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As summer officially approaches at the end of this week, so does the beginnings of the summer gaming lull. For all us cool kids who love RPGs, summer is the time when the genre slows down, and not too many big name titles are expected. Sure, if your a PC gamer like a few of our staff members, there are games to anticipate for the coming summer, but what about us console junkies? Sure, we've been spoiled throughout the year, so this seems like the perfect opportunity to catch up on the ye olde backlog.
What I love about summer is the fact that I can clear out much of the backlog that I have accumulated over the last couple of months. For many of us, summer is used to catch up on all the winter and spring releases that we have yet to touch so that we many clear the load for the fall releases. Yet, I find that even though RPGs are still considered a somewhat niche genre, that it's impressive to see the evolution of the genre as the number of titles grows steadily every year. One thing that always terrifies me is the number of game releases that come out in the fall – how many of us are going to be angsting by October because our wallets are going to be in severe pain? Persona PSP, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, Dragon Age - these are games people are going to be on the watch for, and these are the games that are going to push to the front of the line and be full of delicious RPG goodness. Well, sans Muramasa, but we can still pretend it's an RPG.
I admit, I feel guilty about the large backlog I've accumulated over the last few years. When I was a starving university student I had minimal time for gaming, but found myself spending more money on games without even a thought. The problem being of course that games I wanted were often coming from publishers like Atlus, who would do single print runs of some of their titles making it integral to purchase them day one or risk purchasing the game at a later date for double the cost. With small publishers exploiting this tactic, I found my paychecks dwindling, and my backlog consistently rising. It got the point where I made myself a list just to keep track of every new title I picked up, crossing out the games I've completed. I find this helpful to keep track of what I'm working on, but it gets ridiculous when I keep adding games on a weekly basis.
So here I am, excited for the summer knowing that I won't be making any major game purchases until September. Knowing that I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that my wallet can take a bit of break and building for the Fall releases. I know come July, I'm going to find myself in the rut of wanting so many different new games, and barely having enough time to complete them. I'm always amazed at the people who can complete over thirty games a year and me looking back at my backlog and wanting to cry at the size of it.
I'm ready to embrace the summer lull. I'm ready to whip through Persona 4, destroy the One True Way in Suikoden Tierkreis, and take a journey back through history in Jeanne d'Arc. I'm ready to play catch up, and yet I know that this lull will soon end and I will be panicking once more about all the new releases. For now, however, it's time to enjoy this quiet period and game to my heart's content. However, how many of us ever feel like we make a huge dent in their backlogs?
All in all, let's get ready for a summer to play catch up, 'cause this year's fall releases are going to be relentless, and I know I'm not alone in the fact that I am going to feel incredibly poor due to my gaming habits.
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