I'm an Addict.

[ATB]

Upon purchasing the PS2, my goal was to purchase only 1 game at a time until I worked through my XBOX backlog.  Then I heard about some incredible sequels to games I'd never played and that I *HAD* to play them in sequence. Then Kevin Grey sent me Shadow Hearts and got me hooked on a franchise I'd never heard of. I decided that I would allow myself one PS2 game for every one PS2 game and one XBOX game I completed.

Then I started reading reviews of old games I had missed and went to ebay..  Then I began to search CAG religiously (rather than periodically) for deals at the bricks and mortar stores (as well as online ones). Then I bought an EB Edge card.

One month to the day after getting my PS2, I have purchased the following games:

Guitar Hero
Shadow Hearts (free, thanks KG!) <completed>
Metal Gear Solid <completed>
Final Fantasy VII
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
God of War
Devil May Cry
Final Fantasy X
Kingdom Hearts (Trade)
Chrono Cross
Chrono Trigger
Shadow of the Colossus
Resident Evil 4
Dragon Warrior VIII

Count them: 14 games PS2 games in less than a month.  There are only 2 more that I HAVE to have: MGS2 and MGS3.  When will I be able to play them all? I have no idea.

Oh and I got Indigo Prophecy for the XBOX.

I need Gamer's Anonymous.

[Big Jake]

Damn you ATB! I'm looking at your list and seeing games I've been meaning to try one day and haven't yet (God of War, Chrono Cross/Trigger, Shadow of the Colossus).  You're not just an addict, you're a pusher!!

[Farscry]

What makes me happy is that I'm looking at that list, and thinking "hey, I've actually finished more than half of those games!"  

You're in for a treat, man; those are almost universally solid titles you've got there.  

[Dimmona]

I originally bought my PS2 as an afterthought (mostly so I could try GT4) and I've probably bought more games for it than any other system over the last year.  God of War and Colossus were two of the best games last year bar none, and all of the other games on your list that I have tried have also been exceptional.

What's also nice about the PS2 right now is that you can buy the games for very little new or used.  I highly recommend picking up a PS2 right now, even if you're a 360 addict, as there's much gaming goodness to be had that you can't find anywhere else.

[mikeg]

Agreed.  With all the systems out and all the hype the ps2 slim is still my favorite by a long shot.

[Nth Power]

You've got some great games lined up there.
With all of those you might even be able to skip the next-gen consoles and just wait for the next-next-gen a few years down the line.  :wink:

[whiteboyskim]

So then it wouldn't help to mention that the Ratchet & Clank series is some of the most fun you can have with a platformer, eh?

[Dimmona]

Pssstt ATB.... you need to pick up Lego Star Wars as well.   Trust me, you'll thank me later...

[Ridah]

Sounds more to me like your addicting to buying games than playing them.  :shock:

[ATB]

Sounds more to me like your addicting to buying games than playing them.  :shock:

Maybe. If I see a good deal I have to jump on it.  This is why I try NOT to check CAG very frequently...

[fyedaddy]

Sounds more to me like your addicting to buying games than playing them.  :shock:

If there's a club for THAT, I need to join. I've gotten to the point now of having to force myself to sell off games I know I'll never play (regardless of how many great reviews they have received and despite wanting to play them).

[ATB]

However, I always make it a point to play all my games through to the end unless it's intolerable and sometimes in spite of it (jade empire).

The only time I've left anything on the shelf is when i shifted gaming 'genres'.

When I made the jump from PC to Console, I had about 10 AAA games waiting to be played.  They still haven't been.

Hopefully, the jump from Xbox to PS2 won't result in more game castaways...

[fyedaddy]

However, I always make it a point to play all my games through to the end unless it's intolerable and sometimes in spite of it (jade empire).

The only time I've left anything on the shelf is when i shifted gaming 'genres'.

When I made the jump from PC to Console, I had about 10 AAA games waiting to be played.  They still haven't been.

