Current Events > How often are you looking forward to an upcoming game?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I was thinking lately about how having another new game on the horizon can affect the one you're currently playing.
Playing a new with the knowledge there's another one you're interested in coming soon seems pretty different from buying a new game and having to hope it'll last an unclear amount of time until something else comes up.

Is this something you ever take notice of?
And have you had a consistent stream of upcoming games to look forward to?
The closest thing I have is a short list that may as well be titled "Oh uh I guess that sorta kinda could be good... maybe."

Almost never. The last time I was really excited for a new game was Shin Megami Tensei V. And before that, it was Persona 5.

I'm often looking forward to Silksong.

It's funny, I still really look forward to games despite having almost no time to play them. Had my first daughter in 2018 and second in 2020 and all my free time is spent with them. The only time I have time for myself is from their bed time (about 21:00) till midnight or shortly after, so like 3-4 hours a day if I'm disciplined about it.

Like two or three times a year anymore. More often than not, i'm surprised with something cool on game pass.

Not really, especially when I look over and see games I bought 2 years ago with the plastic still on them. Last year took a real number on me with Elden Ring and every time I went to start something else, I'd go right back a week later.

Doing a bit better now. Finished Hellblade, Fallen Order, Drakengard 3, FF7R, and New Vegas over the past few months. Finally put in Cyberpunk and have about 30 hours on my save and just started the 2nd act.

Blizzard's won me over with Diablo IV, and Starfield is a given. Before that was Elden Ring, and before that: Cyberpunk 2077.

I don't preorder games though. So every now and again I get that "I can't wait!" feeling.

winged_weltall posted...

It's funny, I still really look forward to games despite having almost no time to play them. Had my first daughter in 2018 and second in 2020 and all my free time is spent with them. The only time I have time for myself is from their bed time (about 21:00) till midnight or shortly after, so like 3-4 hours a day if I'm disciplined about it.

This makes sense to me.
If you divide it up it'll last longer, more time between play sessions give you more time to mentally dissect and appreciate what you've played. Shorter bursts mitigates the chance of becoming fatigued.
Maybe you'd occasionally wish you had more time to play but it sounds like it'd make it more difficult to be become jaded on the whole.
loafy013 posted...

Not really, especially when I look over and see games I bought 2 years ago with the plastic still on them. Last year took a real number on me with Elden Ring and every time I went to start something else, I'd go right back a week later.

This sounds like an issue on paper but isn't this the ideal situation to be in?
A game you enjoy so much the other games have to form a queue and petition to eventually be played?
Provided the other games are ones you're actually excited about and not just games you figured you'd try because they were cheap or got good reviews.

A game you want coming out soon and another game you're currently enjoying making the wait fly by sounds pretty good to me.

i guess i look forward to minecraft updates somewhat.

I'm kind of amazed in hindsight that this was such a normal thing around 6th gen. Good games one after another. You play one, it's pretty great, time flies, sooner than later there's another good game, repeat until the torturous wait for SSBB followed by it being kinda great, don't hate it, good enough, eh.

Now these take so long to come out and they really milk their pre-release period. I'm seeing people talking up Cyberpunk and Elden Ring which took over 9000 years to finally come out.
That's great and all but do you ever get a rapid fire line-up of new releases to jump between nowadays? Something you're actually excited about every other month?

Kombucha posted...

i guess i look forward to minecraft updates somewhat.

This is a different thing.
You don't have another game coming along to compliment your current game. Your current game is being replaced with the next version of itself.
And patches can even ruin games.
For a while I was wondering if people sticking with one game had the right idea all along, but watching WoW come apart at the seams told me they didn't.

There's not much I really super look forward to with hype and the need to play it asap anymore. I'm not sure if it's because my priorities have shifted, if I've become more cynical, or just the way games are these days.

In general, there's very little I buy day of release. I tend to be a bit more stingy with my money. Where as a young adult I'd see a game on a shelf that maybe looked kinda good and I'd drop $60 on a whim, nowadays I'm content to let it sit, watch a stream or let news trickle out to understand more. And even if I decide I want it, normally I'm fine waiting to catch it on sale for what feels like an appropriate price.

Another aspect of it is that I already have a massive backlog of things I already own and want to play at some point. So if I'm in a new game lull, it's easy to just dig in the pile for something I've got lying around. It will last me years.

