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Posted February 13, 2013 by Amy in Features
 
 

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow: Lowering the Stack of Shame

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Sometimes it’s hard to let go…

For those of us who have pretty much been gamers for life have a unique issue: we have so many games, we just can’t keep them all. Sure, we’ve all seen the enviable pics of rooms stacked full of games from top to bottom by their hoarder owners. But let’s be real, you just can’t keep them. (Really- you can’t! Oh, don’t cry. They’re going to a happy place.)

So, I’ve been trying to go through the difficult process again of looking through all our approximately eleventy-billion games (hey, with seven gamers in a house, it gets out of control fast), and it got me thinking. How do you all decide which games to get rid of, and where they should go? I mean, I’ve tried game trading loads in the past, but if the ultimate goal is to reduce the number of unplayed discs you have laying around, trading just doesn’t work, cause you get more back for the ones you send off into the sunset.


You can just give them away of course, to friends and family, but then you have to explain to your little niece why she can’t have Grand Theft Auto, or tell your cousin he can’t tell his parents where he got Dead Or Alive, and there’s always the chance they’ll just give them back when they finish. Plus, you’re always left with that stack of games no one wants – five year old sports games, shooters that tanked, and the older cartridges no one has consoles to play anymore.

Donating to worthy causes is always a great option, and I like the idea of knowing my game is making someone else happy – that is, I would like it if I could just find a good formula for actually getting rid of them. Yes, I sit down in front of the console with a firm intent to purge all those games that haven’t been played in at least a year. Yup, totally going to get rid of them this time. What’s this? Awww, I remember this game! It was so awesome, and I never really got every single achievement, ya know. Ooooh, and this one! How could I get rid of this one? Sure, I haven’t played it in years, but I’m totally going to now that I remembered I have it. And this one? Well, sure I completely finished it, but what if the minions want to play it eventually?

And then….I’m stuck. Because, really – all of those are sound arguments for keeping those games. And yet, you can’t keep them all – I just said that, didn’t I? So help me out here, kind readers. How do you decide which games go and which stay? And where do you take those poor souls who get the chopping block? Give us some of your best tips for lowering the stack of shame in the comments below.


Amy

 
U.S. Senior Editor & Deputy EIC, @averyzoe on Twitter, mother of 5, gamer, reader, wife to @macanthony, and all-around bad-ass (no, not really)