a way of enjoying even more from it. Bloodborne is probably the only one on PS4 I did that with. And then Super Meat Boy and Rayman Origins on Xbox 360.

Thanks for writing this article @get2sammyb - it's reminded me to chill. And that even if I don't play everything - I'll always end up playing a sh*t tonne of horror and platforming games without prompt!

I agree the culture seems to be always about the latest thing and that puts pressure on us to complete that thing before the next big thing. It makes me sad to think someone that just brought a PS4 would never pick up Bloodborne because its old and the hype has died down.

That old gamer thing where the game says oh you can just complete the game but there is a way to complete complete the game (playstation access exlained that way better than I could) is also present and leads to the I'vd put 80 hrs into Fallout 4 but feel guilty because I've barely touched it does add to the chore of gaming.

I still love it though even if it does feel like work.

Great article 👍 i feel the same way

Great article. I have started to get into that state a bit with games. For me, when I was younger (ever since I was a child) I couldn't afford many games so I had to choose carefully and those games would be played to death - not necessarily completed but well played. Now, to me, spending money on a game but not completing it or giving it a good go is a waste. The difference is gaming is a little more affordable and the range of games/gaming is huge.

It is also a really good point made about the focus on new games. By the time I finished MGSV, the gaming press and discussions had moved on to Fallout 4 and so on. Now I am playing that, the Division or whatever will fill be the main topic of discussion. That is the nature of the entertainment industry I guess and I just have to accept and deal with it since I don't have the time to game enough to keep up to date.

Lastly, game length is getting massive. MGSV and Fallout 4 combined and if fully completed would last me over half a year. So playing something for several months when you know other great games are out there can make it feel like a chore as well. On dogged determination got me through the last few levels of MGSV, not enjoyment.

I think trophies play a major part in this. It has gotten even worse for me since I discovered that truetrophies.com also tracks your trophy streak, so now I "need" to earn at least one trophy a day.

Not a chore for me. I normally just play 4-5 games a year on my ps4. An a few more on the vita. I love to take my vita out to the pub or cafe.
An the ps4 is an hour or so a night after work.
Plus make my backlog large, and there some game i take 6 month break before i complete. But i am not driven the play all the great games out there.

I have heard these tales of woe from people too. I can't bring myself to think about gaming in this way, as I know it would ruin it for me. I have always had a policy of rarely buying new releases. I don't have any platinum trophies (oh, the shame) despite having played a large number of games. I don't finish stuff I don't enjoy, and steer clear of 'Dark Souls' level of difficulty stuff. In summary I really enjoy gaming.

My opinion about this topic is a clear. I believe you shouldn't start a new adventure game before finishing the other one. You can play several games at the time if only one of them is story-driven though. Otherwise, it's like if you were watching two films at the same time. It's pointless and it disconnects you from those stories. It's like watering them down.

If you can't reach the end of a story-driven game is because you don't care that much for that game and you should consider giving it up and sell it if possible. The only adventure-type game I haven't beaten is Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) because it's too long, tiresome and even boring, I have to take breaks but I want to beat it because I'm around 75% (25% until I reach the end, not until I complete everything). And if you have like 50 new games you haven't even played you should consider getting less games.

I know a lot of people disagree, I have a friend that gets lots of games, he starts playing one but gives up before reaching the middle point, then he starts another one and tells me how he would love that next release date to come, and so on. I tell him that it's pointless. It's also a life attitude, I suppose. Some people don't finish what they start doing.

For me it's actually quite the opposite - since I've become a reviewer and have had access to more games than before (it used to be 1 every couple of months for me) I've become a little more content with not completing some games - or just leaving them for later.

Case in point: The Witcher 3. I absolutely love it, but the amount of stuff it has to do is way more than I have time for, so I left it for a couple of months and came back to it. Same with Just Cause 3 - I sweated that for a couple of months, left it for a while, and now I'm back on it. I'm less in a rush to finish games now, and I'm not really a completionist anymore

@Anchorsam_9 But you're a reviewer so that's normal. By the by, I've always wondered if a reviewer reaches a point where he hates games... He won't admit it though.

