When you get older and learn that you have priorities and time means money (this cannot be more true), playing every game you are interested in becomes more irresponsible with every purchase. Same goes for multiple console buying. When you have a family and mortgage, money matters so you opt to own one console and buy a few games per year.

Nothing wrong with this at all, and to those who have multiple consoles and aren't old enough to grasp this concept, one day you will learn. Enjoy your situation while you can.

A comedian once said something like: I like to walk up to kids in candy stores and tell them, "I can buy EVERYTHING in this store and one day, you'll be able to, too....you just won't want to. Have a nice day."

That's how I feel about gaming, now. Used to think there was nothing in the world that I wanted more. They used to have contests where you could win video game consoles, a huge TV, and an great sound system in video game magazines. I'd think, if I could just win that "Super Nes and Neo Geo, I could die happy!" Funny how time changes things.

-edit- That's the contest.  You have no idea how many nights I dreamed of owning that setup!  As a kid, it was the gaming Holy Grail.  A 40 INCH TV? OH MY GOD!!

Same boat here haha.

I got like all three consoles from this gen and I have probably 150 games I havent even put in the console yet.

Steam is even worst with all the sales it has lol.

My goal atm is to pay of a house with my partner. Then I want to become a stay at home dad (assuming I have boys)

Then we can all kick back and play atari all the way to this gen for many years to come haha.

seemed appropriate.

Good that I only own a handheld and a home console. It feels good to have a almost non-existent backlog. All I have on top of my head is Hitman 2 and Thief 3.

This is so true and a huge problem in your adult life. You can afford so much but haven't got the time to enjoy anything as much as you would like.

Not only is work more demanding than school, but in adult life you usually have a partner that demands time, you have more social responsibilities (relatives and friends) and if you have children you can almost forget having any meaningul free time altogether.

This truly saddens me. I hate this stress and all the demands of adult life. I want to have my childhood freedom back.

You people who also have a serious partner and/or kids, how much are you allowed to play games on average?

I don't quite have this problem. I probably spend about 100 hours per month gaming. I buy new games infrequently (3-6 per year). I replay older games whenever I feel like it.

My current "backlog" is pretty thin and consists mostly of Virtual Console and retro games, along with a handful of eShop titles I haven't quite completed.

But you're right, I can't buy everything, and I don't want to. An important part of making adult decisions is knowing when you have to choose between two things -- recognizing that you can't say "both" in a particular instance. Resisting impulse purchases is very difficult, but it's necessary. I've made impulse purchases of games before, and I'm still learning to avoid them.

Same experience here. All the money in the world (well sort of) but no time due to a very busy professional life. But it shouldn't sadden you. Everyone is allowed time for hobbies and entertainment no matter what. In my case playing VGs is my hobby and entertainment. Hence, I do not watch TV anymore and rarely go to cinema.

Looking at the responses in the thread I realise why WiiUs limited supply of titles was never a problem for me whereas it is frustrating for everyone else. It's just the age difference...

I have a partner and a little son and I only play after the little boy went to sleep. So normally, from 9pm - 12pm. So that's three hours a day, but I don't play games every day. Sometimes, I rather watch a movie, read a book or something like that. Those three hours are all of my free time. I get up at 6 in the morning and then work until 1pm or so. (I work as a freelancer from home so that time varies). While working, I also look after my son and when I'm done that continues. My girlfriend is working so most of the time I'm alone with him. But he's just 9 months old, he's starting to go everywhere he's not supposed to so you really can't let him be on his own, not even for a minute. But I'm sure it will get better when he gets older. 

All in all, at the moment I don't have too much free time, but it's ok. Especially since I got a job where I can work as I want to, I don't have a boss, I don't have specific times and I don't need to get out of the house. I also don't need to work 8 hours every day, I rarely work longer than 6 hours. Just last month I had a client that payed really well (0.12 € per word, I'm a writer) [that would be around 36 € before tax just for this post, just to give you an idea] and so I didn't need to work for more than 2 hours a day and still had more than enough money on my hands. But with a full-time job, wife and kids, I can't imagine how you would have any free time aside from the days you don't need to work. 

But as my interests are changing, Gaming sure isn't as important anymore to me as it was in the 90s. That's why for the coming generation, I'm sticking to only one console (no, not that ONE :P) while I had all three of them last time. But I can't see that I'm quitting gaming anytime soon. I'm even looking forward to when my son is old enough to play with me. ^^

I'm trying to get that under control right now. I am not going to buy a Wii U until I finish my back log. Which sucks, because then I am going to have a huge list of Wii U games I will want to buy.

I am doing good on not buying anything new. The last game I bought was The Last Story and that was over a year ago.