# Games which you never played for long... **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 14, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517 "2009-11-14T02:43:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/21 "2009-11-19T22:49:40Z")
> [@dwc1970](#): > > E.T. for the Atari 2600 (way old game, I know). > > Fortunately I didn’t actually own this turd, but when I played it at a friend’s house I could never get past the screen where he falls into the hole. > > Good God, did that game ever suck. Since there’s only five screens and you had to see three of them you actually played more than 25% of the game. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/22 "2009-11-19T22:52:33Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > **Black and White** - it sounded SO cool. But where exactly was I supposed to be having fun? For real! It was so boring… ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/23 "2009-11-20T00:17:19Z")
Black and White and GTA4 are both games I played for under an hour. Both of those are mentioned and that’s the only reason why I remembered them. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/24 "2009-11-20T00:42:55Z")
Alone in the Dark (the recent remake). Fucking fire mechanic! ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/25 "2009-11-20T01:54:53Z")
Most recently, Sins of a Solar Empire. I bought it two months ago for $20 at Target, got home, read the back story in the manual, which was very, very well set up, and installed the game. Once it was installed, I loaded it up and noticed that there was no story mode. I ended up playing 4 “small” games (about 8 hours total) and then giving up on it. It’s pretty boring, really. A story mode could have made it great, given the setup that the booklet gave it. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/26 "2009-11-20T02:55:56Z")
I played GTA San Andreas for hours and hours. I bet I never got farther than 25% of the storyline. I spent hours just dicking around, doing non-storyline missions, exploring, causing freeway pileups, just tons of fun stuff. What a great game! Joe ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/27 "2009-11-20T02:56:27Z")
Spore. Oh God, Spore. Hyped to hell. And why shouldn’t I believe the hype? It’s Will-freaking-Wright. I played it for about one Sunday afternoon. That’s all it took to realize it was a bunch of half-baked minigames. What shit that game was. Uninstall forever. I’m still bitter. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/28 "2009-11-20T02:58:17Z")
> [@wmulax93](#): > > Most recently, Sins of a Solar Empire. I bought it two months ago for $20 at Target, got home, read the back story in the manual, which was very, very well set up, and installed the game. Once it was installed, I loaded it up and noticed that there was no story mode. I ended up playing 4 “small” games (about 8 hours total) and then giving up on it. It’s pretty boring, really. A story mode could have made it great, given the setup that the booklet gave it. This one I’d beg you to give another try. Yeah, it sucks there’s no proper story mode. But the compy AI is so good that months and months later I still have a good time skirmishing against “Hard” AI computer players. “Insane” rolls me within the first 20 minutes, months later and I’m still learning. It’s a very very good RTS game, if you can forgive the lack of a story mode. Try a game on “Tempest”, no alliances set, “normal” ai. Also, Entrenchment added a lot to the game - made defense possible, though many argue it made turtling just a bit too easy. /loves me some SoaSE ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/29 "2009-11-20T03:57:30Z")
_Black & White_. What a complete waste of money. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/30 "2009-11-20T04:00:42Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > _Black & White_. What a complete waste of money. Yeah, I hated that one too. After months of thinking it’d be the next second coming. If they had played up the RTS aspect, I’d probably have enjoyed it more. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/31 "2009-11-20T04:07:44Z")
Recently, Borderland and Dragon Age. The first I tried REALLY hard to like…and just couldn’t do it. The second one I just haven’t been able to get into (yet). It seems clunky to me, movement wise, and at least the first part was kind of a yawner. Been there and done that with a bunch of other games. Maybe it will grow on me… Also, WAR…I REALLY wanted to get into a new MMORPG, but I just couldn’t get into the game. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/32 "2009-11-20T04:30:59Z")
If you’re talking about just bad games in general, the numbers are legion. However, I’d like to share my experience with Warlords 1. When I first tried it, I thought it was incredibly slow and boring. After about an hour or two, I gave up and never touched it again for months. Then, my friend told me that the game really picked up in the middle after all the neutral cities were taken, and the real game starts. Then, I went crazy over that game. It was the only game I purchased twice (although years later I did the same thing with diablo 2.) I also purchased warlords 2 and 3. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/33 "2009-11-20T04:34:38Z")
I loved those old Warlords game…and I bought the 2 follow up games as well. Miss those old games sometimes… -XT ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/34 "2009-11-20T08:02:32Z")
control-z - I’ll respond to your query by private message. As for that list, I really don’t know what to say. You play as many games as I do, you’re going to run into some stinkers. In the old days, I was really handicapped by the fact that there wasn’t anyone else I knew who was into the type of video games I was who I could have a discussion with, but even now I’m not immune to bad judgments. Probably the biggest factor is cost. I’ve often gladly shelled out $10 on a questionable title that I never dreamed of buying at the original $35 or $50 or $60, and I’ve rented a lot of games I wouldn’t buy in a million years. (Those PS3 games I cited? Yeah, those.) You know what they say…low risk, low reward. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/35 "2009-11-20T14:10:30Z")
**Patrician III** , **Korsun Pocket** , **Dominion 3: The Awakening** and **Monkey Island** I purchased because they were all highly recommended. They’re all really good games, but none of them really grabbed me and after half an hour each all they’ve done since is collect dust. **Tropico 3** is better than the first two, but my unmicromanaged economy still mysteriously goes to shit and I’m left annoyed every time I play. Of course the shitty games I didn’t play for long are legion. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/36 "2009-11-20T15:24:47Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > WWF Attitude (DC) - Rental. The game that convinced me forever and ever that moving away from button mashing was the worst thing that ever happened to video game wrestling Slogged through about an hour of torturous butt kickings before returning it two days early. You missed out, then. _WCW vs. NWO World Tour_ on the N64 was an absolutely brilliant game, and its “sequels” (one actual sequel using WCW characters and a half-dozen sort-of-sequels which used the same basic combat system but were WWE-branded) were also very good. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/37 "2009-11-20T15:59:31Z")
I bought [The Movies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Movies) about one week before I bought, on a whim, a bargain-bin copy of Civilization 3. Never played The Movies since. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/38 "2009-11-20T16:35:45Z")
Based on the 25%-of-content rule, I’m close to dropping MafiaWars. It’s a pure click-fest with a thin veneer of “drag your friends and people you don’t even know into this game” that Amway would positively salivate over. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/39 "2009-11-20T16:44:40Z")
Mafia Wars has about as much depth as a kiddie pool and yet I can’t stop playing it. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517/40 "2009-11-20T17:04:49Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Mafia Wars has about as much depth as a kiddie pool and yet I can’t stop playing it. Nah - the kiddie pool has far more depth. I decided (in the last half hour) that I’ll finish all the New York stages, then buy all sorts of game gizmos and hand them out willy-nilly. Anybody want a Cuban tour guide, slightly used? How about several town cars? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-which-you-never-played-for-long/517517.md?page=1)