How often do you guys multitask while playing, or game on multiple platforms at the same time?
The last few days I've been playing Persona 3 FES on the PS2. The friend who gave me the PS2 also lent me this game and insisted I play it (even though I still have about ten other PS2 games I bought for cheap last year that I still haven't touched, not the mention all the Wii, DS, and PC games I feel I'm "behind" on.) I could've left the PS2 upstairs, but moved it down to the main TV room. My brother is still insistent on getting his thirty minutes in Wii Fit Plus in every day (studying like a madman, giving up all video games, except for Wii Fit Plus, apparently) and so I'm thankful for the split-screen function on our TV which despite having for years I've never utilized that function that much. But besides allowing me to fight Shadows while my brother gets his minutes in, I've also done some multitasking on my own.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, I recall that "smashing" the control stick earned a Coin in most modes, including Target Test. It used to be a habit that when I watched a DVD movie, I would start Young Link's Target Test (probably because he starts in an enclosed area) and just tap the control stick mindlessly for however long the movie was. Because I didn't need to watch Young Link repeatedly crouching, it was easy enough to do anything else as long as I didn't mind one hand on the GameCube controller while flicking my thumb constantly. When I was done the movie, I'd have so many more Coins to buy new Trophies with. (Now if only I could do something similar in Brawl...)
While I did my Transformers series marathons the last two years (watching an episode of G1, Beast Wars, or Beast Machines daily), I also did some running in Wii Fit or Wii Fit Plus. Sometimes my "running" was just walking, but it was a lot more productive than just being sedentary. Now I can't usually watch TV or a movie at home without doing at least one other thing. The split-screen or picture-in-picture function is good for TV shows I watch but don't need to have my eyes glued on constantly like The Biggest Loser (I can usually just hear what's going on) while playing console games, but usually it's easier with a DS (ironic, since there are more screens
). I did have some trouble "grinding" in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, since it's not the kind of RPG that you can just keep mashing some attack command, and actually requires timing (like all other Mario RPGs) but thanks to constantly-healing equipment, I didn't get into trouble that often even when my attention was split.
The most extreme case was when I was doing the Negalmuur "auto-levelling" trick in Final Fantasy XII. After setting it up, I could also run in Wii Fit, while playing a DS game. I think if I was also grinding in a DS game, I could also watch a TV show or DVD at the same time. Though really, other than getting paranoid and having to check on FF XII on occasion, I suppose that truly counts as three things at a time, not four. I don't see how I could top that, unless I was running more stuff in the background, like on one of the computers, since my legs (Wii Fit/Plus), hands (DS) and eyes (TV/movie) are fully occupied.
Now I'm wondering if I'm the only one who multitasks while gaming, or if maybe I'm trying a little too hard to be efficient.
