How many games do you play at once?

[xibxang]

Yeah I know. I ask too many questions

For the last week and a fortnight, I've been playing Ninja Gaiden only (except for RSC2 and Links 2004 on XSN tournaments, but they don't count) and haven't played anything else so that I could retain some focus. It's a sort of new discipline I'm trying to follow but suddenly I'm finding that I'm getting to the back end of games which is a bit of a first.

Up until this year I never finished games, but now I'm trying to change my playstyle. The main reason for this is so that when I come to forums like this one, then I can discuss/debate/argue a point about a game from a fairly well informed point of view. Also, I got fed up with playing roughly six hours of a game and never putting it in the machine again.

So far it's working really well. I'm enjoying NG very much, I feel my overall skills as a gamer are improving (because I don't quit out of a game before it gets difficult/tricky), I'm enjoying the fact that I don't have too many games on the go at once and ultimately I'm getting value for money out of the games I'm buying.

So, my question is; How many titles can you hadle comfortably at once and still get each game finished?

[dreamylittledream]

I like to finish my games, so I seldom have more then two on the go at once....even then if a game is good enough (and for that I mean deserving of my time) I generally want to play it through to completion to the exclusion of anything else.

All this doesn't stop me form buying games mind....hence the large number of boxes still in their cellophane wrap in my games cupboard

[Guardian]

well it depends, dude. ninja gaiden requires your total focus.

i don't count as i barely get to play games. but when it comes to involving games like rpgs i definitely don't do more than one at a time. just like books, you know?

[Alex W.]

Usually just one. When it's "game playing time" I'll settle down and have a go at that one game in particular.

I'm not counting the half-dozen or so games like FF:TA or Mario & Luigi which I've left half-finished because I'm tired of them, of course.

[CouldBeWorse]

2-3.

Currently have Mario 64, Pikmin and Made in wario . I usual start a new game once I'm nearing the end of one. Almost finished Mario 64 so thats why I started Pikmin. Along with a handheld game.

*note: I have not been playing Mario 64 since 1998 or whenever it came out. I'm currently playing older game I some how never played. Did OOT a few weeks back and now its Mario 64.

[ryodi]

I used to play far too many games at once and never complete any of them so for the moment I am now concetrating on completing FF X followed by X-2 with only Colin McRae 04 to break up the constant RPG action.

[Guardian]

FF:TA

god it sucks

[Gabe]

Currently I am playing a fair bit of Drakengard exclusively, but I can normally have anywhere between 1-7 games on the go, playing on maybe 20 minutes here and there. And I don't finish any of them, just move onto something else. Man, I need some discipline.

[Couk]

I'm attempting 4 at the moment. Ooops.

[Alex W.]

god it sucks

So I'm not the only one who finds it to be a mechanical dry time-sink like FF9?

Thank God. I still play it now and again when I remember "It's got loads of character cusomisation", but then I remember that I can't be arsed doing random fights to get new abilities and put it down in five minutes.

[Guardian]

So I'm not the only one who finds it to be a mechanical dry time-sink like FF9?

Thank God. I still play it now and again when I remember "It's got loads of character cusomisation", but then I remember that I can't be arsed doing random fights to get new abilities and put it down in five minutes.

i realized just after the plot turned to crap (about 30 minutes in) and then realized that the abilities were tied to the weapons (about 45 minutes in; i was on emulator so no manual) that it was a time sink with little-to-no reward.

the most disappointing thing of course is that it's named for ff:t, which i love. and this game started off with a really promising plot! the kids with family problems in the modern city, the school rivalries and snowball fight; it was all very, very appealing to me. i liked the characters, these young kids with that fft art style were very attractive to me (ff:t's art direction was one of the top items on my long list of favorite things about it). but of course square had to take that and shove it in the trash, forcing you to enter a magic book called final fantasy and have the people turn into stupid moogles and dog-things. my god.

i went to gamefaqs and read ahead in the plot and it sounds terrible.

i want a real ff:t game with the initial plot pre-premise, please.

[Paulando]

It doesn't really bother me if I finish a game or not- as long as I enjoyed in the time I was playing it, that's all that really matters to me. I do tend to have quite a lot of games on the go at a time, because I rarely play a game for more than 30 mins in one sitting before I get bored and switch to something else.

Only a few of the games I've played over the years have had me completely hooked- I save my game but then I just have to see what's round the next corner and end up playing for another hour Funnily enough, these are usually games that involve opening up a map of some sort (SOTN/Metroid Prime etc).

[Gabe]

It doesn't really bother me if I finish a game or not- as long as I enjoyed in the time I was playing it, that's all that really matters to me. I do tend to have quite a lot of games on the go at a time, because I rarely play a game for more than 30 mins in one sitting before I get bored and switch to something else.

Only a few of the games I've played over the years have had me completely hooked- I save my game but then I just have to see what's round the next corner and end up playing for another hour Funnily enough, these are usually games that involve opening up a map of some sort (SOTN/Metroid Prime etc).

I hear you - I get bored very quickly, but every so often there is a game that I will continue to play. Currently it is Drakengard, which is surprising, as it is very, very samey.

[ianinthefuture]

Ugh, don't remind me - I have 10+ on the go right now, but I do tend to focus on one when I get pissed off with it (most recently: Spiderman 2) so I can get it out of the way. Freelancer, Red Alert 2, Psi Ops, Silent Hill 4, Disgaea (oops..) and more. Oh, and god bless my brother for sending me Champ Manager 03/04. Like I have the sodding time!

