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[IDruggedShamu]

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[S20-TBL]

Sorry dude, but your life demands get priority. I learned that the hard way and am learning it still. At some point your PS3 will indeed end up gathering dust.

Therefore I'm inclined to say just keep the shmups and play them with your (future) kids. XD

[brentsg]

Honestly, once I hit married life.. and especially w/kids.. arcade-style games make much more sense than other genres. It's much easier to squeeze in a few arcade credits than it is to find time to play through an RPG or similar. Sadly I still try to pick up other kinds of games and find the time, but usually they gather dust. I'd say 90%+ of my gaming time is arcade or handheld.

Now if you're planning on clearing both loops of a Cave game, or taking down the occasional TLB then you probably still need to dedicate more time to it than I do. YMMV.. but I still find them rewarding playing in the limited time that I have available.

[mjclark]

I got into Caravan shmups for exactly this reason- you can catch 3 or 5 mins of Soldier Blade time attack and it's a complete experience.
At the moment I give mysef a few credits on MAME (DDP DOJBL right now) in between washing up and making those important phonecalls.
Truth is that hobbies become just that- minor diversions from what's really going on in your life.
Although a few might disagree, I'd rather have a happy family life than hold the world record for Ketsui

[Vyxx]

Honestly, once I hit married life.. and especially w/kids.. arcade-style games make much more sense than other genres. It's much easier to squeeze in a few arcade credits than it is to find time to play through an RPG or similar. Sadly I still try to pick up other kinds of games and find the time, but usually they gather dust. I'd say 90%+ of my gaming time is arcade or handheld.

This.

Getting married is one thing, but once you enter kids into the equation your free time to enjoy your hobbies becomes very small, and very spontaneous. You never know when you might get a 30 minute break, so it's nice to have arcade games (mainly shmups for me) on hand and ready to go. I can always run to the man cave, play me some Ibara, and then get back to daily life.

[whoozwah]

add another to the "arcade games make life easier" list. They're pick-up-and-play and are designed to be enjoyed in short bursts or long sessions based on your preference. The best thing I can tell you is just play what you FEEL like playing at that particular moment. when you eventually catch that PS3 bug, you'll fire it up

[CptRansom]

How in the world do you guys balance genres?

I pretty much only play STGs anymore. I'm COMPLETELY unfocused even within the one genre... I shudder to think of adding even MORE.

[IDruggedShamu]

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[emphatic]

Honestly, once I hit married life.. and especially w/kids.. arcade-style games make much more sense than other genres. It's much easier to squeeze in a few arcade credits than it is to find time to play through an RPG or similar. Sadly I still try to pick up other kinds of games and find the time, but usually they gather dust. I'd say 90%+ of my gaming time is arcade or handheld.

This.

+1

This week I'm alone in the evenings (GF at work, kids asleep, hopefully) so I can do pretty much what I want for a couple of hours. I'll try to make it to stage 4 in DDP-DFK BL Arrange tonight. Or play some Hacha Mecha Fighter.

[mjclark]

I got a very late start in my studies and even my life because of poor decisions (went through A one-year drug and alcohol rehab in 06, been 100 % sober ever since!! )

Congratulations! I guess we should take shmups One Day At A Time too!

[Skykid]

Lol, the dude's asking about balancing gaming genres, and you lot start talking about balancing social lives.

I think we've all been playing game too long. Everything non-gaming related is now just a 'genre' too.

[MR_Soren]

Sometime during the SNES era, (High school / early college) I started focusing on RPG and Strategy games because they were "intelligent" compared to action games like Contra and R-Type. More recently, I began avoiding most RPGs because they don't fit into my life. As a result, I managed to rediscover the fun I had playing arcade-style action games, and I discarded the idiotic notion that they were "dumb" compared to RPGs.

That said, I can spend as much time playing an STG as I do an RPG. The only difference is that I can also play an STG for 15-30 minutes and still have as much fun, while an RPG usually cannot be enjoyed without a longer session. Higher FPM too. (fun per minute)

[Despatche]

PS3 + shmups = what the hell?

Lol, the dude's asking about balancing gaming genres, and you lot start talking about balancing social lives.

Because you didn't read the post... as expected.

[IDruggedShamu]

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[captpain]

I balance nothing and instead just play video games all day every day.

