What is your methodology for choosing your next game to play?

HangTime

HangTime

HangTime

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Just curious to see what fellow gamers do when it comes to choosing the next game to play - and I mean play rather than buy (although the two aren't mutally exclusive)?
For me, the art of choosing my next game weighs up various factors and goes a little something like this:

+Sequels or follow-ups to games I've just completed
+Peruse my library of unplayed games (mostly Steam but I also look at Origin / GMG / Dixons etc from time to time) just looking for something to 'grab' me, I to sometimes get decision paralysis or the infamous "too many games syndrome" that comes out of Steam Sales.
+Drill down into store page / reviews to learn more about the game
+Randomly decide to play that retail game I bought a while back, spend 10mins looking for the DVD, give up, then try again a few months later
+Generally tend to go for FPS/arcade racing games as they tend to be the easiest to pick up and play, for example I'll often choose to play one from that genre only scoring say 65% over games from other genres scoring 80%+. I've played some very mediocre FPS in my time, that's for sure, meanwhile ignoring highly rated 90%+ classics.

Factors that are likely to dissuade me from playing a given game:
-Trying to play it but finding some technical flaw that I can't fix i.e. low framerate cap, no support for my native resolution - I'm a bit OCD about that stuff
-Horror genre (which makes it quite laughable that I own Dead Space and Resident Evil 5, although the former was free) even if the game is well regarded
-Likely to be difficult to pick up and play, for example complex strategy games (I own both Civ4 and Civ5 but have played neither yet, and I loved Civ1-3!), random genres I haven't tried before, racing sims...
-Dislike of prequels (probably the same for everyone I guess)
-Games that have only just been released so haven't had much patching yet (I rarely play games from the past 6 months and often several years old)
-Games where I have performance concerns, for example I didn't buy Crysis until I'd upgraded

So what about you then?
Do you just play whatever the latest big/"happening" title is (e.g. Skyrim end of last year)?
Do you go by recommendations from others (friends, forums etc)?
What are the key decision making factors that dictate what games you move onto?

As a rule I post a mini-review here when I've completed a game, but like that comic strip about a guy playing Portal 5 years after release, I suppose it does mean that I miss out on the 'buzz' of playing current games and people probably aren't that interested in my opinions any more :)
 
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Step 1 - Have I played this game yet?

Step 2 - No

Step 3 - Does it look like ass?

Step 4 - No

Step 5 - Play Game

Step 6 - ?????

Step 7 - Profit
 
I like to play games in order, so I tend to start with a sequel and then play the next game in the series after that.

I tend to be playing, at any given time, 1 game, and several multi-player or arcadey games.

Once I'm finished with the main game, I move on to a new game. In many cases this just comes down to looking at my steam libary and randomly picking a game I haven't played yet, even if it's pretty bad. Occasionally, when I have the urge to replay a game, I'll do that instead.
 
QlimaxUK said:
step 1: Check OCUK forums

step 2: ooo that looks interesting..

step 3: GET IT!
Click to expand...

This exactly :D I play mainly shooters and racing games, but i rarely play fps after fps. After completing the first fps, i will probably move on to a 3rd-ps such as dead space or alan wake. Bit of portal 2 mods here, bit of racing there, bit of company of heroes there and so on.

I can't sit down and play a game from start to finish like i used to. Especially horror games because i just need to let the adrenaline come back down to normal levels.
 
1. I HATE linear games - so must be non linear.
2. Good graphics
3. Must not be arcade- doesnt have to be a sim, but needs to resemble realism.

After that- too many variables to list. But boy, am I sick of linear arced tripe that is churned out by console focused game industry...
 
One of the ways I do it:

1. Was the last game I played a 5, 10 or 20 hour experience?
2. Move to the next one in series.

Generally, Indie games fall under the 5 hour category, Action/FPS fall under 20 hour, and RPG under 20 hour.
 
Borsch said:
But boy, am I sick of linear arced tripe that is churned out by console focused game industry...
Click to expand...

What exactly do you mean by Linear/Non-Linear though?

I mean calling every game that is Linear tripe is a rather massive statement, mostly because you are talking about nearly every game ever made.

Just from your post history is see you enjoy the HL series, those are incredibly linear.

Linearity is not a bad thing, every book, film and nearly every game ever made is linear.
 
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I wait for others here to buy, check out reviews and reactions to the game. Other than that, I just go by how I feel. My favourite genre, fps / rpg, which is quite a small genre, will rarely have trouble sucking me in.
 
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I used to only buy games that appealed directly to me because they were similar to things I'd enjoyed in the past.

But now I buy more on the basis of something looking good not because I've liked similar games but because other people say its good and so I should try something different.

I also buy more now on the basis of something appearing interesting, for the sake of being interesting. Rather than going straight to metacritic I'll buy something because I think it has a certain level of interest about it.

This leads to some purchases I don't get much mileage from, but also the odd purchase which I'd never have thought would appeal to me in the past that I fall in love with.

I bought Mount & Blade Warband because I thought it looked interesting, and I fell in love with it.
 
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1) OcUK forums, if people on here are going nuts over a game I'll usually check it out. Also keep an eye on most threads started by Neil79 as he seems to have an eye for the retro/indie style games that I usually like.

2) Steam. Usually check the store page most days, and tend to get caught up in the steam sales usually buying loads of games that I'll end up playing for 10 minutes, simply because it's a price that's too good to miss.

3) Youtube / Twitter. Follow a number of peeps such as Yogscast, Angry Joe, GhostRobo, Notch etc and have found a few good games thanks to this method that I would have missed otherwise.

4) Friends. Mainly for my console games as I seem to be one of the few into PC games. I often get roped into getting some naff console game just because my friends all play it (looks over at Modern Warfare 3 disc :mad:)

5) Buy every MMO ever :eek: I have no idea why I do this, but I seem to buy every MMO that gets released and play for a month or two.
 
Fenris said:
What exactly do you mean by Linear/Non-Linear though?

I mean calling every game that is Linear tripe is a rather massive statement, mostly because you are talking about nearly every game ever made.

Just from your post history is see you enjoy the HL series, those are incredibly linear.

Linearity is not a bad thing, every book, film and nearly every game ever made is linear.
Click to expand...

Linear is like Half Life. Which I only enjoyed for its bugs levels (antlions?). Non-linear is like Deus Ex and Deus Ex HR, Theif etc. But most games are linear indeed - especially so during the console-port age.

I am not saying that all linear games are "the same" -they are not and Half Life2 is far superior to MW Black Ops, but still playing a non linear game feels just so liberating, so free... that when coming back to linear games feels like watching a movie and not making own choices/actions at all.
 
I usually:
1. keep an eye on gametrailers.com for new releases or become enticed by friends/OcUK/trailers/E3 footage
2. justify the purchase by watching a 'Let's Play <insert game title>" video on youtube (to see actual gameplay footage and if it looks worthy)
3. very rare I read reviews other than a quick stop at gamespot.com for their score

I don't have hours on end to give to gaming so I'm very much a pick up n' play gamer. Which makes it easy to flirt through a number of games at the same time and I'm happy that way.
 
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Fenris said:
What exactly do you mean by Linear/Non-Linear though? I mean calling every game that is Linear tripe is a rather massive statement
Click to expand...

He means that instead of having an arrow pointing to the next objective, he'd rather check every door in the building because... that... makes it... more real...
 
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1. Open Steam and think hmm I might play that.
2. Open TS3 to chat with guildies while loading said steam game.
3. Close steam game as soon as its loaded and play League of Legends.

It's a vicious cycle.
 
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