Why Most People Don't Finish Video Games

Personally I rarely finish games because I just don't have the time. I'll put in a few hours here and there, then get sidetracked with something important for a while, and by the time I'm in the gaming mood again I'm onto something else.

I did, however, recently finish Mass Effect 1. Unfortunately I'm not sure when I'm gonna have the time to finish Mass Effect 2.
 
Same reason we get up and do something else when a movie is playing; it's not as enjoyable as doing something else. Few games, in fact, I'd bet less than 1% of all software titles live up to the expectations the advertisements use to get us to buy them.
 
The only games I have even felt compelled to complete in the past few years are Mass Effect 1 & 2, Halo: Reach (only due to online co-op with some old college friends), and most recently Uncharted 1 & 2. Most games get boring to me about half way through.
 
tybert7 said:
Question for people in your situation, do you ever wish you DID have more free time, or WILL have more free time later on to be able to go deeper into games?
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not AS bad as the previous poster.

but to answer you from my perspective...YES.

i always want more free time and actively work towards acquiring it... I'm genuinely hoping to be able to save up enough to basically live off a nestegg for a while to play video games and get personal accomplishments done.

I've gone out of my way to find a gf that is just as into gaming as I am (some nights together time is gaming together, or both of us just playing single player games in the same room). We also have no plans for children due to the time and money sink.

school I tend to either get my work done in class, take one night and get everything done...or carefully measure out where I can slack and still get an A or B and where I actually have to be dilligent with work.

I would give anything to have the carefree game time i had in highschool/first time through college. I would stay logged into eq for days while playing a single player game at the same time. good times.
 
For me I usually buy a game intending to finish, but I have found a pattern in games where after I buy I can see if it's going to suck and never start it at all. I finish on average 62% of all games I have.
 
Jesse B said:
If games suck I don't finish them. 'Nuff said. If they're worth my time, they get my full attention.
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This. I didn't read or watch the CNN piece but I can easily call BS from my perspective. I don't buy that many games in the first place because I tend to research them before I do. The ones I do buy, 90% of them I finish. If the "study" is saying that "gamers" fail to finish 90% of games, I would contend it is becuase 90% of games suck.
 
Complete list of Games I have bought in the last 15 years or so:

Code: 
[b][i]Title						Approx Year Bought	Finished? 	When Finished	Why															Total Play time[/b][/i]
Half-Life						1998		Y			1999	Great game for its time. Had more time on my hands back then								~ 20h?
Counter-Strike						2000		N/A			N/A	Free mod for HL. Best game of all time.  Multi player so you can't really finish it.					thousands of hours
Deus Ex							2000		Y			2001	Great game for its time. Had more time on my hands back then								~ 15h?
Condition Zero						2004		N			N/A	Came free with some package or other (porobably HL2).  Never played it.							Never played
Half-Life 2 Bronze					2004		Y			2009	So addicted to CS until 2005, and then stopped playing games until 2009							17.3h
Counter-Strike: Source (beta)				2004		N/A			N/A	Great sneak peek at the graphically updated CS.  Multi player so you can't really finish it.				~40h?
Counter-Strike: Source					2004		N/A			N/A	Graphically updated CS. Fantastic game. Multi player so you can't really finish it.					~1500h
Sid Meier's Civilization IV: The Complete Edition	2009		N/A			N/A	I've won with several civilizations, but its not really a game you can finish						~200h
Half-Life 2: Episode 1					2009		Y			2010	Great followup to HL2.  Way too short though										3.4h
Half-Life 2: Episode 2					2009		Y			2010	Great followup to HL2.  Way too short though										5.7h
Civilization V - Deluxe Edition (preorder)		2010		N/A			N/A	I've won with several civilizations, but its not really a game you can finish						79.9h
Metro 2033 Retail					2010		Y			2010	Stunning game, interesting storyline (I'm a sucker for post apocalyptic stuff)						17.2h
Just Cause 2 NVidia					2010		N			N/A	Came free with a video card.  Played it for a grand total of 5 minutes.  Game sucked.					5min
S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl			2010		Y			2011	Amazing game.  Loved every second of them										50.5h
S.T.A.L.K.E.R:. Clear Sky				2010		Y			2011	Amazing game.  Loved every second of them										22.8h
S.T.A.L.K.E.R:. Call of Pripyat				2010		Y			2011	Amazing game.  Loved every second of them										39.6h
Dead Space						2011		N			N/A	Was on sale for $3, why not.  Fired it up for 5 minutes.  Awful 3rd person BS.  Sucked donkey balls.			5min
Settlers II - 10th Anniversary Edition			2011		N			N/A	Loved the original as a kid.  This was just too boring. Played it for maybe 15 minutes.					15min
Portal							2011		Y			2011	Fun puzzle game.  Looking forward to Portal 2 (when it gets below $15 on Steam)						3.9h
Red Orchestra (Ost Front, Darkes Hour, Mare Nostrum)	2011		N/A			N/A	Fun realistic game.  Multi player can't really be finished. Bought it towards the end of its life			~50h
Red Orchestra 2 - Digital Deluxe Edition (ROW preorder)	2011		N/A			N/A	Preordered.  Haven't played it yet Looks very promising though.  Multiplayer game so it won't be able to be finished.	N/A
Fallout 3						2011		N			N/A	Just recently bought on sale.  Game looks fun, but it is so buggy it's unplayable.					2.8h
Fallout: New Vegas					2011		N			N/A	Just recently bought on sale.  Game looks fun, but it is so buggy it's unplayable.					30min

So in the last 15 years I have bought 23 games
Of them 7 are the kind that you don't "finish"
Of the 16 remaining titles I finished 10, which is 62.5%

Reasons for not finishing game (6 titles):
Game Sucked (3)
Game too buggy (2)
Never played game (1)

But that's just me...
 
A question occurs to me,what is their definition of finishing a game? As just mentioned,multi player games really can't be finished,and though they don't appeal to me,they do seem popular now. And does finishing a game include things like DLC and mods? The STALKER series alone kept me busy for months,and I'm really not finished with it,once the Lost Alpha mod is released I'll probably fire up SoC again. I completed Fallout 3,including the official DLCs,a while back,but I'm still catching up on all the mods for it. It isn't equal to STALKER by any means,but it's better than most of the crappy FPS games they're cranking out these days.
 
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