What’s the longest a game has stayed in your backlog?

[SpotAnime]

Shenmue I and II, I think.

I started Shenmue when it was released back in 1999, but didn't complete it until 2005 or so when I went back to it.

I bought Shenmue II for the Dreamcast while on a business trip in Scotland back in December 2001. After I finished Shenmue I bought a serial adapter for my DC VMU, converted my completed save with a hex editor so it could be compatible with the PAL Shenmue II version. Started that in 2005, then shelved it. Then when I got series with my backlog, around 2014, I picked Shenmue II back up and finished it. So for the two games, 15 years. 9 years between start and finish for Shenmue II alone.

It was all worth it in the end...

 

[Matty H]

I don't think I ever beat Super Mario Bros, but I suppose that kinda left my backlog when I traded in the NES for a Mega Drive. I've played world 1-1 a couple times in the intervening years but never attempted to beat the whole game.

 

[nano]

Do you have to have started it first?
I have had the original Half Life in my list since the GOTY collection released, and have played it, but the expansions I've barely touched.
I've never loaded up Blue Shift, despite still meaning to all this time. I don't even know if it's worth it....

Click to shrink...

Opposing Force is definitely worth it. Blue Shift is kinda avarage, but it's still more-of-the-same Half-Life and pretty short.

 

[Mechaplum]

Janes US Navy fighters 97, still have yet to beat the marines Kuril island campaign. So about 22 years.

 

[Stronginthearm]

I really got into gaming in 2006, so I ave a bunch of games from 2006 and 2007 that I haven't really played or beaten. I've had Tales of Vesperia for the 360 for almost 9 years and never even started it.

 

[Amalthea]

Pokemon Blue, I actually finished the Pokedex yesterday evening, a few months short of its 20th anniversary here in Europe (Sept 99 Iirc).

 

[tatwo]

Bought Half-life Blue shift from first Steam sale. I still have intention to play it some day.

 

[tolkir]

I haven't beaten a few NES games that I have from 25 years ago (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Gauntlet II and R.C. Pro-Am). I completed finally Blue Shadow recently.

First game without play anything is Eternal Darkness.
I bought an used Gamecube on 2005 with a few games. I was so busy playing Wind Waker, Mario Party 5, Mario Kart Double Dash and Mario Sunshine that I forgot that I have it.

 

[Irrotational]

I played a lot of a digger game on my spectrum 48k that I'd like to revisit and try and finish, but I've never been able to find the name. That would have been 32 years ago roughly.

From the Amiga era, the two games id like to try and finish are cannon fodder and flashback. They're from 25 years ago.

War has never been so much fun!

 

[Strafer]

Final Fantasy 7 since 2006.

 

[AKingNamedPaul]

first game I ever played was super mario bros, so my earliest memory technically is of a game in my backlog.

 

[TubaZef]

I got Borderlands at launch, back in 2009, played 3 hours with friends at work and never played it again.... the fact that it depends on other people doesn't help much.

 

[StreamedHams]

It's not that old, but I've just bought The Witcher 3 for the third time (this time on PC for a steal at $15), and really want to make it work. With my upgraded machine, it runs like a dream (better than the 1X) and I think that will hold me through this time.

 

[DrLight66]

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare for the Dreamcast. Been in my backlog for 17 years and every time i think about playing it some other game preoccupies me and soon after i completely forget about it. I heard it's actually really good too.

 

[Spyware]

I didn't have many games as a teen so I beat most of the stuff I had back then. When my SO came into my life 12 years ago he brought with him so many games! Some of them took until the last couple of years to get to. First I thought it had to be one of those, but there is actually still one single game that I bought before I met him that I have not played - Yakuza.

Yakuza will have its 13th backlog anniversary this year. Every year I say "THIS is the year I play Yakuza" but it never happens. I dunno why. I really think it looks good. There are just too many games.

 

[dose]

I still have some Spectrum games that are in my backlog, so about 35 years.

 

[Deleted member 43657]

I really got into gaming in 2006, so I ave a bunch of games from 2006 and 2007 that I haven't really played or beaten. I've had Tales of Vesperia for the 360 for almost 9 years and never even started it.

Click to shrink...

I'm playing through Vesperia right now via the Switch version and I'm trying to barrel through it only because I know if I stop playing, I may stop for too long.

Something about that game makes it hard to carry forward. It hasn't captured me in the same way as other JRPGs have.

