Always play your games

This isn't unique to me but it has caught up with me recently in an unusual manner. I like computer games and like many people who like and play computer games I have too many to play at any one time. This means that some titles get put aside in the "I'll play them at some stage" pile. These are usually cheap games that you get as a bargain or as part of a promotion or sometimes it is a game that you really want to play but some other game takes your interest at the same time.

Now how this has caught up with me happened when I was mowing the lawn on Monday. I was happily going about my business when I noticed on one of the apple trees, a few CD's that were hanging from a branch. They were put there to try and scare any birds from eating the apples from the tree (not sure how successful that was but anyway). So I looked at the CD's swinging around and recognised one of the discs. It was my copy of Darwinia, the real time strategy game with its strange 'vector graphic' or even Tron like graphics. Mum had obviously picked it up thinking it was a useless free CD or something and decided to hang it from the tree. You can just about make it out in the picture, it's the green disc.

So I was a bit annoyed by this as you can imagine. Especially as I'd never even installed the game, never mind play it. I wasn't overly upset though. I think it only cost me €14.99 and I had my staff discount from GAME at the time too. Plus you can download it from Steam easily enough and it wasn't one of the games that I was too pushed on playing anyway. However it raises the issue of all the other games that I have that go unfinished.

I have many 'dust gatherers' lying about. A few of them I really will play at some stage like 'God of War II', 'Lego Star Wars II' and 'Command & Conquer 3' but I've a whole bundle of other games that I haven't even installed, like Darwinia, or remain unfinished or unplayed. For example, 'Starcraft' - installed, didn't like the controls even though I used to play the demo to death. 'Elder Scrolls: Morrowind' - installed and got bored, but I really like the idea of the game. 'Star Wars KOTOR 1 and 2' - played part one for a while but again got bored and moved on to something else. There's plenty more where they came from too.

So the moral of the story is this - play the games that you buy or don't buy them until you've nothing else to play. Don't let them just gather dust or at least keep them in their proper box and away from unknown dangers, like mothers looking for a few useless CD's.

Paddy.