Sometimes you just have to let go of backlog games

Most of us are unlikely to ever play every game we own right now, let alone any others we buy or download in the future. In that sense, residues are like the universe: they expand infinitely and confuse physicists. Sometimes you just have to make peace – or force yourself to make peace – with the fact that certain games will never leave the pile of shame. As a result of this week of Split screenWe delete ritually loved games from our residues – and celebrate too KotakuArrears month in other, less emotionally devastating ways.

To kick off the episode, Ash Parrish, Mike Fahey, and I rummage through our personal residue and talk about the games we just don’t seem to be pushing out. I bought an entire ultrawide pc monitor for the best possible result Death stranding Experience a year ago! I still haven’t played it! What’s wrong with me

We then discuss backlog as a ubiquitous concept of video game culture, focusing on where to go The implicit need to get everything done turns a hobby into a job– A job from which companies and businesses benefit far more than normal people. We’ll also go into live service games exacerbate this problem up to psychological agony.

Finally, on the night of a blood-red moon, we gather around a dark ember – or at least we imagine that we are doing this – and each offer a game from our respective residues as a ritual sacrifice. The rules are simple: whichever game we choose, we must never play. Residues are work-related stress that manifests itself. At some point you have to learn to let go. Really a shame Fahey chose Genshin Impactonly to find out seconds later that it was a PC version. Let this serve as a cautionary story: you should never be too careless with your rituals.

Get the MP3 Hereand view an excerpt below.

Fahey: [In a deep, scary voice] It’s time. It is time for games in our arrears to die ultimate death.

[In a regular voice] I can’t keep up with this. For the purposes of this segment, we will each choose one game from our arrears – our significant arrears. Ash why are you laughing?

Ash: I am not laughing. I look in my Steam library and think, “I don’t want to do this.”

Fahey: She cries.

Ash: You already moved me to tears. I cannot make that choice.

Fahey: Whatever we’re going to do, we’re going to pick one game at a time from our backlog – a particularly annoying game – and we’re going to uninstall it from our being.

Ash: They have to be good games. Don’t do anything like low stakes.

Nathan: It must be painful.

Ash: Yes!

Fahey: Let’s go ahead and choose our games. Ashley first. Which game are you going to erase from your existence?

Ash: Does that mean I can never go back?

Fahey: You can never go back If you write about it we’ll give you shit. A lot of shit.

Ash: Because I have a game that I want to delete, but I’ve already played it. I want to play it all over again. So I guess it doesn’t count.

Fahey: No no. We won’t let that happen. “I think I’ll never play this game that I’ve played before.” You choose another. Nathan, what are you bringing to the table – to the altar?

Nathan: I’m in a strange place because there are a few I could do and both are valid for different reasons. One of them is Hollow knight. I played a little of it. Every time people talk about it it sounds so good, but every time I play it I say, “I don’t like this game at all.” Recently one of the sadly deceased former presenters of this show, Kirk Hamilton, who is definitely dead and not alive and well in another podcastdid a musical medley Hollow knightand it was beautiful. It was absolutely great – an incredible composition – but it was initially rooted in a really strong track. And I said, “Man, I can’t believe this game has such good music. It has really good components. I want to play it all over again. “But then I discovered that I still don’t love it. This is one that I could part with even though everyone loves it.

The other is Nier Automatabecause, realistically, I’ll probably never end it – and not just for the reasons I outlined earlier [short version: I’ve started it on four separate occasions!], but also because it became like a meme. It’s really hard for me to get lost in a world where every time I see a character or an element of it I think, “Oh yeah, I remember that meme or that part of the discourse or whatever always. ”Especially when it is a world that is unique and alien Deny‘s. I don’t know if I want to take all the luggage with me to play with.

So these are my two tips. But what I’m going to do is a little twist: you can choose me. What should I get rid of forever?

Fahey: Oh man, it hurts to say that. I mean what do you think Ash?

Ash: Deny.

Fahey: We’re going to be so mean and just say he won’t play Deny ever?

Ash: Yes.

Fahey: Amazing. We have the power. [In deep, scary voice] Nathan, you are hereby prohibited from playing the game Nier Automata, Aumotamaor any game, even if they shuffle it with 25 numbers at the end of the title. You can still play Nier replicantbut you can never, never again, try to play Nier Automata. And when we find out you have it, we’re going to come to your house and fuck you.

Ash: See, you will regret not getting to choose who I wanted to choose because if I never got to write about it again, you’d like to freak out.

Nathan: Is it a Dragon Age or a Mass effect?

Ash: It was a Dragon Age and or Mass effect. It would be Dragon Age Inquisitionbut I’ve already played that so it doesn’t count. I think I will have to write about this for the rest of my life now. You missed it. So I have a choice too Persona 4 Golden or Fate 2. I really want to play Person 4but it’s only like that, oh god, when it is Person 5– and people tell me it’s better than Person 5– It will take at least 100+ hours. Nobody has this time. But I want to. It is there. I would like.

And then there is something else Fate 2, this is a great game. It’s a good appointment gaming thing that you can pick it up, play for 20 minutes, fill in some time, and feel good about it. But it also takes up 80+ gigs on my computer and I have memory issues because I have so many games that I don’t play and I have something to get rid of. Clear Fate 2 would free up a lot of space so it be like shit I don’t know what to do.

Nathan: If I’m in your shoes I would choose Fate 2. The reason for this is that you already have a game that is currently occupying your MMO slot Final Fantasy XIV– and it seems like you like it a lot. This game will likely be your MMO of choice for at least a while. Fate 2 it’s fun and feels really good to play, but I think it’s a game that – maybe more than Final Fantasy XIV– You have to play it with friends. I think once you don’t play it with other people the appeal goes way back.

Ash: I think you are right. Where is that uninstall button?

For all of that and more, check out the episode. New episodes drop every Friday and don’t forget to like and subscribe to them Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. If you’re inclined to do so, leave a review and feel free to send us a message at [email protected] with any questions or suggestion of a topic. If you want to yell at us directly, you can reach us on Twitter: Ash is @adashtraFahey is @ OnkelFaheyand Nathan is @ Vahn16. Until next week!