Your philosophy on finishing games?

[tcv]

What is your personal philosophy on finishing games?

Do you feel like you must finish every game that you come across? If you don't, do you feel as if you're not gotten the real worth out of it?

Do you feel like you cheated yourself?

Are gamers who don't finish games lesser gamers?

Can a gamer be a hardcore gamer and/or hardcore gaming fan and rarely finish games?

[Damaniel]

I personally don't care if I finish the games I buy. I'll play a game until I don't feel like playing it anymore and then move onto the next one. I might feel cheated if the game doesn't hold my interest for more than a few hours, but I never feel obligated to finish a game just because I paid for it.

Out of the games I play, I probably only finish about 20 percent or so, but I don't feel that makes me any less of a gamer. If anything, it makes me more of a gamer, because the volume of games I end up playing is so much higher. ;)

[Cambot]

I'll finish a game if I set my mind to it. If not, oh, well. I guess I don't play through too many of the classic games I have found more recently. That's because I get them at thrift stores for really cheap. New games, I do finish a lot more often. I payed more for them and I actively seeked them out.

[cyberfluxor]

I really do prefer finishing a game but sometimes I get bored because I like to venture everywhere and do the most possible along the way. It'll usually end up dragging the game out to the point where I must put it down and for some reason it's nearly impossible for me not to do this.

ie:
I'll play a racing game on easy, go through all courses/cups until I get first place on all races. After that, crank it up to normal, go through all courses again with all first place. Then once I do that I'll want to choose another racer and go back to easy and run through again until all has been done.

Crazy aye? I'm sure there are others on the board that do the same thing. I struggle to say I've conquered a game without doing this and for a lot of games it's just not possible anyhow within a reasonable length of time (unless you have plenty of it).

[Slate]

Well that all depends on what game it is, Right?

After all, I have over 700 Classic games, And I probably won't finish all of those.

But If it is current gen games, That all depends. Considering that I rent the new releases, I most likely won't feel cheated. But if I bought a game for $10 and I didn't like it, And I can't get any more for it then what i paid (Like HALO) I would feel like I wasted my money.

But then again, If it were a game that I didn't like But paid 90% less then what it goes for at the time, I wouldn't feel like I wasted my money.

[SuperShark]

Personally, I havent finished most of the games that I own, and no I dont think that that decreases my level of gamer any.

Whenever I get a new game, I always try it out, and I almost always play it. I say almost always for this reason and this reason only. I buy a lot of games for my Genesis collection whenever I can get games complete for a really really good price, however I am not aq sports game fan, in fact I am not a sports fan and I would be the last person that you would ever want to ask anything about football, so when I get new sports games for my Gesesis or other systems, I pop then in to see that they work fine, and then that is about it (exceptions may be some basket ball or ocasionaly I find some non football sports game that I get and like).

Now, I have almost never felt that I have been cheated by a console game purchase, and this is because whenever I buy I know I am either getting something that I will enjoy playing, I know I am getting a great deal as long as collectors valuse goes, or I know it is something that will be great in my collection (such as any Sega Genesis or Master System game I dont already have). The only times that I have felt cheated are much much much more than one occasion where I have bought some game, usually disk, from EB Games (FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART I DESPRETLY HATE THE CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ALL EB GAMES STORES IN MY PART OF ARKANSAS AND I HATE HATE HATE THEM WHEN THEY SELL USED GAMES AND FROM MY EXPERIENCE I WOULD ADVISE EVERYONE TO NVR NVR NVR EVER BUY USED GAMES FROM EB! NEW ARE FINE, BUT NVR EVER USED!) as whenever they sell me a used game, 9 out of 10 times it is busted or something. Carts dont play, their policy is if ya took it out of its box or plastic bag TO EVEN TEST IT!!!!!!!!!!!! then it is yours and CAN NOT BE RETURNED!!!!! and if it is a disk, their store policies make them keep the disk and case seperate, so ya take the case to the desk, they CANT LET YOU SEE DISK CAUSE STORE POLICY OR SOME BS!!!!!! and then they put a sticker on it so the only way to get the game out is to remove the sticker and once ya do that THERE IS A NO RETURN POLICY AFTER STICKERS ARE REMOVED AND CASE IS OPEN!!!!!!!! and most of the time the disk ends up being scratched up or, on many many more than one time, BUSTED IN HALF AND HELD TOGETER AT TWO POINTS BY PRICE STICKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FU*K EB GAMES!!!!!!!! THEY SHOULDNT EVER BE ALOWED TO SELL USED GAMES!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS HAPPENEING AT BOTH OF MY CLOSEST EBGAMES, AND ONE I VISITED OUTSIDE MY CITY ONCE!!!!!!!!!!!! EB GAMES SHOULD BURN!!!!!!!!!!

