Revenge of the Backlog and Curse of the Double Dip

With the arrival of 2016, things were in full swing to get prepared for the arrival of the latest AAA and Indie titles. However, this comes with one major dilemma, something that has stricken me for years in gaming: the backlog.

When it comes to the backlog of games at my disposal, I must have gone through the same thought process every year and each and every time I find myself saying “I must finish this” or “I’ve got go back to that” and every year it doesn’t get any better. Not even the inspirational words “Yesterday you said tomorrow, so just do it” of Shia LaBeouf didn’t help when it came to returning to the world of Thedas in Dragon Age: Inquisition or survive the night for that bit longer in Dying Light.

Of course time is required, but this isn’t necessarily the problem. The problem is gathering the motivation to do it and that’s where my problem lies, and I can’t be the only one. WIth the rate of games releases these days I don’t know anyone who could 100% say they caught up on their backlog, not unless they’ve made the decision to just not bother. I know, as I’ve done it too. Whether it be because I just didn’t like the game after I started, like 2014’s Thief or that I enjoyed, finished and decided not to going back to, such as Batman: Arkham Knight.

The big issue here is that I’m bit of a completionist and dare I say, a trophy hunter (or whore some would say) on PlayStation. And while there ain’t nothing wrong with that, it's just that it becomes an obstacle in your otherwise strategically placed plans of toppling the backlog.

Some might say: “Then why do you even bother?” and I will say “You sir or madam, don’t get it! I need those trophies!”. As aggressive as that sounds, it is true and any trophy/achievement hunter will understand. Which leads me to another problem I have in gaming, double-dipping - sounds dirty, because it is. It’s a terrible habit of purchasing the same game twice, usually on sale but that’s besides the point. I shouldn’t be doing it...well at least not without a good reason.

Being split between console and PC gaming I get a lot of freedom in choosing which platform to get a game on. Of course going the easy route is getting on console, but this usually means paying more for the bog standard and as visually impressive as many multiplatform titles are, the PC version is usually the best in performance - although this can only be said for a handful of releases.

To be honest, I only really find myself double-dipping if it’s a title I genuinely want for performance and I know it’ll be far superior on PC, but it has happened in reverse. Take Arkham Knight for example. Went PC originally and thought good choice. Bought cheap, bonus, controller support, bonus, 60FPS, winner...then it came out and it was just terrible for me, even after patching, leading me to give up and just go for the console version. Most of the time though going PC is the right choice and a no-brainer when it comes to the likes of The Witcher 3 and Fallout 4.

Now all this isn’t to say that things won’t change, that I’ll carry on and keep adding to the log and continue casting aside the to-do list and double dip on the favourites. No, this year will be different.

I plan on this year to clear the backlog. Focus on those long-winded titles as I most definitely want to focus on those, but while the start of the year is lacking new big releases, except the PC release of Rise of the Tomb Raider soon as it hits February, and beyond we’ll see the arrival of Far Cry Primal, Firewatch and more. As long as I keep myself occupied with what I have, I’ll have plenty to do. And ensure the “fuck it, buy it” moment doesn’t return and I avoid dumb drunken purchases, things should be fine...I hope.

What about others? I know I'm not the only one.

How do you manage the strenuous task of clearing the backlog? And do you feel guilty for double-dipping on your favourite titles as well?