DS Daily: Your maximum playload

by Chris Greenhough on Jan 15th 2009 9:00AM

Are you the kind of gamer who takes on games one at a time, or can you happily play several titles concurrently?

For what it's worth, this blogger's personal limit appears to be three. Currently, the list includes World of Goo, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (after a decade away), and Fallout 3 (my dirty secret: I also own a Xbox 360). Meanwhile, an imported copy of Chrono Trigger DS is being neglected, simply because I couldn't cope with another game where I need to keep close tabs on the story. Yes, I am ashamed.

What's your maximum playload?

Tags: dsd

Reader Comments (35)

i say... between 7 and 9 a month. i mean, i try not to throw myself around too hard else the ladies might get jealous (OH come on you were asking for a dirty reference with that 'maximum payload' subject)

While I keep several cartridges in my case, I usually have one long-playing game going and one or two quick-play games going for variety. If I only have a few minutes, or I can't figure out that puzzle in the longer game, I play a quickie. ;)

Same here.

I keep an RPG in the DS slot, and a puzzle game or a platformer in the GBA slot. At the moment it's Chrono Trigger and Chu Chu Rocket.

I am an RPG nut, though, and those tend to be so immersive that I've never really wanted to pick up a second one....

I play about 2 "serious" games at a time (like RPG's), and another 2 "casual" games for the road (Tetris DS, Meteos, etc...)

I try to keep it one per system (with simple arcade games like N+ or Mario Kart as standbys), any more and I tend to forget and neglect games that really don't deserve that.

In the DS at the mo is an Advanced Wars title (can't remember which one).
In the 360 I have Portal
In the Wii I have Guitar Hero World Tour
and in the PS2 I have a DDR (it's the only reason I keep it around).

I switch out my games quite often actually, probably why I rarely actually finish them...it's hard to finish games when there's so many good ones coming out.

I'm currently playing Ninjatown, Fable 2, Professor Layton, Rune Factory 2, and Summon Night Swordcraft Story

Don't worry, you secret is safe with me.

I'm currently on a month-long experiment where I don't consume any game content I did not personally create, in this case with XNA/Community Games on Xbox 360, but I'm jonsing to get back to playing Chrono Trigger DS. Damn, that game is STILL awesome.

It's depends on how easily I forget three things in a game: its storyline, the controls, and what I was in the middle of doing when I left off to switch to a different game. The exact thing happened to me after I put down Rune Factory and switched to a lot of Mario Kart and EBA; when I got back, I couldn't remember the tedious routine I did with the crops (harvesting, watering, buying, and that doesn't include which ones to keep, which ones to turn into seeds, etc.) and I had to go through my inventory and try to do a recall. It was hard. XP

I only ever have a single game going at once. There are too many responsibilities in life (career, kids, wife, finances etc.) to be able to juggle more than that.

I can only play 2 or 3 of the RPG's with any consistency but cycle through the quick play games so I don't get bored wit them. In the last month I started Moon, The World Ends With You and Pokemon Diamond (my son's extra cartridge).

However, I currently have 18 game cartridges with me right now. 4 I have not played yet. 10 are RPG's of one flavor or another. 8 are quick play games. Of the RPG's I have started, I am over 50% through most of them. I wish I was not so ADD with these games.

For a while, I was trying to keep a somewhat official list of about five games I was playing. I tried to give *only* those games my attention, not others. It worked for maybe a month or two, and now I'm back to playing whatever I pick up and feel like. Maybe I should go back to having the list again so I actually make some progress...

Most of my time is spent in multiplayer affairs for gaming. WoW, TF2, UT3, ect. Whenever a new high profile game comes out I'll set aside most of my gaming time for that but usually it's just a mix of whatever I feel like playing.

DS wise it is "usually" one game at a time, although I'm really bad at finishing DS games.

I have games going in Okami, Mario Galaxy, Ocarina of Time (never had it back in the n64 days, never finished it on the Gamecube), de Blob, Mushroom Men and Elebits: Kai and Zero.

At this point I would call the Okami and Mario Galaxy games abandoned, and it's getting close for the Ocarina game (those first few dungeons I can do in my sleep, since I've started it so many times without finishing.) But I'm definitely playing at least 3 games at present, plus occasional bouts of N+ and various pre-1983 arcade games.

I'm a big-playload sort of person. I currently have at least seven games I'm trying to get through; it'll be one more once I find the time to open up Okami, as well.

Admittedly, it might be because of the Christmas rush, but some of the games I got (Rune Factory 2, Persona 4, Disgaea DS, Tag Force 2) might end up lasting a longer period of time than, say, Castlevania X Chronicles (unlocked Symphony of the Night, working through it), Sim City DS, World of Goo, and, well, Okami.

hmm, currently I'm busy with 4 kinds of games. Meccha Taiko no tatsujin, Ace Attorney, Time Hollow and Animal Crossing.
Ace Attorney and Time Hollow are quite time-consuming games... whenever I get stuck, I switch the games and try to get on.
That's hard :D

I'm currently playing Fire Emblem on the GameCube, Madden 09, Wii Fit and The Simpsons Game on the Wii and Dragon Ball Origins and Brain Age on the DS.

