Just the other day I was talking to a coworker who was complaining about the huge PS3 backlog he has. Over the years it seems he bought pretty much all exclusives and third party games he could, only to keep them on a shelf. So when I asked him, why would you buy a game, if you know you are not going to play it? He only responded, well hype and some games are truly awesome experiences I would miss otherwise...

 That answer got my attention and brings me to a couple of questions...

Why do people buy games just not to play them?

I have a very small backlog, I have yet to beat fire emblem awakening and paper mario, but that's probably it. I have a lot of games and of course I like buying every amazing new games coming to my console of choice (WiiU and 3ds atm) but I always refrain from buying games unless I know I can dedicate the time beat it and have fun with it.

And the last bolded part brings me another question?

 With people buying so many games, are you really having fun with them?

Some people will disagree on this point with me, but one of the things I like from nintendo games is that there is usually a lot of replay value. Playing a game just to beat the final boss is not my idea of enjoying a game. Replay value is one the things I appreciate the most when it comes to games, hence why mario kart and smash are insta buys for me. Getting all your pokemons to level 100, trying to collect all the colectibles on DK or banjo, trying to get all the endings from chrono trigger, trying to beat pikmin without losing a single pikmin, getting all the supports on a fire emblem games... That's what beating a game means to me, taking the time to appreciate the game, with its flaws and all, but taking the time to play it and enjoy what I paid for. I admit though that not everybody has the patience, the time or simply they just do not care, but then again why would anyone buy a game if it is only going to be played twice or less? Why would you spent your money on something that you are not going to use or have fun with?

 **yeah, I know everybody is free to spend their well-earned money as they please, but hey I believe this make a bit of sense, no?**

If I see a good game for cheap I can't stop myself from buying it, I know I won't be able to play it right away, but I will play it eventually.  

Work, Family, Sex these impedes my gaming life and money.

Well, I'm one of those people that buys a game, and may take a LONG time to play it. Why do I buy it? Cause it is a great deal (I generally get some pretty sick Black Friday deals, for instance). I have some games I have bought a couple years ago and still haven't touched. I have, however, gotten considerably better, and as such, have considerably lowered the number of games.

Some of them that I bought I wound up playing and realized not long after that they simply weren't for me (For instance, I was only able to get through about half of LA Noire before I realized I couldn't stand it).

In all reality though, I do the exact same thing with books. I have enough books to last me a considerable amount of time (despite the fact that lately I really haven't even read that much). Despite that, I will still go out and buy other books. So why would I do that? Well, an example would be with the new Dan Brown book. If I were to go out and buy that today, I would probably finish it in 3 days. It is simply a temporary break from the other books I'm reading.

As far as my gaming time goes, it's gone down a lot with school and work. I continue to buy games since I sometimes squeeze some gaming time in weekends or in late afternoons. If I didn't have a selection to choose from then I'd have one awful time.

I did take this summer off though, and I put a serious dent on my backlog. Most of my retro/classics I wont get to, but that's okay because I'm a collector.

I usually dont have a backlog, for the most part ill play a game 1-2 times and sell it. This allows me to focus on one game at a time and helps me pay for the next game. Recently tho I subscribed to PS+ and I havent been able to keep up with all the free games so now I have about 20 games on my PS3 I havent even started.

Because I buy too many games new on sale on Amazon... The main reason is because I attach myself to games that go on forever... MH3U, Animal Crossing, Civilization 5.... That is what I am mainly playing right now. Those games don't really have an end game or it takes forever to get to it. Before that I played Diablo series, Starcraft 1, WoW, PSO (GC), etc...

As you can see I keep buying games but I attach myself to games that take forever to end or never end.

You don't even want to know how many games I own that I haven't even touched...  Not a problem though for me because eventually I'll get around to playing them.  I used to be a sport card collecter and a few other things.  I enjoy collecting and I enjoy collecting video games the most because even if I didn't play it there is the ability to play it.  Free time (working too much, hanging out with friend) is my main problem now along with playing games that take forever.

I have a large backlog cause I am going to university and the only time I get off I usually spend with friends and what not... However I buy games cause

a) they are on sale b) Limited Edition versions

For example... I bought tales of Xillia not too long about from ebgames but I only played it for an hour since it got released soo close to the start of this semester... However at least I got the artbook and OST

Life gets in the way. For example I bought killzone:mercenary at launch but do to some pretty stupid stuff I probably won't get to play for weeks.

I think Malstrom nailed it when he said most hardcore gamers just like to buy a ton of games, without the intention of necessarilly playing them. Or at least not for awhile. The reason being is the sheer hype they are succumed to be the games industry and the need to collect.. I think a lot of times these people buy games without TRULY wanting to play them, or at least not as much as they thought they would when they first ran out and bought it.

I know because I use to be like this. A lot of times I would just buy a game for the sake of buying it, stock it on the shelf and realize I'm not too crazy about playing it. I finally realized I should probably quit buying games I will play for 10-20 hours and then either gather dust on a shelf or sell back for half the price. Since then I've cut back immensely on my game purchases and saved a ton of money while doing so. And I still have more than enough games to play anyway.