[Kollision]

I don't need to balance genres.
I only play shmups.

[burgerkingdiamond]

I don't need to balance genres.
I only play shmups.

haha. That's me pretty much. before I graduated college I had the time to sit down for 3 hours and play something involved like fallout 3. Now with a "real" job and stuff I don't have time. Too bad though cuz I bet New Vegas is sweet.

[Blackbird]

My advice is to spend your time wisely. By all means, spend a little time with a lot of games to see which ones you like the best. Dabble, but don't spend much time on any one title. Once you've figured out which game(s) you like the best and are the most deserving of your attention, then you can sit down with those games and spend a little more time on them. Alternatively, see which games your friends will play with you. It's always fun when you can co-op/compete.

You've got to pick and choose, because, regrettably, there just isn't enough time in life to play them all .

I've played a lot of games, but mastered only a few.

[Shogun]

I picked up shmups recently too and since then my PS3 has mostly been used only as a media server. I've been contemplating getting an xbox which is something I would never have done previously. Arcade games are a great way to play something and not be tied down for at least an hour which many modern games have a tendency to do. You just start it up and off you go. The only non-shooting game I'm playing atm is the God of War series because I've been putting off playing them for years and finally bought them recently.

[gum_drops]

I don't find it that difficult. Arcade games are fun, but so is playing HD games on a nice set with surround sound. Most never games have enough save states that its not too hard to have mini gaming sessions, especially with titles like dead space and god or war. I usually rotate a pcb through my cab along with a mini MVS which sits in there also. The cab is nice for quick gaming sessions, just hit the switch and I am off. With modern consoles there are several minutes of turning stuff on, switching inputs, and loading screens.

My advice is to spend your time wisely. By all means, spend a little time with a lot of games to see which ones you like the best. Dabble, but don't spend much time on any one title.

I somewhat agree, that is until Diablo III comes out.

[Hair]

The OP doesn't sound like he doesn't have time to play, he just has too many consoles to spread his time between. I only have a Saturn, DC, and PC and I have *WAY* too much stuff to play. Used to have a 360 but sold it before it started getting Cave games, now I do want to buy one again, but I do not miss the other consoles I sold. If you are mainly really into Shmups, fighters, and other arcade genres, and not so much typical console genres, some otherwise great consoles aren't really worth owning, IMO. You can keep your PS3 for RPGs or something I guess...

With my limited console collection it is easy to divide the time based on what I am in the mood to play. If I never play a console because it doesn't offer me much (such as PS1 and PS2), I just sell it. The consoles and PC I have now all get used about equally.

The OP does have time to game (even if it isn't as much as a single person with less on their plate), but may not really need more than 1 or 2 consoles, or 1 console and a PC. If you love shmups but don't want to spend a lot of money for games because you are worried you won't have enough time to make them worth the cost, a PC is all you need.

Don't play that PS3 because you feel you have to. If you don't use it, ditch it. Just keep in mind that in nine or ten years the PS3 might have the start of a good game library

[chempop]

I basically gave up non-shmups. Occasionally I'll play a platformer or something, maybe every few years I'll powerplay an RPG if I'm on vacation from work. I was nearly certain that Bayonetta and Vanquish would be must-buys for me, but with all the other releases recently I haven't even bothered with them. I am excited about The Last Guardian, but probably will never own a PS3.

[Special World]

My PS3 doesn't get much love, either. I'd like to have some games on it that I love to play, but there's really nothing for me there. So I just play my 360 all the time and occasionally my Wii, and I'm content with that. You don't really NEED to balance genres, unless you wanna reach out for some multiplay with friends, you're writing gaming articles. or you just want to diversify your experience. I've tried a lot of big blockbuster titles recently, and none of them have really done it for me like any Cave shooter has. MvC3 has been really fun, and I enjoyed Donkey Kong Country Returns, but that's about it. For me, it's all about scrolling shooters and XBLA titles such as Meat Boy and Pac Man CE DX.

[Shelcoof]

I'm in the same situation with too many games and very little time to play them all. When I say too many I honestly really mean it.

I actually created an spreadsheet with all the video games I own and categorized according to system and genres. Games I play are greatly affected on where I am in the house and what time it is during the day. Living room has the PS2, Wii, Bed room has the PS3 and PS2, my basement has pretty much all the systems down there.