........

Um......

Where was I?

Oh ya,
That is when I feel cheated, and only then.

I also whenever I find a game I really enjoy am like cyberfluxor and will play it again and again and do absolutly everything I can see possable and then some, so that is always good to.

I dont know if I left anything out that I wanted to say as I lost complete track the EB rant I did, so I will just end this now.

SuperShark

[Kejoriv]

I would say my completion rate is 50%. I would say I probably beat 15 - 20 games a year. But, I also buy a lot less games than most people on here.

[jajaja]

What is your personal philosophy on finishing games?

Finish the games you feel like, nothing else :)


Do you feel like you must finish every game that you come across? If you don't, do you feel as if you're not gotten the real worth out of it?

If i should finish all my games i would be inside for years, or atleast ALOT of weeks hehe. I buy games mostly for collection purpose.


Do you feel like you cheated yourself?

Nope. In what way do you mean btw?


Are gamers who don't finish games lesser gamers?

A gamer is one that enjoys to play games. He/she must finish the game to be a gamer.


Can a gamer be a hardcore gamer and/or hardcore gaming fan and rarely finish games?

Yes. I hardly finish my games, but i got alot. I do play quite a bit tho, mostly FPS online, but there is no ending.

[jajaja]

Er.. that is "musnt finish the game", not must LOL I miss the edit button :\

[Xexyz]

For me, it really depends on the genre.

As far as RPG's and long lasting adventre games and platformers go, I generally try to finish them to the end. Sometimes though, it's not possible (I.E. Breath of Fire is so boring I couldn't get too far in it before I lost interest).

But many 1 sitting games, escpecially arcade style genres like shmups and beat em ups, I don't feel obligated to finish. I like to challenge myself with these types of games. usually it's 1 credit or bust. I like trying to beat arcade type games without having to continue.

[8-bitNesMan]

SuperShark what city in Arkansas do you live in?

[Push Upstairs]

Today i like to try and finish my games at 100% (those that keep a percentage).

But the overall goal is to play it and see the ending.

I want to play it, finish it, and then take pride in knowing i was able to finish the game.

[GM80]

I read the topic as "your philosophy on fishing games" and wondered what everyone was getting so worked up about. :roll:

[Haoie]

Only rarely do I ever complete a game. Even rarer is when I play it again.

Now there's a sizable part of the collection I haven't even started.

So, I'm lax about completing stuff. It's easier to begin than end, anyway.

[theshizzle3000]

I personally don't care if I finish the games I buy. I'll play a game until I don't feel like playing it anymore and then move onto the next one. I might feel cheated if the game doesn't hold my interest for more than a few hours, but I never feel obligated to finish a game just because I paid for it.

Out of the games I play, I probably only finish about 20 percent or so, but I don't feel that makes me any less of a gamer. If anything, it makes me more of a gamer, because the volume of games I end up playing is so much higher. ;)

Yeah I agree with you there, but my problem is that there are some gamest that I want to finish, but I just never ever do. The main thing is if the game is less than 10 dollars I will not care if I do not finish, but if it is brand new I will play it till I beat it. If it is too bad I will try to get a refund as most people will acknowledge a refund if the game is totally horendous.

[Hypnotuba]

If it's a game I like, I'll try to play to the end of the story or complete all the missions or whatever. That's finished enough for me.

I don't usually bother doing things like getting all the shines in Super Mario Sunshine. Another example: I recently got The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. I completed the main story at normal difficulty, but will probably not try to find the rest of the comics, and may or may not play the game at the unlocked harder difficulty.

[Steven]

If it plays well or I particularly really really like it, I'd try to beat it and stick with it til I do. Generally, these days I aim to beat platform-y games, but some are just too hard and would require massive practice... sometimes it's not worth it and there's no time... especially when you have 300 other games waiting to be played.

