I wanted to share my experience of the gaming world over the past several years and see what other people have gone through.

Getting into gaming when I was a young child, the first console I owned (aside from a pocket game boy) was an N64.  I was probably about 10 or 12.

As I got older, I lacked the disposable income to purchase new consoles, or new games at anything like the rate I would have liked.  My parents were not at all disposed towards purchasing any console from the 6th generation of games.  That said, being a primary and then high school student, I had abundant time to play all the games I did have to their completion multiple times.

As I moved into university my available funds had begun to expand as I worked more and more.  I still had substantial time available to play games whilst I was studying.  In 2006 my parents agreed to go halves on the purchase of an Xbox 360 (for around $AU700) so that my brother would have equal access to it.  At the time, it was the only 7th generation console available in Australia.  For about two years I enjoyed a golden age of gaming.  My father purchased what was at the time a decent HD television, and in six months I had gone from playing an N64 on a 24 inch SD screen to playing an Xbox 360 on a 32 inch HD screen.

As I moved on towards full time work and out of uni, my gaming time was cut substantially.  I have now been working full time for three years.  My disposable income has increased dramatically.  Whilst I have no intention of spending money for something I will never use, I can now afford all consoles I wish, routinely game on a mid-range PC, have (over the last three years) purchased a PS3, Wii and PS2, DS (two of them), and a couple of months ago bought a stunning LG 47 inch television.

The problem is...I figure I have a gaming backlog of 500 hours+.  That does not assume completionism, just defeating the main story lines of every game I already own but have not played, and a decent amount of time playing non story line games I own (like Civ V expansions).  The rate of game releases is outpacing the time I have available to catch up on games, so this backlog is increasing.

In a few months I will likely look to purchase a next generation system.  Due to its more impressive games line-up I will likely go with an Xbox ONE, though as money is no longer the concern, I intend to purchase both headline systems over the medium term (I am still unsure about a Wii U, which will almost entirely come down to the awesomeness or otherwise of the next Zelda).  In October I will also have to purchase a 3DS to play Pokemon X&Y.

The difficulty I face is in whether all of these purchases will actually be of any utility to me.  Titanfall looks amazing, but will I get to spend any time playing it?  The eventual Uncharted 4 and Gears 4 both hold enormous allure, but will I have time to play all the great XONE and PS4 games that will release between now and then?

Has anyone else experienced this awkward phenomenon whereby just as one overcomes their youthful lack of income and reaches independance in their ability to purchase games and systems almost at will, they loose the ability to play those games and systems due to work and their more adult personal life?  Anyone have other experiences to share? 

i felt like that. then i became a game developer.

Why do feel the need to play every title in existence? I'm 33 and live alone,but I work graveyard shift and sleep during the day,So I can only game for a certain amount of time during the week. I mostly game during my days off,but it's very selective. I got all these bills to pay,so I can't really afford to buy a bunch of games. I just have a ps3 and only have the last of us. I already beat it. I'm getting gtav and that's pretty much if for the year. I like to buy a psn game here and there. The point is you just have to be selective in the games you play,if you don't have the time to play everything. Sure,I wish I could play more games and had more time to do it,but sometimes it's just not possible and you have to pass on certain games,for that reason.

Sure. It's called steam.

Don't even know how many hours of unplayed games i have... but it's quite a bit.

Yeah I have. About 3-4 years ago I was in the same boat. The problem with me is that it didn't end there...

Sure I started cutting corners and skipping games that I wanted to play due to time restrictions, but I still managed to play the bare minimum of the new and upcoming titles to feel that I was actively "gaming" and could fit in with other gamer folk.

The next step for me was seeing games and franchises that I used to like very much suddenly become not that much fun. I couldn't really tell why but I was only enjoying 50% of the games I was playing...then a year later it was 25%.

Finally, around 6 months ago I have started experiencing actual stress and pain when gaming. Gaming for more than 15-30 minutes strains my eyes, and tends to give me a headache. If you add up all the time spent playing Halo games, I must have played them close to 1 years worth of my life...and I loved every minute of it. But I do not find Halo deathmatches enjoyable anymore, but rather very stressful. Scary stuff.

I do still find time to game and play some of the new titles as well as a shitload of smartphone "casual" games which are great fun...but it has to be quick. In and out...No more 3+ hours of binging on Street fighter multiplayer or beating AAA games in 1 sitting.

So the best time to play games is before you get a full time job.

I think you should delay your purchase of any new games or consoles and try to clear your games backlog first.

Sorry, I should have been clear. I only play, or intend to play, pretty stellar games.  But there are a lot of them...Steam doesn't help.

Yeah I am trying to convince myself to do that.  The worst that can happen is the new consoles come down in price.

That is an EPIC link, what a great tool!