I created a schedule for certain genres. Example would be if I had time to play in the morning it would be a single player game could be action/adventure or whatever. Later during the evenings when most of my friends come online to play I'll play a FPS or something or a Fighting game just because people I know are online I can enjoy a few games with. Then when it gets really late at night and I just want to relax a bit before going to bed I'll pick up an RPG and continue from where I left off.

Sometimes it doesn't work according to my schedule but the most important thing is I try and play a variety of genres on all my systems that I own. I know sometimes its very hard to decide on what to chose but all I do is go to my spreadsheet and look at the next game on the list and I turn it on. Once I get playing its very hard to stop.

[Blackbird]

I actually created an spreadsheet with all the video games I own and categorized according to system and genres. ... I know sometimes its very hard to decide on what to chose but all I do is go to my spreadsheet and look at the next game on the list and I turn it on.

Dang, man. That's hardcore o_O. I'm broke, so that makes videogame "scheduling" simple for me. I simply look around until I find a game I know I'll really enjoy. After buying it, I'll play the heck out of it until it's thoroughly beaten. Usually by the time that's done, I'll have just about enough saved up to get the next game, so the cycle continues.

[maxlords]

I find that I go through phases of one genre or the other. Sometimes when I have more time I sit down with lengthier games. Other times I only feel like 20 or 30 minute sessions with some shmup goodness. The older I get the less time I have though...and the more games to play *sigh*

[Shelcoof]

Dang, man. That's hardcore o_O. I'm broke, so that makes videogame "scheduling" simple for me. I simply look around until I find a game I know I'll really enjoy. After buying it, I'll play the heck out of it until it's thoroughly beaten. Usually by the time that's done, I'll have just about enough saved up to get the next game, so the cycle continues.

lol thats awesome I wish I had your problem. It beats wasting money on games I don't touch haha. I think quit a number of people are guilty of buying games they plan on playing and never getting the chance to get to them. I just started playing Mario Galaxy about maybe two days ago. I bought it on release and just finally started playing it now. Not only that but I own New Super Mario Bros and Mario Galaxy 2 all factory sealed just waiting for me to finish first Mario Galaxy.

There are tons of games I have that are unopened waiting for me to play, unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to get through them all.

[Blackbird]

Yeah, that's kind of a pet peeve of mine when people buy games and then don't play them. What a waste =P.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Yeah, that's kind of a pet peeve of mine when people buy games and then don't play them. What a waste =P.

Due to me spending so much of my time playing freeware and old emulated games and still continuing to conservativly buy games that are on my must play list, My unplayed games pile is forever growing (although my 64YO Dad likes FPS / Adventure games so I often let him borrow those games before I get around to playing them) Still been primaly a PC gamer who likes physical media over DLC. Im often forced to buy them (cheaply at a large discount) due to local retailers giving only a small shelf space and PC titles given a limit time period before its replaced by another game.

And due to DLC there been no used PC game sales. Its a case of buyt them while I can. Still even though it might take a year or 2 before I get around to playing them I will eventually want to play them a Ild rather have the legit version then be forced to pirate it or get it off Steam if available

EDIT Concerning the OP's topic. I personally likes most genres and likes to play my games to completion so what I genrally to I share my time between 1 non shmup (ive just completed Darksiders) and 1 shmup, plus I might spend the odd 30-60 minutes an other games if I fancy doing so.

My advice to anybody trying to juggle games is to be aware of your goals are for whatever shmup your playing and how much effort and hours youll think youll need to achieve that goal. For example if you just casually playing a different shmup every day or so is alot less demanding then trying to get a Cave 1CC or a WR of which is a much lager time sink. Thats why I recommend time strapped 1CCers to no bite off too much that they can chew and pick shmups (and other games) that are appropiate for their ability and skill level. Thats why Cave easy mode or easy doujin shmups are much better picks for noobs (or autobomb, shield and health meters)

PC shmups like these http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35343 or blue wish resurrection, Demolition Gunner ISAD, Crimson Clover Simple mode or exceed 3rd black package

[MR_Soren]

Yeah, that's kind of a pet peeve of mine when people buy games and then don't play them. What a waste =P.

Pet peeve of mine too. Unfortunately, I'm guilty of the same thing. Huge pile of unplayed games. Just not enough time for them all. I've finally started buying fewer games to get this under control.