This morning I got an email from Steam saying: “A game on your wishlist is on sale!” which only got me thinking.

First: I wanted to buy the game on sale.

Second: I already have a heaving backlog and super shouldn’t buy that game, sale or not.

Third: Wow. My backlog is really huge. I love games, so why are all those unplayed games unplayed?

I grew up in a time where getting a new game was a big deal. The entire time I had my NES, I believe I never had more than ten games for it, and I played each of those games a lot. I do remember renting games, sometimes multiple times (Shadowgate!) to supplement the ones I didn’t have and wished I could play.

In essence: I played what I had, and if I was fortunate enough to get a new game, it didn’t sit around. It got played immediately.

So when I saw the email from Steam, it only served as a reminder of the massive backlog I have going. There are titles that stand out as front runners, but I often feel daunted at starting a new game, especially if I know that particular game is deep (e.g. Elder Scrolls, Fallout) and will require a large chunk of time to “complete.”

So without further adieu, here are a few I’m hoping to get to sooner than later:

Alan Wake is the reason I wanted an Xbox 360. I got the 360 and this title for my birthday nearly a year ago, and I still have yet to play it. It looks to have everything I love in a game: atmosphere, story, and intriguing gameplay.

I have no excuse.

Fallout 3 is a game I’ve had for at least two years and is still untouched. I even went so far as to buy the game guide for the game of the year edition (I love game guides), and yet I have not played the game.

I have no excuse.

Fatal Frame is a series I have been super interested in for a very long time (since I saw a bit of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly being played on the original Xbox back in 2005), and yet I’ve not played more than the first ten minutes or so. Why? I can’t even say. I should probably be playing it right now and not writing this.

I have no excuse.

Silent Hill is another series I’ve been aching to play for a very long time. I played about 30 minutes of it, got killed by a pterodactyl, realized I needed to brush up on my tank control skills (ugh…Resident Evil…), and then just never went back to it. I loved the atmosphere, and I know I will be glad I played it. And yet…

I have no excuse.

After thinking about this, I counted just the games on disc I have that I haven’t played (nevermind the downloaded games, handheld games, mobile games, and pc games) and the total was…97.

97 games on disc that I have in my possession and have not yet played.

I have no excuse.

So I’m going to put my money where my mouth is (not literally, as that would be unsanitary), and start tackling this backlog.

Dead Rising 3, here I come! Ironically, it wasn’t one of the ones I listed above. But I’m really looking forward to playing a game on the Xbox One.

Cheers to all my fellow weekend warriors out there!