I've come to the sad realization that the backlog will simply never be cleared. So, I'm going to throw myself a bone here and just cross off any game that I'm just tired of. Right now, that's quickly happening to Devil May Cry. Not because I've been smashing my head against the wall trying to beat it, like Al has, but because every time I play it I just get sick of it easily. I hate half of the camera angles, which is what's mainly bogging down the experience for me. The combat is a whole load of fun by itself, but when I think back to how God of War's camera fluidly follows the action from the best possible angle or how Ninja Gaiden Black -- despite its piss-poor camera -- lets me at least adjust the viewpoint to get a better look at the action, something just... bugs me about Devil May Cry. It may also be the fact that I'm just itching to get to Devil May Cry 3 and trying out all the new sty|es, and Devil May Cry 1 as a result might be obsolete. I don't give a rat's patootie about skipping the first "chapter" in the story or franchise - I just want to play a game I don't get tired of. Period.
After watching Al trudge through Metroid Prime 2 last fall, I'm also leery of taking that for a spin. It's been great in the early going, but all his talk of scavenger hunting for keys just makes me wretch. Hey, didn't we learn anything from god-awful Rare games and Jak & Daxter what with their pitiful collect-a-thon ways? If you make me collect a certain amount of stars to pass, with the stars being the ultimate goal of the level, ok - sure. If you make me collect 3 bafmodads, 2 pieces of fruit, 5 scarab beetles and 27,381,447 pieces of grass, screw you to friggin' hell. The way that Al made the key-hunting in Metroid Prime 2 really reminded me more of Jak / Rare games and less of Mario 64. Actually, the way he talked about finishing up Wind Waker also makes me NOT want to play that either - despite its gorgeous visuals.
On the other hand, I'm also just going to remove games that I've simply had a satisfying fill of and don't feel the need to play anymore past the little that I've experienced. This is probably cheating, but... *sigh* what can ya do?
Now before I list the candidates for bump-off-ness, I'll remind you now to make sure you don't forget, after reading the list, to check out Chupporitos for a fresh(ly intoxicated) perspective on American History. Don't worry -- I explain what it is so that you don't feel you've been rick-rolled in case it's not your cup of tea.
Going by this criteria, so far, I'm considering (in some cases disgustedly) removing these few items from my backlog mentally:
Manhunt 2: the first one is better, and while the Wii-remote executions rock, the Wii-remote combat is trash.
Animal Crossing DS: I stopped playing this a long time ago for a reason. Anybody want my copy?
Prince of Persia Warrior Within: Aside from the Prince's god-awful baditude (oh just can it, Maximum PC; it stunk - period) I'm just not feeling the progression. I don't like going back and forth in a PoP-sty|e environmental-puzzler game. Running across a wall, grabbing a curtain, and then wall-rebounding over a bed of spikes is awesome the first few times you do it. Doing all of this just to backtrack to another location, and then having to do it again to make another round trip, isn't for me. And to think... some people hate linearity.
Super Mario Sunshine: You know? I think I actually already up and sold it. *checks shelf* Yup - I did. And I don't regret it for a single moment. Mario 64 was and still is better.
Brain Age: No motivation to see this thing through and unlock anything else. It was cheap fun for a while, though.
Puzzle Quest: I'm not one of those who got completely sucked into it. I'm sure it's great, and I'm sure it gets better, but I really just want to move on to other things. That it's based on Bejeweled doesn't make the game stupid -- not at all. It just makes the game get old fast. I really liked it while I was playing it, but it really doesn't grab my attention -- once I had put it down when I became even slightly engrossed in something else, it was done for. If anyone's about to get up in arms and hissy-fitty, well, why don't you spend that energy into asking me for my copy instead so that you can proudly say you have two copies of this game you love?
Star Fox Assault: I may put one or two more flight missions into this, but the ground missions are atrocious and are the bane of the Franchise. Star Fox Adventures may have been worse overall, what with its ridiculous scavenger hunts (see above), but at least it otherwise had solid gameplay mechanics and -- failing all else -- cool-looking animal fur graphics.
Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes: Sitting through these codec conversations and cutscenes make me wonder why I bothered getting Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence. Oh, right -- for the MSX ports.
Pikmin: Loved what I played of it, but my save file is on day 13 and I can't remember what I'm supposed to do now, so I haven't been playing it. This is by now the second stint of this game I've gone through after restarting it for the exact same reason. I'd rather just move on to Pikmin 2 and return to this one when I'm old and gray. Fantastic from what I've played of it, though.
Beyond Good & Evil: I love this game. And yet, I just simply don't have the gumption to finish the last chapter. There's this door I have to find and open and I can't find it, so I just don't care about finding it anymore. I could open up a FAQ, I guess, but again: I just don't care anymore.
Nintendogs: Does anyone want to adopt my boxer, Homer? I'm a terrible pet owner because I simply stopped playing it a month after I got it.
Katamari Damacy: Just... done. I loved it but I just don't care to go back anymore. It's not lost its charm, nor its gleeful sense of simple fun -- but I really think I am just satisfied with it. No need to tinker around with it anymore - otherwise I would have gotten one of its numerous sequels by now.
Xenogears: Ah, an oldie-but-goodie. I'm done with this. 60 hours in and not near the end yet? Are you kidding me? And I can't stand the stupid guys sitting in their stupid chairs in the stupid second disc. Ok, maybe that's just me trying to find something to be annoyed about -- throw all that out the window. I'm just done with it.
Legend of Dragoon: Everyone says it's terrible. Now, I enjoyed the first few hours of the game, but the piss-poor dialogue started getting on my nerves and I've since seen much more refined similar combat systems since (the role-playing Mario games on GBA, DS and Cube to name a few) -- which is the main reason why I stuck with the game at all.
Project Gotham Racing 3: Like it a lot. Haven't played it in a while. Don't feel the need to focus on it and get everything, and I rarely play multiplayer. I'll put the disc in once in a blue moon, sure, but I'm done with taking it seriously.
Onimusha 2: I really, really, really just want to play Onimusha 3.
Ridge Racer V: This game sorely disappointed me when I first played it, and now that I've experienced the smooth rides of Ridge Racer PSP, Ridge Racer 6, and Ridge Racer 7, I don't think I can stand this game anymore. R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 was better than this game, even.
Brothers in Arms DS: At first, I thought this was really cool. This turned into just "OK". Now, believe it or not. Call of Duty 4 for the DS has completely blown it out of the water. I'm even tempted to sell it back, but I fear I may (just may) want to go back to it for a little bit once CoD4's short DS campaign is over. But I think it's better off being officially off the backlist and not adding any pressure to my spine.
Trauma Center DS: I'd rather play the Wii version.
Geist: How delusional I was to think this would be a truly quality title. Nevermind the fact that the FPS controls for this are insanely jacked. It's not just because I abhor dual-analog -- it's because this is poor dual analog. Concept? Great. Make it for Wii instead. I've so far clocked 90 minutes into it. I think that's enough.
Gunstar Super Heroes: This game brings a tear to my eye -- but the original brought more tears to my eye. I've played it a healthy amount, and I've enjoyed every brutal minute of it -- but again, I think I'm happy with what I've gotten out of it thus far.
Devil May Cry: See above. :P
Metroid Prime 2: See above also, but this has very little chance of actually dropping off only because Prime's gameplay is -- well -- Prime. Maybe I'll play it up until the key-collecting part, then fast-forward to Prime 3. In any case, this game so far has just proven to me how hard it is to live up to something as great as the original Metroid Prime.