I want to talk more about demos/backlogs/piles of shame, etc. Why? Because I’m stridently ignoring the world around me and because why not? Here is my post from yesterday.
Every person who games, especially on the PC, has a vast backlog. We PC players jokingly call it our Steam pile of shame. I, myself, have hundreds of games I’ve bought on impulse because Steam makes it so easy. There’s always a sale. Currently, there is a Krafton Publisher Sale. I had no idea who the hell they were and took a quick glance at the list. I know two or three of the games, but don’t really have an interest in any of them.
Wholesome Games Direct was a few days ago (a week?) as was NextFest. Wait. That’s still going on now. I would not be surprised if there was a sale of some kind every day. Every time I pop over to Steam, which is once a week or so, there seems to be a sale going on. And, like most PC players, I will pick up any game that catches my eye as long as it’s under five/ten/twenty bucks (my threshhold is ten dollars). Is it on my wishlist? Maybe. Does it have to do with a cat? Probably. Will I buy several of them at the same time? Yep.
A content creator I used to watch said that if you don’t buy a game for a buck during a Steam sale, you probably are never going to buy that game (and should take it off your Wishlist). He was right about that, and yet, I still have about 200 games on my Wishlist.
Let’s be real. I should probably take off at least half those games because I will never buy them. And even if I do buy them, I will not play them. But for whatever reason, I insist on keeping them on my Wishlist. Well, I know why. It’s because I can’t be fucked to go through my list and weed out the games I no longer want.
Back to games I buy on impulse. I am someone who doees not usually buy games when they first come out*. I suppose this ties in with the fact that I’m not brand-loyal. Or with the fact that marketing doesn’t work as well on me as it does on most people. It’s really hard to sell me on something that I don’t want. And I’m prone to not wanting things more so than wanting them, so good luck on changing my mind.
For better or worse, I am stubborn. Once I make my mind up about something, it takes a lot for me to shift my thinking. This is not just brands, but everything. I can tell if I’m going to like something or not pretty easily, and there have been very few times I’ve done a 180. I had an ex who loved movies. I don’t. I don’t even like them very much. And I hate/dislike way more of them than I like.
This ex also had tastes that were in direct contrast to my own. I warned him that the movie he loved more than anything was one I probably wasn’t going to like. I knew from watching the trailer that I would probably hate it. No, no, no, he assured me. It was the best movie of all time. I was going to LOVE it.
*deep sigh*
I was young and naive then, and desperate to keep a boyfriend, any boyfriend.** I knew that I would hate the movie. I hated everything about the trailer, and I had seen a few other clips from the movie (this was years after it was released). But, one thing about me is that I’m willing to do something that someone else in my life wanted to do–to a reasonable extent.
We went to watch the movie, and I hated it with every fiber of my being. There was not one thing I liked about it. It was slick, violent, hypercut, posturing, and incredibly sexist. Not to mention other ists and just terrible in general. I had gone in with an open mind, but that slammed shut after five minutes. I haaaaaaaaaated it. I can’t emphasize that enough. It’s quite possibly my least-favorite movie of all time. If not, it’s certainly in the top (bottom?) five.
Side note: This how it goes with pop culture and me. Most things that other people love, I don’t. And, for the millionth time, I’m not doing it to be deliberately contrary. I just see things differently, and it’s taken me several decades to truly make my peace with it.
Back to my backlog/demos. In general, I treat it like a sampler. I nibble a bit and if I don’t like it, I put it to the side. When I was younger, I used to think I had to finish a book if I started it. I don’t know why; I just did. I cured myself of that when I was in grad school to get my MA in writing. Having to finish books I loathed made me realize that once I was out of school, I did not have to do that. I could stop reading a book whenever I wanted!
I am the same with video games. There are so many of them, and I know within minutes if I’m going to like a game or not. I do try to give a game the benefit of the doubt even if I’m not vibing with it, but there are very few that I’ve stuck with that I’ve been glad I did. Same with any other pop culture. The only time I went into a movie thinking I would hate it and turned out to actually like it was The Royal Tenenbaums. I was pretty sure I would not like it after watching the trailer (plus, I don’t like most of the cast members as actors), and I was pleasantly surprised that I did like it quite a bit.
If anything, it’s usually the other way around. I go into something thinking I’m going to like it, and then I don’t. One example is a game I just tried (I’ll probably do a post on it later). It was one that I was really looking forward to because I found the premise so intriguing (having a single-minded goal and experiencing burnout that physically doesn’t let you continue), and I dug the art style.
I bought it during one of the countless Steam sales, I’m sure, and decided to give it a go. And I gave it a good go. I did maybe forty-five minutes, but just want not vibing with it. I watched/read a few reviews, and they were all sparkling. “It’ll change your life” was uttered.
Huh. Ok. Apparently, I never finished this. I will do another post later.
*From games excepted.
**My mother’s indoctrination worked all-too-well on me.