I generally try to pour an hour or 2 minimum in each game to get value. Some you can play in 20 minutes though and know what its all about. Those I feel less guilty about not playing for over an hour

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

My philosophy is that any game that can be finished isn't worth my time. A good video game is one that can never be finished. I'm not even necessarily talking about games like Galaxian that just go on forever without an ending screen. Even a game that has a nominal end ought to be playable indefinitely.

I think all the unlockables and percentages and crap like that that almost every game today has and the obsession many people seem to have with them really do a dis-service to gaming by putting them emphasis on the wrong goal. The goal of any video game should be to play it well not to reach some arbitrary point and call the game "finished."

Racing games, which someone else brought up, are a perfect example. The point of a racing game is to make clean and satisfying runs, improving your powerslides/drafts/corners/passes/whatever indefinitely since true perfection is never obtainable. Unlocking tracks and cars should have nothing to do with the game, let alone be the player's goal.

Same goes for platform games, action games, shooters, puzzlers and most other genres. Maybe RPGs or cinematic adventure games would be exceptions, but I don't really know since I'm not into those kinds of games really.


...word is bondage...

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

My take on completeting video games is that first of all, games should be fun. If I get stuck in some point of a game to where I am losing my temper and wanting to smash the controller, then the fun is gone. Why bang my head against the screen just to say that I finished the game? I'd rather start another game that I might enjoy.

Along the same lines is the use of cheat codes. I have no problem using a level select cheat code. The reason is that in a lot of games, Mickey Mania for the SNES in particular, it can take you a while to get to level 8 for example. I don't have 1 1/2 hours to spend just getting to the point where I died off last time. I know that I can beat that much of the game so I have no problem using a cheat code to skip over it so that I can get to something that I haven't beat yet.

[cavein2000]

Yea, I wish I could finish games more often. I have been collecting for a while, but have yet to even tap into 1/4 the games I bought within the past year!! I think now that I have the majority of the games I wanted to collect I can begin playing and catch up. I will try to finish all RPG games and rock out with the 2 player action, but maybe not finish so many of those. One thing I will say is that I attack games one or a couple at a time. I dont typically venture into more than one rpg at a time.

[typeofan01]

I have a lot of games that I haven't finished, either I lose interest or my work schedule is so hectic that I'm usually so tired that the only thing I can do is sleep.But it isn't from lack of interest especially if the game is really good,such as DragonQuest 8, which I'm playing now.But I do have a buttload of games that are waiting,seeing as I have 10 different consoles and tons of good games.

[GM80]

I'll almost always finish the storyline of a well-written game. Ideally, this finishes the game too.

More and more developers do something like Kameo, unfortunately, in which one can finish the story but still only be 60% of the way to "completing" the game. I won't spend months riding around on a horse looking for the last piece of fruit or whatever to get "technically complete."

That's my philosophy.

[M15fit]

its %100 completion when it comes to rpg's. If i get sick of what im playing (like dragon quest 8) then i'll pull out the cheat device. I find its better doing this as going back to rpg can be a pain in the butt.

All other genre's it depends on whether im enjoying it or not. probably a %20

[Sparkster]

There was a point where I wanted to finish every game I had. And for a while, I was able to do it (with a game genie). Then I wanted to finish as many games as I could, no matter how much cheating I could pull off.

Then when I started collecting more and more games, I started to dislike emulation. And then I wanted to finish games without cheating. With so many games, and others I've never finished legitimately (and never will), I'm all about enjoying a good game, if it's worth finishing legit, I will.

[RugalSizzler]

Personally the question why bother. If the game can go on forever let it go on forever. A great example is PSO in the end is just one big virtual chat room.

If the game intrests me or not then I will only go back and play it fully.

[bazariah]

back in the nes days i used to buy a game then complete it and maybe complete it again.. but this was due to not realy having the funds when i was ten to continuesly buy games

when the psx came out and games generally got cheaper i started to buy more games than i could actually play thus i'd play some for a few minutes only to shelf them after.. some games however i'll play all the way through

most recent examples being kingdom hearts 2 and onimusha dawn of dreams

it's just that since getting older and having my own disposable income my money tends to go on games, and buying 3-7 games a time per week i find that i just generally dont get enough time to play them

plus having real world commitments too makes it all the more troublesome