EDIT: I think a reviewer should beat the game he is reviewing but I don't know why I get the impression most don't do it.

I used to be exactly the same in having that desire to finish a game that I've started even if I'm not thoroughly enjoying it. Nowadays though, if a game loses its appeal then I'll set it aside for another time. I have a lot of unfinished PS4 games in my collection.
With trophies I'm the opposite. If I complete a game and see that I've picked up about 75% of its trophies then I'll replay it to sweep the rest up.
Right now I'm on my my 3rd playthrough of The Witcher 3 for that platinum (missed some darn Gwent cards). I don't mind though because I think the game is stunning!

@VanillaLake I've only been reviewing for a year or so, so I'm probably not the right person to ask about that. Still, I can't imagine someone hating all games because they've played so many, but there are probably a couple that have stopped playing games.

As for the beating the game before reviewing it, a lot of gaming websites try to get their reviews done for the embargo and in the process might rush it (I'm not making accusations, though) but I speak for myself - and, I imagine, every reviewer at Push Square - when I say that I try to play as much of the game as possible before I review it. Of course, with bigger games such as Fallout, The Witcher, and other content-heavy games, it's inevitable that the reviewer hasn't played the entire game (otherwise the review would take weeks, maybe a month to come out) but for every other game, we play as much as we can before reviewing

I managed to talk a few people out of going for the platinum trophy on games they hate. I think it becomes an obsession for many, must get all the plings.

But I absolutely agree with the sentiment, life is too short to play games you don't enjoy. That goes for rubbish trophies as well. Is it really worth ending up hating a game you used to love just to have that big shiny trophy? I don't think so.

As for backlogs, we all have one. But I think it's great, means I've always got a game to play. Always something to revisit when there's not many great games coming out.

Don't care for trophies, just play what I feel like or whatever the time slot allows....2hrs: MGSV, 1 hr: Broforce....
I have an impressive backlog of stuff to play, but don't mind.... I will play them eventually...
A recent sell off of my PS Vita and PS 3 left me much happier.... A PS4 is enough for me, any more than that and I feel I must play or the device is going to waste...
1st world problems eh;)

@Anchorsam_9 Yeah, that makes sense and I appreciate your honesty.

I feel you guys.
I am getting better though. I avoid titles that would frustrate my OCD too much (sorry, Disgaea) and I drastically reduced the number of titles I play so I can indulge in the ones I like without the others staring into my soul from the shelf.
Because...I do feel like SOME discipline is needed to appreciate what the best games have to offer, and being a RPG kind of person, it's practically impossible to just play on a whim.