 

[oni-link]

probably about 3 years. I picked up FFT and Vagrant Story on Vita in 2016 and haven't started them yet (both are pretty intimidating)

i dont keep track of games i play all that much

i think i still wanna beat Terranigma eventually

Click to shrink...

I beat Terranigma last year, you should def get around to it

Great game

 

[THErest]

Batman (NES version).

I've had that game for about 28 years. Still want to sit down and beat it someday.

Meantime I'm just chillin here, waiting for my collective backlog to achieve sentience and demand that I worship it.

 

[Tavernade]

I still haven't beaten 2/3rds of the three games I got with my Game Boy Pocket back in 1996:

Tiny Toons Montana's Movie Madness
Star Wars
Dr. Wily's Revenge

I beat Mega Man on it's 3DS rerelease.

 

[Son of Sparda]

SMT Nocturne....

Yeah I don't think I'll ever go back to that game and beat it.

 

[StereoVSN]

I have some SNES, PS1 and old PC games (90s) in my backlog. So nothing exact but over 25 years.

 

[Flevance]

Psychonauts.. bought it back in 2012/13 and lost my interest in it along the way

 

[Dezzy8]

I have both Kingdom Hearts 2 and final fantasy XIII-2 sealed, bought on launch day, and will likely never end up opening them.

Click to shrink...

That's crazy because you probably will never need to open them with the rereleases.

 

[Deleted member 4262]

Probably Legend of Dragoon or some ps2 shit

 

[Clickypen Champion]

i dont keep track of games i play all that much

i think i still wanna beat Terranigma eventually

Click to shrink...

I didn't expect Terranigma second post, Nice!

Terranigma is mine. Started it in like 2002

 

[Zafir]

Difficult to say really I've got a very large backlog that has spanned multiple console generations at this point. :P

I imported Suikoden 3(no UK release) a long time ago and while I've gotten really really far in it, and even restarted it and picked it up and played it again for a bit, I've still not finished it. I really want to though, it's just finding the time to slot in a longer game.

I finally finished Kingdom Hearts 2 with the impending release of 3 the other week. I've had that on PS2 for a long long time, since its launch probably and while I played it quite a bit I just didn't finish it for whatever reason. The version I finished was the new PS4 Final Mix version but it kind of still counts I guess.

 

[Oinone]

Morrowind for me.
I'm not into RPGs, but when it came out, the boys from my beloved gaming show Giga Games celebrated it so much, I couldn't get not hyped and bought it. Problem was, that I didn't have a PC which could run it. When I finally had access to a new one, I always told me: Next vacation, I'm going to start it. I need free time for it.
It still lies untouched in my shelf. Sometimes we look at each other and we both know, it is never going to happen. We missed the right point.
Maybe it was never meant to be.

 

[Deleted member 43657]

A close second for me would be Zelda II. I did technically own it as a kid, obviously never beat it because it's virtually impossible.

It wasn't until the Zelda GameCube collection that I forced myself to finish it. I guess that would be somewhere in the ballpark of 14 years or so.

 

[Maximum Spider]

I don't know why I haven't played Metal Gear Rising: Revengence. It's litterally one of my dream games come to life and for whatever reason I still haven't touched it. It's backwards compatible with my X1 now, so I really don't have any excuses.

 

[Deleted member 43657]

I don't know why I haven't played Metal Gear Rising: Revengence. It's litterally one of my dream games come to life and for whatever reason I still haven't touched it. It's backwards compatible with my X1 now, so I really don't have any excuses.

Click to shrink...

Oh, you reminded me! Another one for me is MGS3. I'm still working on it. I stopped and restarted so many times because I just can't get used to playing without the radar. I feel like it's impossible.

 

[Podge293]

When did bioshock infinite come out? That long

 

[Maximum Spider]

Oh, you reminded me! Another one for me is MGS3. I'm still working on it. I stopped and restarted so many times because I just can't get used to playing without the radar. I feel like it's impossible.

Click to shrink...

I actually had the same response initially. Thankfully, you'll find some items early on to helming you locate your enemies. I was scared that i'd use it up too fast and that the noise it emits would give me away to easily. Luckily neither of those is a very big issue and I learned to adapt pretty quickly. You'll find multiple "radars" throughout the game so you don't have worry about using it up too fast.

MGS3 is one of my all-time favorite games and it might be the best end-to-end experience i've ever had playing a game. It completely engrossed me.

 

[Driggonny]

I've had Skyward Sword since launch yearish. Played through most of the game at the time, but got annoyed and quit at one point. It's been on my shelf ever since and I 100% plan to beat it one day. I'd probably start over at this point though.