I just finished the first Phoenix Wright. When I was playing that game I basically ignored all other games cause it was so interesting.

I can play at most one game per console I own.

Mmm.. I think two.
If i pickup a third I know one of the previous is going to get neglected.

I don't know what my max is, but I'm over it right now. I'm currently working on Final Fantasy IV, Okami, De Blob, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, Persona 3, Psychonauts, and Metal Gear Solid (yes, the original). It's a shorter list right now than it was earlier this week when I had Mother 3 and Crisis Core tacked on there...

Three.

Usually two RPGs/Tactics and one rhythm/goof game at a time, I've got a bunch ongoing but can honestly say I switch through three during a week.

Currently Chrono Trigger, Rune Factory 2 and Osu Tatakae Ouendan.

Max. playload is about 4. Currently juggling between 6, not including the everlasting Etrian Odyssey I and II.

Exit DS, Dragonball Origins, Disgaea DS, Hotel Dusk, Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy IV.

And thats just my DS.

I'd say a lot, but to be perfectly honest, I'm a single game sort of guy. If I buy a bunch of games at once then the chances are high that I will get really engrossed by one, shelve the rest, and likely never come back to them.

On the other side, I'm reading 4 books at once...

Not really sure on the number, it can get to be a lot at times but I locate what I'm playing by system. It's usually one, maybe two each for Wii, 360, and PS2, then a few each for DS, GBA, and emulation, then an older system that I own may appear on my list at times.

I haven't been setting aside much time for gaming lately. 360's taken up by Sonic Unleashed (though I'll play anything else if someone want's to go multiplayer), I've been on and off my PS2 for a replay of Tales of the Abyss, trying to finish up Megaman Star Force 2 and just started replaying Final Fantasy 1, and then there's a little bit of Tales of Phantasia (PS1), Chrono Trigger (DS), and Majora's Mask on the side.

It's inconsistent with me. I usually start long games, play them for a few hours, then pick something else up and forget about the first game... until weeks or months later when I've already forgotten the story and either have to a) start over, or b) just not play it.

Repeat this over and over for different games, and you get the picture.

I usually have about ten going on on each platform at the same time, until I come across a game that grasps me and doesn't let me go until I finish it. It happened last year with Etrian Odyssey and now it's starting to happen again with Etrian Odyssey II.

Although that game just royally pissed me off by locking up in the middle of a 3-day quest, so now I have to start all over again! I have to see if I have the will power to go through the quest all over again...

I'd say my max with how my life is currently with school and all is 2. In the summer much more like 4 or so. I am currently playing GTA 4 and Left 4 Dead.

I can only take one game at a time for each console I use. On my DS, I keep that one game in until it's finished in it's entirety, even if I start to hate it near the end (or beginning...darn you Yoshi's Island DS).

I'm lucky if I can handle one game at a time. Even though I will purchase multiple games a week, I hardly ever play any of them. :(

If it's a great game I only need/want one at a time. Zelda games, Portal (PC, not XBox thanks!) Oblivion, Zak and Wiki are all examples of great games.

I am currently playing Chrono and Castlevania (OoE). Both are great games, but I finished Chrono many times before on SNES and Castlevania is great but I need breaks from it from time to time.

I typically don't try to juggle any more than 3 games at a time. Any more than that and one ends up being put on hold for months at a time.

Depends on the complexity of the game. If its a simple racer or puzzle game - Ill play several at once.

If its a deep RPG or strategy game or some such - Ill usually play one. Mostly because it takes me forever to get reacquainted with what I was doing, where I was going, and how I was doing it.

Took me a week to get back up to speed after I dropped FF Tactics A2... XD

Usually I try to play one game per platform i own.
DS: Chrono Trigger DS
GBA: Ninja Cop
Wii: Super Mario Galaxy
Gamecube: Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
PSP: Megaman Powered Up (mostly, i don't play on PSP much)
You can notice it is one RPG (or adventure game) plus "smaller" action titles which i can jump on anytime.

On Ds I am really good at limiting myself to a game at a time. I find it much easier to play all the way through, because of the easy sleep mode on the DS, every time I pick up my Ds, its ready to go on the current game. On consoles I have more of a problem sticking to just one game at a time, because I have so may more options of what to play.

So to answer, usually I am playing 1ds game, 1psp game, 1gba game and at least one game for each of my major consoles (Ps2, Ps3, Wii, Xbox 360). That makes 7, but I usually am really only focusing on 3 or 4 at a time.

If I have a new game, then I'll probobly stick with that one, then after a week, or two, play multiple games at once.
Currently I'm playing
Pokemon Yellow
Pokemon Silver
Sonic Rush
and Super Mario World (The GBA port)

My max load is about 5 games, but it's a bit uneven, I usually devote more time to one game and I play the others on and off.

I like to stick to one game at a time. I will typically keep an extra game on hand just in case, but I tend to wait it out until I finish the one I'm currently playing (or if it's a game without an ending, like Nintendogs or Animal Crossing, when I get bored of it).

DS Daily: Your maximum playload

Reader Comments (35)

Posted: Jan 15th 2009 9:09AM heimbachae said

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