@get2sammyb I am in a very different position to you in that I don't have to play a game to a certain point in order to be able to write a review. I don't know if that is part of the reason you feel you have to complete something in order to be able to use that experience/knowledge etc for your work. Even if you don't have to review that specific game, feeling that you have to complete it to be able to use that in a review when comparing/judging/scoring another 'similar' game. How can you review and compare 'X' game when you barely touched 'Y' game.
I have NEVER finished a game I don't enjoy and NEVER hunted down 'every' Trophy/Achievement - particularly those that don't fit in to what I want. I won't play MP for example specifically just to get a trophy. I won't replay a campaign on the ultimate difficulty setting that was 'locked' before or even the 'new game +' - I already know the story and its still fresh. I rarely replay games that have multiple choice endings or 'Paragon/Renegade' options, Infamous: Second Son was the exception, I know I made the 'right' choice that suits me the first time. I doubt I would make 'different' decisions a second or third time - just to see a 'different' ending - I saw the 'best' ending because I made the decisions I would make. I do try to get trophies, like I will hunt down every collectible or try to do certain 'challenges' but its not the be-all and end-all. A game is 'finished' when I decide, not when my trophies decide. I completed Batman: Arkham Knight to 100% (yes that included ALL the riddles too) BUT didn't 'platinum' that game - replaying it to get the platinum isn't going to change the story, isn't going to give me a 'different' experience or ending etc...
How can the fact that I didn't manage to get 20 headshots in a row or stealth kill 10 enemies in a row decide a game isn't finished when the entire campaign is completed? It doesn't change the 'story' or affect my 'overall' enjoyment of that game.
If I find a game is not enjoyable, why should I force myself to play that when I could be playing something I do enjoy. There is a reason I didn't want to return.
I have over 35 (nearly 40yrs) of gaming behind me. I have MANY games that I never saw the 'ending' of - How many completed Jet Set Willy, Pac Man etc. Some games you just have to draw the line at and say enough is enough because it doesn't really have an ending. Some games it maybe relatively easy to finish and get the 'Platinum' trophy but others require you to play through multiple times - with no difference to the 'story' to get these. Other games may have trophies in areas of the game you don't like - for example the MP and there is NO way I am going to get frustrated, annoyed and fed up trying to get something that is ultimately meaningless.
I know we have all bought games on a whim or downloaded a 'free' game just because, but if I am not enjoying it, particularly when I have other games to play I do enjoy, then I certainly won't force myself into playing it. Even if I was a 'reviewer', that would be reflected in my review.

Thankfully I've broken free from this mentality, but I did struggle with it for years until recently.
Now I give myself permission to play whatever I am most in the mood for... Even if that means playing Shadow of the Colossus or Donkey Kong Country 2 for the millionth time.
I also have given myself permission to quit a game I'm not enjoying. Paying for a game I don't like is a regrettable mistake, but there's no need to make a second mistake of forcing myself to waste time on the game as well.

@VanillaLake I agree ! Both about starting multiple story driven games at the same time and Xenoblade...boring.

Some games I finish others I do not. Does not bother me either way There are some games I love like Dying Light which I half completed then left it for 6 months before picking it up again. If gaming ever felt like a chore then I would stop it and move onto something else. Looking back there are porbably atleast a 100 games on ps2 that I never finished.

This is a great article! I was just thinking the other day, "Man, my backlog of games is out of control, maybe I should put on the calendar what games I plan to play, and not buy a new game until I beat several of the games I have mapped out to beat.". Then a new game comes out, I want to buy it, and I do. Partly because as you mentioned, I want to be part of the conversation that happens with new games, and partly because well...I love video games. That's my vice. I don't drink. I don't spend money on cars or tools. It's video games. Part of my love for games is that I love being immersed in a whole new world. But if I find myself frustrated because I didn't get a certain trophy or complete a certain quest, I quit, thinking, " I'll come back to it later". And that's when I feel it's a chore rather than having fun. I feel guilty because 1) other people completed the trophy, why can't I? 2)other people seemed to enjoy getting that trophy, why can't I?

I begin to think there's something wrong with me or that if I give it one more go, something will click and I'll get the enjoyment of playing the game. All too often I find it more frustrating and annoying, and and a few days/weeks/months later I repeat the whole cycle again.

I'm going to be 40 this year (yikes) and I feel that if I'm going to say that I'm a life long gamer, that I've been gaming since I could basically walk (I owned a pong machine, my first gaming system) and if that is what "defines" me, then I better enjoy completing the game and getting that trophy!

For me it all comes down to enjoyment. I will give a game a certain period of time to get into, and if I wind up playing something else, I won't touch it for months, then one day I will look at it and say I've got to finish this. Shadows of mordor, far cry 4, dying light, were all well received but for each ones individual reason I just couldn't do it. Far cry was ruined launch day when I spent 6 or so hours doing a ton of stuff with a friend, then finding out I had to do it all over again in my own save. Shadows combat just always rubbed me the wrong way, even if the nemesis system was something that was absolutely brilliant. Dying light really came down to my friends and I got it to play together and by luck I wound up putting in a couple weeks where I was unable to play because of a crazy work schedule. Then there is the witcher. Man I loved that game, but one day I saw my gameplay time (over 6 days) and looked at my level and the map, and just felt this rush of defeat. I had not even made a dent.

