Infinite Backlog gives you one place for your entire gaming collection and encourages you to play your games and get your backlogs under control. It provides a visual breakdown of your cross-platform collection, tracks gaming achievements and statistics and lets you connect with other gamers with the same games.
They are also in fediverse: @infinitebacklog@mstdn.games
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Interesting concept. Could be a useful service to people, could also just a means to analyse player habits for marketing and game design purposes.
Is anyone using this, and has it had any positive impact for you?
I can’t speak to this backlogging website specifically, it’s one among a fair number of somewhat similar offerings, but I’ve been using Backloggd for a couple years now.
What these apps/sites ultimately help with is getting your gaming library in check, if you also end up buying far too many games every time there’s a sale or if you want to keep track of your physical collection (although there are better sites for that).
Depending on the site’s focus, you might also get average completion times per game or user reviews.
I’ve actually found myself more interested in the “social” aspect of backloggd, eg user reviews (and making my own), ratings, user-made lists, because they’ve helped me discover games I wouldn’t have otherwise given a chance to or even heard about.
Seems cool, but isn’t this a bit similar to backloggd?
I have only 200something titles across my GOG and Steam libraries and I have played all of them and finished 90% at least.
I may be from another generation (I am in my 40s), but I don’t get the point of spending money on a title I don’t know if I will have ever time or interest to play.
Also, this feeds stale mechanics, since most titles are bought in bulk during sales that are usually centered around game categories.
I built a small python app to use howlongtobeat, steam data and isthereanydeal to select the best next title for me to play in terms of price per hour and (steamdb-style) rating.
I may be from another generation (I am in my 40s), but I don’t get the point of spending money on a title I don’t know if I will have ever time or interest to play.
The price isn’t static. If one buys during a sale then it’s available whenever one feels like playing. Much like stocking up on shirts during a sale at a clothes shop - clothing options are then available at home. Of course buying games one isn’t interested in would be strange behaviour but I don’t think anyone else is suggesting that’s normal behaviour.
Also, this feeds stale mechanics, since most titles are bought in bulk during sales that are usually centered around game categories.
Aren’t most sales seasonal?
On Steam there are category sales much more often (right now TPS Fest).
I buy at historical lows via Isthereanydeal any time of the year anyway.
And just like weight and fashion changes for shirts, I may change my schedule and interests not to fit games I bought years ago.
I know they exist (the sales by topics) but my emphasis was on “most”.
And just like weight and fashion changes for shirts, I may change my schedule and interests not to fit games I bought years ago.
Where one draws the line on min/maxing is deeply personal. I’m happy to take a risk that my tastes will remain close enough to justify the purchase, evidently you feel otherwise. Neither of us are wrong (other than you, obviously - we’re arguing on the internet so I need to be needlessly confrontational, it’s the law or some old charter or something).
I was mostly replying because I don’t think your way is wrong but I don’t think mine is either. I have at least a thousand games in my collection. Unless something really enticing is released that calls to me (rare) then I always have fresh experiences waiting in my library. It’s probably cost a few thousand pounds over nearly twenty years and I feel that’s a reasonable trade-off to have that facility.
It’s not the result of frivolous spending or poor impulse control. It’s a deliberate choice to min/max in a different direction. I too use IsThereAnyDeal and slowly hoover up titles that I’ve got my eye on. I rarely immediately play things I pick up!
Of course, I am not asserting any superiority. I am just a buy one-play one, indie-loving guy.
What mostly stops me from buying titles I don’t play directly is going through the list of all the other things I may need/want to buy with the same money.
Regarding the most, category/publisher sales are back-to-back in between the seasonal ones, so yes, I think they are most of them.
Fair enough - I’m only aware of the sales where things are discounted enough to trigger my IsThereAnyDeal notifications!
I may need/want to buy with the same money.
Most of my purchases are when the price is low enough to essentially be a rounding error in my spending. I’m rather stingey like that!
I built a small python app
Cool! Wanna share?
I am trying to give it a publicly acceptable form in Streamlit before sharing it. Bare with me, it is my first ever programming endeavour and I remained without a mentor half-way into it.
It’s a shame we can’t follow individuals around here, so please @ me whenever you do decide it’s ready to publish. I don’t want to miss it.
I will save your nick in a list.
I definitely am a victim of over purchasing during deep sales and building an insurmountable backlog, but there is also something kind of nice about having a library waiting to browse after each game just waiting to install.
Regardless though, what I really wanted to say was: I’m seconding interest in your Python app, that sounds very useful actually!
To me, it is. Just shy to share something definitely only half-done, when it is my first ever programming project.
get your backlogs under control
Why would I want to deplete my entertainment options?
That’s like attempting to watch everything on a streaming service. The goal would be to run out of novel entertainment, which seems antithetical to the point of the product.
That’s not really what’s implied in that statement. A better comparison, using your streaming service analogy, would be that you subscribed to Apple TV because you heard Severance was really good. However, one thing led to another, and now it’s months later, and you still haven’t watched Severance. So, instead of starting a new series (say, Ted Lasso) you queue up Severance instead.
It’s still not a great analogy, because the streaming service implies a real, ongoing cost to maintaining access to the service, which is not the case with most people’s game libraries. That being said, with Gamepass and GeForce Now etc, it’s not necessarily out of the question.
The purpose isn’t to “deplete entertainment options”, it’s to utilize the options you already have financial investment in before sinking more money into more options simply for their novelty.
The “point of the product” isn’t to provide theoretical novel entertainment value by sitting, unplayed, on my digital shelves. Bold take here, but I’d suggest the point of a video game is to be played.