 

[Continental 0p]

There's a handful of PS1 games from my childhood that I'll never finish (or ever play again since most if not all are licensed trash). I'm 23 now, so I've had these for around 15 years at least.
In terms of games I actually intend to play though, it's the Metal Gear Solid series which I first tried to play some of in 2014. I bounced near immediately at the time due to not liking stealth games at all, but I want to try again at some point. I've expanded my library so much in the years since though that I think my backlog is insurmountable already.

 

[Garlador]

Final Fantasy Tactics from 1997.

I keep TRYING and FAILING to get far in it.

 

[Cathcart]

The Witcher 1

Click to shrink...

A game that belongs in a backlog if there ever was one.

 

[Deleted member 43657]

I actually had the same response initially. Thankfully, you'll find some items early on to helming you locate your enemies. I was scared that i'd use it up too fast and that the noise it emits would give me away to easily. Luckily neither of those is a very big issue and I learned to adapt pretty quickly. You'll find multiple "radars" throughout the game so you don't have worry about using it up too fast.

MGS3 is one of my all-time favorite games and it might be the best end-to-end experience i've ever had playing a game. It completely engrossed me.

Click to shrink...

I find this reassuring, thanks.

This game is just so darn difficult for me, and I promise I'm not terrible at video games. I played MGS on PS1 multiple times, MGS2 on PS2 and had no problem, and I can even speed run Twin Snakes on a higher difficulty level, but I just can't clear screens consistently without getting spotted in MGS3. I play on normal because I refuse to bump down the difficulty, and I'm gonna trudge forward and finish it. People say it's one of the best games in the series (if not THE best), and somehow I haven't had the game spoiled for me at all.

 

[Golden Boy]

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Got it on the 6th of December 2004 as a nine year-old boy. Never could figure out how to progress after The Great Bogly Tree and just decided to come back to it at a later date. Over 10 years later, in January 2015, I finally beat the game and it instantly became one of my favorites if not my favorite game of all time!

Other examples are Super Mario RPG: Legends of the Seven Stars (9 years), Pure (8 years) and Guacamelee! (5 years).

 

[jroc74]

MGS 3 or FFX, both when they launched.

Hell, I haven't beat GTA San Andreas yet. Also when it launched.

Checking the dates...2001.

Just realized, PS1 games.... Legacy of Kain games are still in my backlog, lol.

 

[baberunisei]

24,5 years and still counting. It is Wonder Boy in Monster World for the Genesis

 

[jroc74]

If we going back....Raiders of the Lost Ark
And E.T., Atari 2600...lol.

 

[Deleted member 17210]

I still have the same copy of Feud for Commodore 64 I bought at K-Mart in 1988. I just never get around to revisiting it but still intend to.

 

[cdm00]

OOT 3D was a Christmas gift in 2011 and I beat it January 2018 after multiple restarts

So that day was definitely a positive day for me, too bad Majora's Mask 3D is $20 now because I know it will end up not being beaten for a long while

 

[i'm not a rob0t]

Castlevania Lords of Shadow was added to my HLTB backlog in June 2012, so I guess that.

 

[Graven]

Metroid Prime Echoes.

Bought it on GC era, only decided to play and end it at the beginning of this generation.

 

[Deleted member 8861]

SMB3's GBA port took me 9 years or so to beat.

Right now it's a difficult question to answer, I have many forgotten games. But I'd go with Soul Sacrifice Delta, a game I legitimately adore and have 70 hours in but haven't been able to beat for the last... 4 or so years. I'm too bad at the combat.

 

[Master Chuuster]

One day I'll play Chrono Cross

 

[The Booktastic Bus]

I'm not asking about the oldest game in your backlog, but rather which game has been in your backlog the longest.

For me, it's Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. No joke, I bought this on release day back in 2004 and I'm still working on it. I'm at the end now, and I'll clear it soon, and that means it'll have taken me at least 15 years to clear this game.

That's a teenager of time!

So I ask, Era, what is the game that has been in your backlog the longest? Why is it still in your backlog? Why don't you just give up already?

Apologies if this is a duplicate thread. I couldn't find a discussion about this specifically.

Click to shrink...

You fucker, I came here to say Prime 2.

I finished Prime 1 about 6 years after release. Couldn't get passed the Omega Pirate because I was too bad at the game and panicked when there were too many enemies on screen.

 

[Threadkular]

every Infinity Engine game