Each game had its own reason for getting waitlisted, and each time I look at one I look at it in shame, knowing that I could finish it, but restarting is such a chore, and continuing the save is very disrupting after months of walking away. Its a combination of wasted $$, that drive to beat a game, a like for a series, and competition with friends that generally drives me.

I have 1 platinum, for Second Son and thats it.
I have never been bothered enough to grind through every trophy in every game because a good percentage just arent fun to get.

Ive found that only playing games I have an initial interest in, and liked the idea of beforehand, I nevsr get a build up of games to play.
Also, Ill happily play 2-3 different games at a time, depending on my mood.
Ive never subscribed to the idea that you must play 1 game at a time.

Don't play bad games. If gaming isn't fun for you, you're doing it wrong.

Case in point: "I think Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a mechanical masterpiece – it really is fun to play. But, for whatever reason, I can't get into it even though I want to. And I've tried several times now – I know it's great so I have to play it, no? It's gotten to the point where I'm forcing myself. Why?"

So... is it actually fun? You "know" it's great... why? If MGSV was actually a fun, great game, wouldn't you want to play it?

Xenoblade Chronicles X. I'll be here a while.........aint goin nowhere...I'll be here a while......I will survive. My backlog looks like my local library.

Rule of thumb: one console game, one handheld game.
It makes things a little smoother and rewarding in gaming.
NOTE: I am not a completionist but i do finnish what i start 95% of the time.

@get2sammyb It makes sense. Like with everything, there's a moment that you have enough.

@Feena Hahaha That game never ends.

I actually dont have a "back log".
Ive literally played every game I own.
But then I dont get anything I dont initially like the look of, maybe thats why?
I can certainly see why some people do though, work, family etc.

I've gotten bad about being in that mind set, and it's honestly made me not want to play video games as much. I've been trying to work my way out of the backlog mind set so I can kind of get back the spark that inspires me to want to be engaged in a virtual world. When I started treating gaming as a chore is when my love for it declined a little bit.

i have got a teething baby & a toddler. I start playing something then get so many distractions you come back to say fallout 4 & are like wtf was I doing etc etc. Then the next game you really want to play comes out & you try start that.
Plus most gamers probably spend more time ready about games watching youtube videos than playing half the time. Ill read articles on here that are about games I have no interest or time to play.
Damn you guys start writing rubbish so I can stop coming every day.
Thanks crying child got to go. Then start playing farcry primal

It's called getting older.

I have never tried to get 100% in games. In games such as the Witcher and Assassin's Creed game I'll do the missions both story and side but I won't try and get all the collectables.

There is another dimension. I loved Bloodborne but have found Dark Souls 2 a chore to play. I feel I should like a Souls game as they are well made but while Bloodborne left me exhilarated there is something dead about DS2 which has me worried about DS3. How do you deal with games that feel like a chore?

I'm literally doing this right now.
https://twitter.com/JimmyRowe1994/status/706183970006949888

I've recently finished Just Cause 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Killzone: Shadow Fall. Right now I'm tackling LittleBigPlanet 3. Also, when do you consider a game to be 'done'? For me, it's when I've completed the story. I don't look at the pure multiplayer side of things (such as Team Deathmatch) because that can never be finished. For games that are MMOs such Destiny The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, it can be a grey area.

@john_c Bloodborne was made by the creator of Dark Souls, Hidetaka Miyazaki, but he didn't create Dark Souls II. Luckily for you, however, Dark Souls III has Miyazaki back at the helm and is said to have a taken a fair bit of gameplay styles from Bloodborne, creating a nice mix of Bloodborne and Dark Souls.

