I don’t remember the first game I ever played.
I do, however, remember the first game I ever beat. It was “The Lion King” for SNES, and I was about 10 or 11 years old… in other words, I’d already been playing games for nearly a decade by that point. (It was actually a pretty terrible ending, but it did feel good at the time.)
Since then, I can count the number of games I’ve actually played all the way through on, well– probably just a couple of hands. Ocarina of Time. Super Mario World. A handful of other platformers, like Yoshi’s Story. A few different RPGs. Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64. Goldeneye 007. Probably a few other racing and FPS games that I can’t think of off the top of my head.
Then you get to all the games I played a very great deal of and never actually beat. Sometimes it was because the game got genuinely very difficult– Banjo-Kazooie, I’m looking at you. Other times, I don’t know why I quit playing. I got bored, I guess. I have an FFTA save parked outside the final mission and I just never got around to beating it. Actually, I’m sure there are more games I’ve played to 90% than there are games that I’ve actually beaten.
If you’re like this, then you’re not alone. According to a recent article, of all the people who started playing last year’s Game of the Year, Red Dead Redemption, only about 10% of them beat it. In fact, the article also says that game developers are actually making games with the thought in their head that most of their game’s players won’t see all of their carefully crafted content. What a bit of a sobering thought. Imagine writing a story and knowing that 90% of your readers won’t read through to the end.
I think there are a few different reasons why games have such a low completion rate. The fact that we’ve grown up is a big one. And I don’t mean that in a stereotypical “We’re too old for video games now” way. This is what I mean: Remember when you were a kid? You only got a few games a year, one or two for Christmas, one or two for your birthday, and maybe a couple others at special occasions throughout the year. “Someday,” you resolved to yourself, “I’m going to grow up and I’m going to buy SO MANY GAMES.” So then you grew up, got yourself an income, and did exactly what you said you were going to do. Which is great. Unfortunately, there are only 24 hours in a day. And you’re probably spending most of that time either sleeping or working.
Or perhaps your gaming tastes have changed a bit and now you mostly play stuff that doesn’t really “end” (MMOs, Minecraft) or you play games that can be played as a “match” in one relatively short session (Starcraft, Civilization, LoL, TF2, etc.)
For whatever reason or variety of reasons, though, people don’t beat a whole lot of games. I’ve acknowledged my own problem in this regard, and my current quest to either beat or re-beat as many Final Fantasy games as I can is part of a personal goal of mine to prove that I’ve still got what it takes to play a long game all the way through.
What about you guys? Do you have a backlog of games that you still need to beat?
I tend to find myself in something of a similar position. I will more than likely “beat” a game; I enjoy that much to exponential degrees. However, going out and doing EVERY single thing, or “100%ing” as it’s affectionately referred to, I often can’t bring myself to do. I think the only game I’ve truly done that on was my first Majora’s Mask and Wind Waker clears. Maybe Pokemon Blue. But I will usually finish the main goals; beyond that, the drive tends to vanish.
I’m in the same boat as Sturgar.
I will finish the main story line (usually), but only a little amount on side stories, achievements, etc.
I think a truly well written game will keep those driven to the end. Assassin’s Creed, Red Dead Redeption, Knights of the Old Republic, and Heavy Rain, just to name a few.
My backlog is taller than I am. :(
One of these years I need to take a weeklong staycation and just play games.
I’s still tryin’ ta beat Space Invaders.
Oh boy, the list of games I’ve never quite finished. I’m slowly getting through some of them (Saints Row 2 at the moment) but the lure of games which don’t really end (Such as 4Xes you just play over and over) is so very strong.
I think my OCD gets in the way of completing games. I haven’t actually been diagnosed with OCD, but when playing I have a strong desire to play the game “the right way”. This usually means ton’s of extra grinding, side quests, collecting, etc. Many games these days include collectibles or other achievements and I have a hard time ignoring them. I got all of the flags in Assassin’s Creed 1 only to find out there was no reward…
I don’t know what it is about my personality that drives me to follow these rabbit trails, but I usually get so distracted by them that I never even finish the game.
I think I can count on one hand (maybe two) the number of games I actually finished all the way through. No coincidence are games I know I beat when I was a kid were before I discovered the magic of a job (and friendship). So many games, so little time to play them.
Maybe it’s because we never really want the game to end…
Spot on IMO ;)
I’m guilty of this. I have a HUGE backlog of games. I’m a game design student, so I don’t always have time to play through every single game I buy. The worst part is when you play through something and then stop. When you try to go back to it…you forget what you’re supposed to do! That reminds me that I need to get back to No More Heroes at some point. -.-
I actually have a txt document on my desktop with the complete list of games I own and need to finish… Only 87 games to go.
I have a lot of games I haven’t finished. I have a lot I haven’t even started yet. Achievements are to blame for that, and the fact that some of these games don’t hold my attention long enough and/or aren’t my kind of fun.
The first game I ever finished was Spyro. It was a good day.
I’ve finished my fair share of games over the years, I suppose. Super Mario 1, Paper Mario (the Thousand Year Door), Legend of Dragoon, Final Fantasy 7, Lunar: Silver Star Story, and as I’ve written this comment, I remembered Portal and Half-Life 1 and 2. I’ve almost finished the first Sonic game and TMNT (the original NES one). I’ve seen the end of Halo 1-3 also, but that was co-op so I’m not sure it counts? I actually don’t have that many games of my own. Most of our collection is my hubby’s.
There are a few in there that I’ve gotten and started, I guess mostly I never finished them because there was an obstacle I couldn’t overcome. Say, a boss I couldn’t beat (I’m looking at you, Krang), or in some cases, I just didn’t have time to play and something else new and shiny came along and I forgot about the game I was playing until it was to the point that I’d have to start over on the old game because I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing.
So instead I watch my hubby play. He’s got the same sort of OCD as greenskye up there. He has re-started Elder Scrolls: Oblivion more times than I can count because he wants to get his character “just right”. He’s so crazy. XD