My delima (copy pasted from another forum I visit)

[soera]

All right, I have a backlog longer than Jenna Jameson's porn list and really need to get it knocked down some. Im sick of being the collector and really want to be the gamer. Here are the games I played and beat since 2013 started :

NES : Metroid, Trojan, Rygar, Bionic Commando, Dragon warrior
PS1 : FF VI
PS3 : Ni no Kuni, God of War ghost of Sparta
GBA : Dragon Quest caravan heart (started earlier than the new year but it was close enough!)

Ive started lately but not finished : Tron Bonne, God of War Ascension, Suikoden II, DW VII (This one I have finished before though), Faria, Torneko the last hope, Super mario RPG

Games I want to play through again : DQ VIII, FF VII, Super metroid, Link to the past, Phantasy Star, Ys books I&II, Golvellius

My other games Ive left to play and really want to are : Tales of Destiny 1&2, Ys IV, GC Zelda series, Kid Icarus GB, Radiant historia, FF III, FF XII, Magna Carta, Brave fence Musashi, Persona series, Crusader of Centy, Golden Axe warrior, Ultima IV SMS (I have played and beaten Quest of the Avatar on NES however), Tecmo secret of the stars.

There are other games in my list I havent played either but these are the ones that are speaking to me right now!!!

[turf]

All the games you don't want to play, send to me.  If you're done with Bubble Bobble 2, send it to me.  If you're done with Snow Bros., send it to me.  See how this works?  We can narrow down your backlog by just giving me your games that you don't have interest in playing.  Problem Solved

[soera]

If my wife found out I sent two of her three favorite NES titles to someone else, she would send me with them.

[turf]

Hey, I just offered to take the games.  I'm not really ready for a relationship.

[disgaeniac]

Im sick of being the collector and really want to be the gamer.

- I can *totally*, 100% agree with this statement & sentiment - I was feeling/going through the same exact thing/feeling not so long ago

PS1 : FF VI

- Never played this -but- I've been curious about it; would love to hear other's thoughts & opinions on it!

Tron Bonne, Suikoden II, DW VII (This one I have finished before though), Torneko the last hope

- Same as FF VI.  I haven't played any of these yet (but, have *wanted* to play all of 'em); most specifically would like to hear about Torneko, DW VII, and Suikoden 2...as I already have all of those - haven't yet been as lucky as Soera in finding/getting.buying Tron Bonne yet

Games I want to play through again : DQ VIII, FF VII

- I *LOVED* (all of the MANY hours) that I spent playing DQ VIII; 'twas awesome-ness 

- FF VII = Well, while I'd never say that I hated it or that it's a "bad" game...I do think that (IMHO), it's quite over-rated.

My other games Ive left to play and really want to are : Tales of Destiny 1&2, Radiant historia, FF III, FF XII, Magna Carta, Brave fence Musashi, Persona series

- Out of these, I've only played FF XII, Persona 3 FES, and Persona 4...again...I'd love to hear whatever the rest of you guys thought of these games...

TL;DR = I've got just about the same backlog "problems" as you do, Soera 

[scott]

I think it's the same for a lot of us. We have tons of games, but don't have time to play a lot of them.

I know I'd love to play more than I have been able to but it's not the days of Summer vacations and not having to work anymore. So, I keep picking up games I know I'll want to play eventually.

[soera]

I think in my mind the game I want to play the most right now is Super metroid. Its not horribly long but super awesome. After that, Im going to indulge myself in some DQVIII (hopefully with at least one family member to enjoy it with me). Then its going to be on to Tron Bonne to really get a serious play-through Ive been longing for. After that, Im going to pick off the games Ive yet to play one by one. I think if I play too many games Ive already beaten, Ill end up adding more to my backlog than ever before. DQVIII however is something that every person needs to experience multiple times as well as Super metroid.

[ko1ru]

I think it's the same for a lot of us. We have tons of games, but don't have time to play a lot of them.

So very true.   

[jcalder8]

I know turf was joking but that really is the best way to get through your backlog. If you are determined to have to finish each game you own then you should look at narrowing down your collection to what you will want to play. Right now I am going through and trying to play at least 30 minutes of each game that I own and I am looking at 1285 hours or 53.5 days straight of gaming and I won't finish any of the games but I will be happy just to say that I have played them all.

It is a personal choice of what you want from your collection but if you want to say you have played and beaten them all you really need to think about if that is practical.

[turf]

I'm not playing 30 min of some of the trash I have. A half hour with Color a Dinosaur?  No thank you.

 I've thought the same thing. I just don't have time to play everything I buy. My buying has slowed down a ton, but my backlog is longer than... Well I was going to make a Ron Jeremy reference to match the Jenna Jameson one.

Seriously though, I'll take anyone's runoff. 

[soera]

Oh believe me, I know about that. There are probably only a dozen NES titles left I have that I would spend any time delving into. Most of the rest of my collection is very narrow (maybe 50 PS1 games, every other system is under 20) so its mainly stuff I want to own. A lot of them I have actually played and finished. I do have the time to do it (when I make it which is tough while dealing with my kids) but I have to have a focus.

[sin2beta]

Oh, the classic "John Lindemann syndrome".

The way I was able to fix my backlog problem was to focus my collection. I grew up a Nintendo kid and had collected all kinds of stuff. But the stuff became clutter. I then started watching some collectors who only focus on one thing. They seemed to have more fun than anybody (unless if the went complete in box, these people almost invariably went crazy and sold everything). The focused collectors also began getting more involved with a blog video series etc (Pat the NES Punk, NinjaBearHug, Adam Koralik are all examples). This helps ensure that you play everything. I did this a year ago and have never been happier with my collecting and game playing time. I actually play the games and delve a lot deeper.

[darko]

Ive started lately but not finished : Tron Bonne, God of War Ascension, Suikoden II, DW VII (This one I have finished before though), Faria, Torneko the last hope, Super mario RPG

Games I want to play through again : DQ VIII, FF VII, Super metroid, Link to the past, Phantasy Star, Ys books I&II, Golvellius

My other games Ive left to play and really want to are : Tales of Destiny 1&2, Ys IV, GC Zelda series, Kid Icarus GB, Radiant historia, FF III, FF XII, Magna Carta, Brave fence Musashi, Persona series, Crusader of Centy, Golden Axe warrior, Ultima IV SMS (I have played and beaten Quest of the Avatar on NES however), Tecmo secret of the stars.

Here are the games that you need to play IMO:

LoZ: Windwaker
GoW Ascension (I mean, it can't take that long...like a few days??)
FF III
FF XII
Radiant Historia
Golden Axe Warrior
SMT: Nocturne (Over Persona, because I know you - if you are set on a Persona I would recommend 4 over 3 to you).

After you finish them:

Kid Icarus
Tales of Destiny
Tron Bonne
Suikoden II
Super Mario RPG

I would only worry about the rest after you get through these. The lists aren't in any order beyond the categories.

[kingrat101]

Golden Axe warrior is great! Play that first, its a little difficult but any seasoned Zelda fan can beat it easily within a couple hours.
Super Mario RPG is also fantastic

[soera]

Well, heh after seeing the new pretty limited set for SMT, I think Im to knock some games off my list waiting for that to come out.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.