[Mr Spew]

Too many.

Playing Halo on XBConnect, Disgaea, Ninja Gaiden, Singstar. Pro Evo 3, PGR2 (and on Live), Police 24/7, Riddick, etc.

[Professor Rob]

Currently playing: Tales of Symphonia, Visual Pinball, Cinema4D, InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator.

[hughes]

1 at a time really, and I don't complete that many. Around 40% maybe.

I've so many games uncompleted, but don't want to play them, I want something new.

[Looper]

I usually have a couple on the go at once. At the moment I flit between Transformers, Full Spectrum Warrior and Puyo Pop. I'm working my way through all the Metal Slug games too but that's just a case of 'die, continue, die, continue...'.

I rarely finish games these days... just don't have the time. I think the last one was Secret Weapons Over Normandy

[Liquid Myth]

I like to play on Tetris in one hand, Wario Ware in the other, and playing Dancing Stage on the floor.

[bingowings]

usually one at a time - i get a game, then cane it until it's completed. finished Vice City in a week or so (i'm still playing it - looking for jumps etc.) then moved onto Mace Griffin - but after the intial joy of killing things with big guns and the excellent sniper rifle, i returned it after 4 days due to the inane corridor / switch malarkey and the 'falling through the floor and not dying' bug.

i still have Drakengard to finish, so i think i'll move onto that next, even though the voice-acting bugs me to all fuck. but you gotta love the potential zillion hit combos and dragon based death-from-above.

[divine visitor]

I try to play just the one until its finished, but I usually end up playing loads of 'quick go' kinda games like Made in Wario or Virtual On alongside.

[RJames]

Currently playing Spiderman 2, Riddick and Psi-Ops in varying amounts. I wish there was more variety around right now (esp. more RPGs) but nothing else took my fancy. Here's looking forward to KOTOR 2.

Have Ikaruga US (GC) and City of Heroes (PC) on order too though...

-J

[ICECOLD]

I'm lucky that I live in a gaming house with 3 other guys, and always have Halo and Pro Evo 3 to fall back on from my singleplayer gaming - which mostly revolves around my staple genre of Action Adventures.

As far as singleplayer gaming goes, though, I recently finished Galleon, and part-exchanged it for Thief: Deadly Shadows, which I'm yet to get into.

I was playing Zelda:TWW for a second time, in the run up to Galleon's release. But usually I only replay games when I've nothing new to get through, and don't really count these as "currently playing", since I've seen most of them before.

At that stage, they are more a pass-time. Getting a new game, becoming absorbed in it.. that's when the "hobby" tag comes in

[Bitter]

Usually one at a time for me. Right now I'm playing two... well... I started two, but I'm only playing one of them at the minute, and I'm gonna finish the other as soon as I'm done this one.

lol

[Mercury]

I try to focus on one and break it up with some XBOX live/multiplayer goodness. Currently working my way through Full Spectrum Warrior and breaking it up with Rallisport Challenge 2, Mashed and Winning Eleven 6: Final Evolution.

[Rushy]

To many is my answer. I've always got plenty of games on the go, at least one on each platform most of the time. Currently I am playing:

Red Dead Revolver / FFXI / Four Swords / Resident Evil 0 / MGS:TT / Mario&Luigi / Mario vs DK / FSW

I always have plenty of multiplayer games on the go to:

Halo / Mashed / PGR2 / CounterStrike / RS3

I blame FFXI & Xbox Live for the me not finishing many single player games.

[Rocko]

I tend to run a lot of games alongside each other, but to focus more heavily on one than the rest. When I reach a point I can't beat/work out/etc then I move onto a different game. If it's something I can read a walkthrough about, or if the game has been really enjoyable so far, I'll go back to it. Otherwise it gets back-burnered indefinitely (or at least til I've got no cash to buy any more games).

[routeburn]

I used to have too many, but realised that I wasn't making any progress in any of them and just jumping to "the latest good game".

So, I still pick up the occasional new title, but I'm getting better at waiting until they're reduced and I've finished the ones in-hand.

Basically I have a "chunky" game such as FF-X which I dedicate any serious sessions (>1hr) to and then a handful of "quick" games such as Ninja Gaiden, Full Spectrum Warrior, R-Type where I can make measurable progress in <1hr for shorter sessions.

This seems to work well because I am actually finishing the longer games that I never did before. What it does mean is that I have a slowly increasing number of "chunky" titles still in shrink-wrap on my shelf.

[Fry Crayola]

From my point of view, there are three distinct formats, seperated by the way in which they are played. You have your console games, played by plugging it into the telly and relaxing on the sofa. The PC/Mac, which requires sitting in front of a computer, and the handhelds are for anywhere.

I'd usually play 2 console games around the same time. Currently these two would be Ninja Gaiden and Splinter Cell. I might dip into a PC game, but as I only ever really use it for strategy there's only ever one on the go. The GBA goes crazy though. I've got Scrabble for games with the girlfriend, Metroid Fusion I'm working on now, I still haven't finished Mario & Luigi and I like to dip into Wario Ware from time to time.

So to answer your question... loads. But generally I'm only focussed on two.

[Jolly]

Millions of billions.