I'm not an adult yet, meaning I have more time to spend on gaming! However, I've been minimizing what I buy and play.

I had a pretty decent backlog last year, but I took Summer/Winter breaks to narrow it down. I have about seven games left to beat (not counting ones I don't care when I beat, like NES games). As a kid, I played a lot of Action/Adventure games that didn't take too long, but nowadays, I find myself playing a lot of JRPGs. When I compare their lengths to Action/Adventure games, they take so much longer to beat that it's not even funny. This mostly plays a role in my attempt to narrow down my spending and playing.

I don't care about achievements or keeping up with conversations, but beating the main games. Now, I finally see gaming as something I should really spend in my free time — not main time, ya'know? With that in mind, I've narrowed down what I plan to buy this year to four games, and I'm still looking for excuses to cut some more off the list, solely because of time (and money, too, although it's not an issue). JRPGs mostly got me to care. Exp grinding, multiple side-quests — they take so much time! I'm almost done beating the main story of Xenoblade Chronicles X, and I'm around 60 hours of playtime. Last year, I beat Etrian Odyssey IV, and that took 90 hours! The games are amazing, but so time consuming. I doubt Zelda U would take me 60 hours to complete. Those are the types of games I'm looking forward to more this year. I loved Shin Megami Tensei IV, but now I'm looking to just replay the game instead of getting its sequel. I'm still deciding. See what I mean? It's like I need to make it my mission to avoid JRPGs this year. The only one I know I'll get for sure is Persona 5. I love gaming, but I should give it a bit of a break.

TL;DR: I used to have a tremendous game backlog, but narrowed it down to 7 games last year. I don't care about keeping up with conversations or doing achievements, but more or less beating the main game. I've spent countless hours on JRPGs, so I want to avoid them this year. My current wishlist consists of four games, but even then, I'm still looking to cut some out. Oh, and if I already have a game, but I don't like it, I don't really care about continuing it. I haven't recalled selling games before, but that wouldn't hurt.

It really does feel like a chore sometimes. Its the reason I haven't turned on my PS4 in months, and probably won't until Ratchet & Clank is out. I'm just over bloated open worlds & really miss new IP's.
I've been playing nothing but my Wii U lately, mainly for the pick up & play nature of Nintendo games.
Dare I say this gen kinda sucks? Its so boring!

Brilliant article! And this community rocks with honest opinion. My probs is that I'm addicted .... less on playing but more on collecting. It's something that has been entrenched in me since I got a spectrum 48k and sega genesis aeons ago. And now I'm in my 40s. It just feels 'golden' when I buy a new game or a highly praised game at SALE prices! My biggest gripe is that good games take so long to complete today (I'm looking at you elderscrolls, destiny, clash of clans) that my entrenched persona of buying and playing the backlog will never catch up with the reality of lack of TIME! Lately I've avoided 2 months of new games to catch up with games released 8 months ago. And chore is a dirty word so any game which is pants automatically gets sold. There are just too many great games and too many great studios who have perfected the art of making games with longevity. Check out super mario world speed run. A great game that can be done in 10mins to 10 hours. Miss those simpler days!

I will say that part of this probably comes from what playing video games has taught us. In most games, you can do everything. The game waits while you do every side quest, catch every fish, grind to get your character to a specific level, find every upgrade, etc. I think after years of playing games, that must sort of ingrain in us this idea that we need to do everything, experience everything we want, which in real life, is simply impossible. So we feel stressed out when there are 3 huge open world games we want to play but 3 are coming out the following month. There are so many games now it becomes a race to finish the game to get to the next, instead of just enjoying what we can and not worrying about missing out. They are just games after all.
Also, the video game industry seems to convince us that we need to play new games now or our lives are not complete.