I've tried doing this but I haven't been able to make the time for it. It's been better for me to just get rid of a game rather than have it sitting around the house unplayed. Not only does it give someone else the chance to play, but I literally agonize over having multiple (good quality)games laying around that I just can't get to.

PC-to-console has been difficult for me. I was a PC junkie until about 3 years ago. I was exclusive to the PC until I was talked into getting a Gamecube... then I got a GBA... then a PS2... then a DS . I've definitely spent more time with console titles since then though I still loves me some PC gaming.

Problem is that I had missed out on so much that, like you, I started collecting whatever good games I could get my hands on. I just haven't been able to get to them. I came to this realization and made a concious decision a few months ago that I'm better off thinning out my backlog by selling off titles in addition to trying to play through them. I AM feeling better about it

So what's your secret? How do you manage to collect the titles you want and still have the willpower to play through them? Help!  

[ATB]

Secret?  The passage of time.

I played and finished Panzer Dragoon Orta a few weeks back.  I got it in April 2003.

I played and finished Crimson Skies 1.5 years after buying it.

Metal Arms: Glitch in the Sytem 1 year and 2 months after trading for it.

Halo 5 months after getting it.

I'll eventually get to them all...it's just that I keep buying more and that's just not good strategy.

I know I'm getting good deals on nearly every game I buy (20.00 or less) but I know if I had waited until I was actually going to play it to buy it, I probably could have gotten them for even less. I have Otogi from December 2003 and got it for 10.00.  I can probably get it for 4 now.

I know I'll get to it some day.  Sigh. It's a sickness.

[mytocles]

Sounds more to me like your addicting to buying games than playing them.

Lol, you can be addicted to both... I was the first kind of addict for ages.  Didn't see many games I didn't want to play, therefore, to own. I started to buy games, read about games, talk about games, and play them less than I used to - I blame the  GG, CG, and GT effect, lol.

Then along came Final Fantasy XI 360 Beta - which I knew had the potential to addict, because of similar games being called "Ever-Crack" etc.  After years of begging for a game similar to Morrowind, I actually let Oblivon sit on the shelf until the FFXI 360 Beta was finished.  I played night and day, sometimes leaving the machine on while my character sat in the Auction area running a bazaar - and i slept on the couch!  

I also have a muscle disorder and chronic orthopedic issues (including "trigger finger" in both thumbs) - so I play with bicycle gloves on to protect the palm by the thumb on each hand.  I wrap adhesive tape around the thumbs of the bike gloves and my thumbs - so i'm actually taped to the gloves. It's done so that I can only bend my thumbs about 1/4 of their normal range.... I also have tennis elbow that I sometimes have to strap an icepack on to play - only on the left side, luckily!

Since the beta test finished, I've been staying awake until 4 AM playing Oblivion, lol, and i can't imagine what i'll do when FFXI comes out in about 3 weeks.  Instead of a 9/10 basket case, I will be a total basket case, I guess. :shock:  

Having said all this - I ask you - who is the Baddest Addict of All?  :twisted:

[ATB]

How in the crap do you pull of 4AMers?  Multiple times per week?

Job? Family? Huh?

[mytocles]

I have a muscle disorder that has granted me disability status - be careful what you wish for if you want to play games all the time, lol!  I am tired all the time, achey all over, get muscle cramps, and  have constant muscle, tendon, and ligament problems.  Video gaming is my refuge, so if I have to sit with ice packs from my fingers to my teeth, I will!

As such, my life is quite flexible, though rather painful, but partly due to that, I have an incredibly understanding set of family and friends, lol - there are three things that take the pain away - besides a hot tub and drugs,  it's just really great video games, from the distraction aspect.  Sleep only helps while I'm sleeping, because I get so stiffened up and sore that it takes me hours just to be upright and mobile.  So everyone in  my life understands if I go on an addiction binge.  Despite everything, I consider myself blessed.  

BTW the nickname for my disorder is MITO... for Mitochondrial Myopathy, just a little aside for the interested... or the bored-at-work, lol.

[ATB]