And lastly, I just don't hype easily anymore. I've become wise to the industry's tricks and jaded on a lot of the things they want to push. I'm lucky to get two things in a year I'm confident and enthusiastic enough to buy on release.

The only game scheduled for this year that I definitely want to grab at release is Armored Core. In contrast, Resident Evil 4 has gone on the "wait for a sale" pile, and it's likely that Street Fighter 6 and Final Fantasy XVI will get dumped there too. Silksong has no final confirmation it will be out this year. I have zero confidence in Star Field thanks to Bethesda, and I'm not touching ActiBlizz with a ten foot pole.

Currently looking forward to nothing new just waiting on DLC for games I already have

Not for a while, I've stopped playing new games aside from PC indie games. For console (Xbox One) I'm generally playing games a few years after they release.

Weirdly what I've been looking forward to most recently is a soon-to-be released mod for the free PC game Pocket Crystal League (Pokemon+Inscryption)

Dalthine posted...

Another aspect of it is that I already have a massive backlog of things I already own and want to play at some point. So if I'm in a new game lull, it's easy to just dig in the pile for something I've got lying around. It will last me years.

This'll fill time but is it practical? You need a game so you rummage through a pile of games you bought ages ago, pick one out and hope it's good? I'm very picky about what I want to play at this point so I really can't imagine buying now and hopefully being interested later.
Dalthine posted...

And lastly, I just don't hype easily anymore. I've become wise to the industry's tricks and jaded on a lot of the things they want to push. I'm lucky to get two things in a year I'm confident and enthusiastic enough to buy on release.

Oh this sounds familiar.
You know people are always going to bat for indie games when topics like this come up but so far I've only seen a couple of Hollow Knight mentions.

tremain07 posted...

Currently looking forward to nothing new just waiting on DLC for games I already have

It probably sounds a bit cynical but sometimes I wish they'd dig up some older games and make new expansions for them. Like Postal 2 did in 2015.
A 'second quest' for Dead Rising 1 where they make some new stuff and reuse lots of assets, Majora's Mask style. Stuff like that.
Nowadays I definitely get wanting more of a game you already like instead of wanting to chance it on a sequel.

Maybe once per year?

I just dont think Im as into games as I used to be. Lots of other stuff to care about.

Joelypoely posted...

Not for a while, I've stopped playing new games aside from PC indie games. For console (Xbox One) I'm generally playing games a few years after they release.

Weirdly what I've been looking forward to most recently is a soon-to-be released mod for the free PC game Pocket Crystal League (Pokemon+Inscryption)

Also not weird.
-Snaps on the end of a game you already like
-Free and hopefully also not trying to trick you with in-game purchases
-User created so could be pretty zany
-Coming soon

As for the PC indie games, I'm guessing they don't come straight to you, you actually have to go digging and research each game more since the company making it likely doesn't have a long track record? I have no idea where indie games are being discovered or how they're spreading.

ViewtifulJoe posted...

As for the PC indie games, I'm guessing they don't come straight to you, you actually have to go digging and research each game more since the company making it likely doesn't have a long track record? I have no idea where indie games are being discovered or how they're spreading.

Generally I'll come across them through YouTube or Twitch streamers (e.g. Vinesauce). That's how I discovered Inscryption, Peglin, Slice & Dice, Pocket Crystal League. Twitch communities are generally pretty good at discovering and spreading interesting looking games.

ViewtifulJoe posted...

This'll fill time but is it practical? You need a game so you rummage through a pile of games you bought ages ago, pick one out and hope it's good? I'm very picky about what I want to play at this point so I really can't imagine buying now and hopefully being interested later.

It's no different from the situation with a new game. You're never going to know 100% that you like something until you play it. My backlog is mostly either stuff from on sale or things I picked up when I was already busy with something and just forgot about when I was free again.

The nice thing is that I have a good spread of genres so I can pick out what's fitting my mood.

Oh this sounds familiar.
You know people are always going to bat for indie games when topics like this come up but so far I've only seen a couple of Hollow Knight mentions.

Indie games are hard to look forward to because it's a struggle to find out about them before release. You're not going to know you'll like one unless they had a solid prior release, like Hollow Knight into Silksong or Hades into 2.

I play plenty of indie games, but I don't find out about them until after they're out. Was playing Oxygen Not Included over the weekend for example. That game's like four years old, but a random YouTube video I saw was what prompted me to give it a shot.

Only 1-2 games a year.

Whenever FROM does something.