I have a lot of friends who think its a character flaw that I buy new games without finishing old ones. Guacamele is the one they sight the most, as they said I was never going to finish it before I bought it. But I have been gaming for over 30 years, and back when I was 5 playing NES games, it was a reality that I wasn't going to complete Metroid or Ghosts and Goblins or Contra since my dad wouldn't buy me a game genie to cheat with. That doesn't mean I didnt have fun playing these games until I was bored with them (finished or not). I have completed long games (every GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Fable, Several Final Fantasy's and Most if the Dragon Quest games to name a few). And I have short games (The Order im looking at you) that I didnt make it halfway through and have no desire to go back to. I paid to have a good time, and if I am not excited when I boot up a game I will find something better to do. Then again, it's not part of my job description.

For me its the simple case of too many games, too little time. When I finished my Masters last year I had 27 PS3 games in my backlog. All bought retail, day one or if a good sale was on. I finished all them by around Christmas time and now my PS4 backlog is starting to stack up, with me having even less time being in fulltime employment.

It always feel like I'm playing catch up and that severely hampers my enjoyment of certain games. The last time I played a game on a console for fun was probably disgaea 4, 5 years ago (420+ hours).

Why does one HAVE to buy every game at launch anyway?
Rather than buy them straight away, you could, you know, wait…

Seems like almost every game I try is a chore to play. I just don't get the enjoyment out of games like I did when I was younger. I read about games coming out and they sound awesome..then I play them for a day or two and never want to play it again. Time for a new hobby I guess.. : )

I think for me when I started feel gaming was like a chore when for me was when I was playing assassins creed unity, after I completed it I couldn't be bothered finishing the other stuff I needed to do just to get a silly trophy. Nothing against trophies/achievements I think they are fun if your enjoying the game, i tend to prefer getting them for older games I played through as a kid. The other thing I find is I have less time to play games now then i use to with life and work getting in the way. I have witcher 3 sitting in my room the last few months, always saying to myself I'll play it when I have a lot time but when i do I find myself getting distracted with other games because their not so daunting to play! Think since I've for got it I've finished of 4 games. Maybe I'm just getting fed up with open world games...

What's the difference between "Go to the sacred temple and retrive the secret stone" and "Go to the supermarket and buy a gallon of milk"?

You know what I call open world games?

Errand runners.

lol

Coz they cost £55 each and you gotta get your money's worth, end's up a chore

@JaxonH Life is too short to play games you don't like. The issue with that is for game designers who, believe or not can learn things from mistakes of the industry and who also have to play, create, build, model etc games all day every day.

And you know what? I'm going to quote a nameless designer here. "If you want to make games, either as a hobby once or twice, or just stick to playing them. It's not worth it as a job for life."

I agree. I'm losing hair, sleep, patience. Why? I'm bloody making games. The pressure of the consumer, reviewers who can sink your ship in seconds and ruin all your hard work just because it didn't float their boat and people in the wider market only read one or two. The deadlines, the brutal deadlines imposed by publishers, financing...can anyone consider that fun?

From my perspective as a gamer I tend to agree with @get2sammyb because well...so many games so little time. I also disagree because frankly you don't have to play everything and aiming to is suicide. But from a developer perspective I can also be a bit miffed that people find it a chore to play games because making them is certainly not enjoyable on the whole depending on circumstances.

But that just leads to another discussion: is game playing/creation something neither side enjoys? No. It just has to be moderated. No one wants to work anD I don't look at development like a job, more like a different side of gaming. That leads to an issue of people with development experience. You can see and understand why a game turned out the way it did but at the same time you are also subconsciously tearing anything you play apart, and when you get really deep into it it becomes more of a literal chore to play games because you find you aren't playing a game, you're dissecting it and seeing how it works. And that in many ways kills the enjoyment. Maybe something like that is why Sammy can't get into some games. Maybe his head is too busy ripping it up and seeing how it works?

That's just my response to the question. Probably just asks more questions though.

