I could easily be entertained playing what I already have all year too. There are games I moved on from which I really enjoy playing still and I haven’t yet mastered, and far too many games I haven’t spent any time with yet.
I don’t open them right away unless I’m going to play them because I figure someday it might not be me that wants to sell them (because I’m in a box) and my kids can get top value for them that way. I have sealed copies of a number of things that are rather valuable because of that. Castlevania Aria of Sorrow for Game Boy Advance comes to mind.
Original or Repro? 
Haha… dumpster behind the Gamestop? 
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Thanks to this thread, @kawika, I’ve had a think and decided I’m not buying any games at all this year, and if I can help it no new consoles for at least 2 years. Let’s see how I get on with that 
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Starting to think I need to set a 2020 goal to not buy any game for the year. Would be interesting to see how things turn out. Did you do anything specific or intentional to cut back on the game purchases, or did it just happen organically?
It feels like there are a number of things I’d need to change to have any shot at being successful:
- No more Wario64 tweets
- Steam deals/wishlist emails turned off
- OfferUp removed from phone
- Pricecharting eBay sniper feature bookmark removed
- Cut out anything that increases desire and/or fear of missing out on a deal
The hunt for a bargain has started to become the hobby more than using the item that I’ve bought. Not sure I want things going in that direction.
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Two years ago I set out to not buy new games and did pretty well for awhile. Even if you can manage it for a couple months it turns into real savings.
From those days, the one thing I was very successful with was PC game buying. I basically never buy anything on PC anymore while spending $144 a year on PC games. How did I do that? I only pick up all the free games given away throughout the year and the Humble Monthly Bundle. I received about eight to ten games a month that I put directly into my Steam account and keep building a library of things to play while never spending big dollars on anything. I don’t even bother with Steam sales because most of the “cheap” stuff will be in a Monthly eventually.
All of my game buying now is retro or on Switch/PS4. Xbox One really doesn’t get anything exclusive so again, those games are easily found on Humble Monthly or if I really wanted to play something (like Gears 5 because friends asked me to co-op) then I use Game Pass for that instead of buying the full priced game.
I suspect this will continue to work just fine in the next gen with PS5.
Christmas is the one time I loosen up, because often there are deals that are good for myself and the kids. Even then, I cut back this year, big time. I’m overloaded with games to play.
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Just as a general note for this thread:
If your hobby is causing you anxiety or pain, then you should change something. The goal of playing/collecting every game is generally an impossible one, and pursuing that will force you to make sacrifices in other parts of your life that turn your hobby in to something else.
Figure what you like about your hobby, strip it down and concentrate on that. Figure out what parts cause you grief and remove them. If you’re happy as a clam, then keep being a clam.
Just a thought. Not intended for anyone specific, but I do see a recurring theme here.
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That’s sort of a deep question… it did not happen organically though, although now it’s definitely more natural.
I started focusing more on my finances and realizing that buying more games isn’t going to increase my video game fun levels in any significant way over playing what I already have.
It’s like in an RPG, my gaming collection is already at level 99, and obtaining more video games is like trying to add experience points and level up that which can’t be leveled up much further. To stretch the analogy to its extreme - I already can 1 hit kill the final boss, in this case, the final boss being “my video game boredom”. Adding more experience points is just adding for the sake of it now. I’m not going to play more per day than I already do and the games are just going to be piling up the more I buy. The ones I have are truly just as fun as the new ones coming out.
Under this mindset, I started not buying for a few months and still have tons to play. I’m still having as much fun.
Yes, there’s always new stuff to play and always new stuff to see. It’s a very deep medium in that way. I love gaming for that reason.
But does “new” always add to the quality of my enjoyment in a way that justifies yet another purchase? Usually not. Occasionally yes, very much so. But I realized even when collecting a ton, those experiences only happen 3-5 times per year now. So I’ve adjusted my buying to match those rare occasions, and continue to enjoy what I already own. And then those few games per year end up becoming much more memorable too since the year was pretty focused on them.
As a result, I save a lot more money.
A lot of times, we buy new games, especially on sale, for FOMO. But I realized, I’m missing out on most games regardless since time is limited. So I just let go of keeping up.
My advice is to just try going 3 months not buying anything and see how it feels. If it doesn’t feel like your gaming experience is “less” you sorta have your answer, and it will start to feel organic.
A lot of us have reached that level of having insane libraries with thousands of hours of high quality gameplay to enjoy - the stuff we dreamed of as kids. So… my advice is to just enjoy it. Add slowly now. Be selective. Miss out on new stuff on purpose. It’s going to feel more okay than you realize.
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Long ago a decided that I don’t want to spend time with mediocre or uninspired games. Life is too short, and there’s plenty of good stuff more suited to my tastes. That’s the reason I rarely finish a game: they outstay their welcome or lose their shine, and I move on to the next on the list.
I recently chatted with Kuniaki Watanabe (developer of MaBoShi, aka The Greatest Of All Time) and he said:
I prioritize unpredictable games.
That also sums up my approach. If you look at the latest Zelda you know pretty much what you’re going to get. 80% the same and 20% new stuff. It’ll be great but I’ve kind of seen it all before. Maybe you’re fine with that sort of comfort gaming, living in the same place for your whole life. For me I need to see new things, progress, innovation, curve balls, evolution, revolution… otherwise what’s the point?
I miss the days of Wii and DS and before that 1980s/90s home computers where innovative new concepts were a dime a dozen and the industry was better off for it.
Late on the reply, but just want to say that using a video game analogy for reducing your video game playing is master-class. Well done and thanks, everything you said resonates. 
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Good post that really got me thinking about all of this. I’m curious, how many games do you have?
I have no idea 
. I should try counting sometime.
I’d be interested in even a rough count. I felt like my collection started to get out of hand at about 300 games, so I started keeping a spreadsheet. That was several years ago. I’m now just over 1000 physical games (and a few hundred digital). I don’t even know how/when I’m going to stop. I see these guys on youtube that have 5000+ game collections and it just seems ridiculous sometimes.
Great advice!