Your Gaming Strategem

[Neon Ignition]

As we'll all be painfully aware, everyone has varying constraints on their gaming, usually in the form of available time to play them or money to fund the purchasing of new releases. Some have very few games whilst some have more than they'll ever complete.

So, for you, what is your approach to how you play the games you have. Do you play bits of all sorts, never getting around to completing a title or maybe you spend all your time dedicated to a single game at the expense of others, unwavering until you've maxed it out? Why do you play this way?

For me I tend to play three games at once in varying amounts of playtime:

Primary Game: Usually the big game release of the time that gets a heavy amount of time sunk into it
Secondary Game: A back up title, often something online where progress is less essential or something that's less pressing and quite light going to provide a break from the main title
Retro Game: Something from the mountain of titles I need to go through, tends to get played in tiny chunks here and there

[dataDave]

I'm not allowed to spend tons of money and time on various games these days. Not that I would anyway as so little pleases me.

I just play one game (SSF4) and try to get as good at it as I possibly can. I'm at the arcade every day and practicing at home when I get time to myself.

Most of my non-competitive gaming is done on hand-helds to and from work.

[nakamura]

I have a lot of games but they will keep me entertained for years to come. I have completed around 30-40 games so far this year so I am getting through them. I don't really get on with current gen stuff, find it all rather bland and even the new PSV looks a bit nob. The games seem to be squarely aimed at mass market appeal, which I can understand for sure but as a result I find them watered down. So as a result I tend to play anything up to last gen.

Main game. Usually a meaty title, Metroid Prime most recent and Terranigma is current. Sometimes I have a secondard one too, Xenoblade is that one at the moment.

Side games. Arcade style games, Burnout 3 is one I am chipping away at. Axelay, F-Zero or any other titles you can play for 10 mins or an hour.

Online title, Fifa clubs is this. Prob my most played game every year but I only really enjoy the team aspect which is great.

[Flabio]

I try to play anything I get through to completion before starting on something else, because if I do stop part way through something it can be an *age* before I come back to it (still have the last Castlevania and LA Noire about half done).

XBLA games I tend to dip in and out of more often, and open ended stuff like Rock Band or Street Fighter can go weeks with no play, and then several solid evenings of nothing but.

Sprinkled in amongst that lot are games that I'm playing for research reasons, often come across some entertaining 'b-games' doing this, like 'The Last Templar'. (any game developer that tells you you can only learn from the best games is wrong, every game has something interesting in it. Take 'Quantum Theory', lousy Gears clone but had some really nice morphing level ideas in it)

[abigsmurf]

One console game, one PC game, one handheld game.

Console for when the TV is free, PC when it isn't. Handheld for in bed or the bath.

[Brad]

Same as smurf. Currently that's Witcher 2 on PC, Resident Evil 5 on PS3 and Valkyria Chronicles 2 on PSP. Occasionally online I play MW2, not because it's good but it's what my mates play at work.

All that said, I do dabble in other stuff if I'm not in the mood for the main 3. Kings Bounty : Armored Princess and Oblivion at the moment.

[nakamura]

. Handheld for the bath.

??? I have never risked it myself.

[briareos_kerensky]

??? I have never risked it myself.

I guess it's for when in the bathroom, not when taking a bath.

Right now I'm just playing one game, BBCS2 on the PS3, with a random Starcraft II VS A.I. game if I have only 10 minuters or so available.
When more games are available (like the upcoming months) I start them all, play a couple of hours (or even less) and then concentrate on one title at a time, often forcing myself to take a break with some other game, usually an handheld game, mostly because I can pick a console and play instead of going through the splitter/hub/upscaler maze all my home consoles are connected to.
The games I didn't play much are saved for summer months.

[speedlolita]

Right now, I'm only allowed current gen fighters on PS3 and 360.

I own 3 360 games, 4 PS3 games, 6 PS2 games, 2 Neo Geo games and 3 Game Boy games. Oh, and one Wii game.

The PS2 games are all of the same series.

Gonna have my PS3/PS2/360/Wii plugged into LCD for general use - although rarely used as I don't play online anymore although I assume the girlfriend will be using Wii Fit when we get that a lot.

Gonna have a pure 15khz setup on my desk with a Model 1 Saturn, PS1 and my Neo Geo / supergun once I've gotten around to doing all that.

If I get games now to play, say perhaps Bayonetta 2, I'll just sell them on when completed. And by completed I mean, clear the story on normal setting and stop playing.

I've gotten as good at SSFIVAE/BlazBlue as I'd like to considering I play them casually - I'd have to regularly visit London to get better because I don't like playing online.