@BLPs
Interesting insight. I can totally empathize with say, an indie developer (not so much big budget devs cause their income is s little more stable- and lucrative). I can see how someone could put their whole life into a game, just to have it dismissed and forgotten in the blink of an eye, perhaps not even for being bad, but for just not being great. It's brutal tbh.

At the same time, all devs are gamers too (I would at least hope, or they probably won't make good games) and from a gamer perspective, they know they also like to play really fun games and ignore the vast majority. So it's like, both sides understand the other, but it still doesn't make it any easier to come to terms with.

I almost feel guilty skipping out on some indie games sometimes, because I really wanna support everyone, but, it's just not feasible. I already blow $4,000 a year on games- if I bought every decent indie game out there too...

But ya, I can totally understand when you say you dissect games rather than play them.

On this subject of gaming being a chore though... I cant say this pertains to me.

So, I have always been a multi-platform gamer, but I finally got to the point I had to own everything. All 3 consoles, both handhelds; PC isn't my thing (and 5 platforms is more than enough anyways). So I'm buying 5x the number of games as some gamers, and that's before factoring in my OCD to own everything good, not to mention the fact I'm a collector.

There is NO POSSIBLE WAY I could even play through 10% of what I buy. Some games never even get taken out of the packaging (that's rare though, but still it's true- I do have a few games on all platforms still in cellophane). The idea is to have an elaborate spread of great games... a library of gaming' finest. The idea is to be able to pick out any game I want to play at any time. Like a book reader who has access to the Library of Congress.

So accepting the fact it's just physically impossible to play everything I buy, it's easier for me to not feel the need to.

I am guilty of this as well, although if I don't like a game I don't feel forced to play it. But there are games that I really enjoy that for some strange reason I haven't beat yet. Ni No Kuni is a good example. I really really like the game, a lot, and it seems like I'll play for a few days strong and then leave it for months. I almost come back to it because of guilt. It's silly, but I feel bad! Being a perfectionist doesn't help either, gotta get all the trophies!

That's why I hate open world sandbox

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi Counterfeit Chinese goods!

@get2sammyb I think this mentality of treating games like a chore comes with one's transition into adulthood in most cases. Before the mid-teenage years, nearly everyone had all the time in the world to play the games they wanted to play, and since this usually entailed having less titles to go through (by having to rely on parents for buying games, building up an allowance, etc.), we scoured through everything we bought with no problems. I can tell you that I used to buy one game every 2-3 months when I was younger, and it was weird if I didn't fully complete it in a matter of weeks and then some. I never worried about a backlog or everything because I finished each game I had long before I picked up something new.

However, as we get older, our tastes broaden, we're able to play more mature titles, and we can spend more of our own money on video games. It's not uncommon for me to buy 3-5 games a month now with new releases, sales, and whatnot. But what comes with that is increased responsibilities and strict time management. I absolutely have to treat gaming as a regimented "chore," if you will, because it's hard for me to set time aside to play something. I worry about my ever-growing backlog and which games are most important for me to play soonest. I recently had to drop all other games for over a month to play MGSV, which ate up 100 hours of my time. Several years ago? That would've been no problem. But now, I have to push myself in some ways to do anything like this, especially as a game journalist so I'm not only caught up on my favorite game series, but also personally "up-to-date" with what's popular.

I think you're on to something with people wanting to keep up with the most relevant games for the sake of conversation. I know I try to do that, but unlike you, I hardly care about getting trophies or 100% completion anymore. It's all about just getting through the main experience so I can move on to the next one, and while I dislike this structured mentality for doing something that should be unregulated fun, I have to do it because, well, I've got work to do! (ha ha)

I don't mind it though. As long as I can just set aside decent amounts of time for games I WANT to play (I toss games aside that don't compel me), I'm content with that. I just need to stop starting a game for 1-3 hours and not coming back to it for a long time!