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My Pile of Shame
One of the constants in my gaming life is something that’s probably familiar to most of us: the pile of games that I haven’t gotten around to finishing (or worse, starting). My collection is the only thing in the house that I keep organized, so it’s more of a neat shelf than a pile, but it’s essentially the same thing. When I grab a game to play, I look over at those games and instantly feel terrible. It’s a nice kind of terrible—oh, boo hoo, I have too many games—but it’s still terrible.
With that in mind, here are some of the games on the shelf of shame…
Dragon Age: Origins
It’s a classic story; man makes a rogue, man plays for 10 hours as that rogue before realizing he doesn’t like playing as a rogue, man creates a new character. After going through my warrior’s origin story, I decided that I didn’t want to replay the first few quests when they were so fresh in my mind. Shelved.
Katamari Forever
I’m probably about halfway through this one (even though most of my offerings to the king have been crap), but I just stopped for no good reason. I love the soundtrack, and it’s one of the few games I have that can be safely played around the kids. I’ll probably get back to it in a few weeks.
Forza 3
I bought a wheel for this one, and it’s been amazing so far. The problem is, I just don’t have enough time to sink into it right now. Until I do, I’ll probably never complete a clean lap.
Tekken 6
After beating the game with the kangaroo, I decided this has the best fighting game endings I’ve ever seen. Then I stopped playing. I need to pick it up again and see the panda’s ending. It has to be great, right?
Street Fighter IV
I spent more time playing Street Fighter II than anything else in the ’90s. This is a great game, but I don’t have a bunch of fanatics to play with at home. I don’t like playing fighters online much, so onto the shelf it went.
Overlord II
I loved the first game, but I haven’t even started the sequel.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
I think I’m about five or so hours into Uncharted 2’s story, and it’s amazing. I don’t really have a good explanation why I stopped playing. Maybe I hate fun.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Tim came over last weekend and we played through some spec ops on veteran. That was the first time I’d touched the game’s multiplayer. I know it’s great and all and I’ll probably get around to it later. I’m at the point where it’s going to take some time to catch up to everyone else, and I’ll postpone that frustration as long as I can. I’m still going to finish up spec ops on veteran though.
Blue Dragon
My last save is right at the final boss. I think I stopped playing to grind and mop up a few achievements. That plan obviously failed. OK, I’m going to finish this game over the weekend.
Lost Odyssey
Hey, another Mistwalker game. I wrote a preview for this game before it came out, and I didn’t really feel like repeating stuff that was so fresh in my mind. I think I’ve forgotten it all by now, so it’s probably safe to play it now.
Shadow Complex
I got the goo gun and then I got distracted by something else.
DJ Hero
I picked this up after seeing a used copy for $60. It’s another one of those games that is a lot of fun but I don’t have time to get especially good at.
Rock Band 2
I don’t even want to think about how many songs I’ve bought that I haven’t yet played. Ouch.
So there’s my shelf/pile of shame, exposed for the world to see. What do you guys have on your back burners? Is there anything you’re especially embarrassed about?
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