A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a computer or video game. This saved game can be reloaded later so the player can continue where he or she has stopped. Players usually save games either when the player has to interrupt play for some reason, or to prevent the loss of progress in the game (as might happen after a game over). The term computer file management refers to the manipulation of documents and data in files on a computer. ... A player character or playable character (PC) is a fictional character in a game who is controlled or controllable by the player. ... This article is about computer and video games. ... The Game Over screen from the arcade game Snow Bros. ...

The use of saved games are very common in modern games, especially in role playing games (which are usually too long to be finished in a single sitting). Computer role-playing games (CRPGs), often shortened to simply (RPGs), are a type of computer and video games that use traditional gameplay elements found in pen-and-paper role-playing games. ...

History and overview

In early arcade and video games, there was no need for saving games since these games usually had no actual plot to develop and were generally very short in length. Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ...

The relative complexity and inconvenience of storing game state information on early home computers (and the fact that early video game consoles had no non-volatile data storage) meant that initially game saves were represented as "passwords" (often strings of characters that encoded the game state) that players could write down, and input into the game when resuming. A regular password-inserting screen (from Gods). ...

On later cartridge-based console games, such as The Legend of Zelda, saved games were stored in battery-backed RAM on the game cartridge itself. In recent consoles, which use compact disc and DVD technology for storing games, saved games are stored in other ways, such as by use of memory cards or internal hard drives on the game machine itself. A video game console is a dedicated electronic machine designed to play video games. ... This article is about the first game in the series. ... A four-megabyte RAM card for the VAX 8600 computer (circa 1986). ... In a variety of electronic equipments, a cartridge (in video game terms, cart, game pack, or Game Pak) can be one method of programming different functionality, providing variable content, or a method by which consumables may be replenished. ... The Compact Disc logo was inspired by that of the previous Compact Cassette. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A 32 MB High Speed CompactFlash Type I card A memory card or flash memory card is a solid-state electronic flash memory data storage device used with digital cameras, handheld and laptop computers, telephones, music players, video game consoles, and other electronics. ... Typical hard drives of the mid-1990s. ...

Some games do not save the player's progress towards completing the game, but rather high scores, custom settings, and other features. This is common in older games. High score of the Commodore 64 game Great Giana Sisters. ...

Depending on the game, a player will have the ability to save the game either at any arbitrary point (usually when the game has been paused), after a specific task has been completed (such as at the end of a level), or at designated areas within the game known as save points. Save points are employed either when a game state is too complex to save at any point or when a game would be too easy if the player was allowed to save the game at any time.

Integration of saved game systems into gameplay

Game designers often attempt to integrate the save point into the style of the game. Resident Evil represents save points with old fashioned typewriters (which require an ink ribbon item for each save), the Grand Theft Auto series uses representations appropriate to the era of the setting: audio cassettes for the mid-1980s (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City), 3½-inch disks for the early-1990s (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) and compact discs for the late-1990s (Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories). Many RPGs integrate the function of saving into the form of a journal that the characters can write into, or by auto-saving whenever the character stays at an inn or other resting place. Resident Evil, known as Biohazard (バイオハザード) in Japan, is a successful franchise of survival-horror video games developed by Capcom and created by Shinji Mikami. ... Mechanical desktop typewriters, such as this Underwood Five, were long time standards of government agencies, newsrooms, and sales offices. ... Post-GTA2 design of the Grand Theft Auto logo Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is a computer and video game series created and primarily developed by Scottish developer Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design), published by Rockstar Games and debuted in 1998. ... Typical 60-minute Compact Cassette. ... Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (released in October 2002) is the fourth video game in the hit Grand Theft Auto series. ... A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a ring of thin, flexible (i. ... Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the fifth video game in the Grand Theft Auto series. ... The Compact Disc logo was inspired by that of the previous Compact Cassette. ... A journal (through French from late Latin diurnalis, daily) has several related meanings: a daily record of events or business; a private journal is usually referred to as a diary. ...

Squaresoft is notorious for commonly treating save points as legitimate objects within the game world. In Chrono Trigger, a save point in Magus' castle will actually attack the character if he attempts to use it. In Final Fantasy VII, there is a save point at the Gold Saucer amusement park that forces the player to spend in-game currency to use it (perhaps with a satirical jab towards price gouging at amusement parks). In Final Fantasy VIII, the effects of a mysterious magical spell cause one save point to suddenly replicate into dozens of save points when touched. In Chrono Cross and Xenogears, the character's recording of his memories in the game's various save points becomes a plot point later in the game. Square Co. ... Chrono Trigger ) is a role-playing game (RPG) that was released in Japan on March 11, 1995 for the Super Famicom and in North America on August 22, 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). ... Final Fantasy VII ) is a console and computer role-playing game released by Square Co. ... Amusement park is the more generic term for a collection of rides and other entertainment attractions assembled for the purpose of entertaining a fairly large group of people. ... Price gouging is a term of variable, but nearly always pejorative, meaning, referring to a sellers asking a price that is much higher than what is seen as fair under the circumstances. ... Final Fantasy VIII ) is a computer role-playing game created by Square Co. ... Chrono Cross (クロノ・クロス Kurono Kurosu) is a PlayStation RPG created by Square Co. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

Perhaps one of the most famous integration of saved games in gameplay is Metal Gear Solid. Depending on how often the player saves, Psycho Mantis and Revolver Ocelot comment on how often they save and certain Konami games saved onto the memory card. Metal Gear Solid Packaging Artwork Metal Gear Solid ), commonly abbreviated as MGS, is a stealth-based game developed by Konami and first published for the PlayStation video game console in 1998. ... Psycho Mantis is a fictional character and boss in the game Metal Gear Solid. ... Revolver Ocelot (born June 6, 1944 also referred to as simply Ocelot during his younger days, Шалашаска Shalashaska, in Russian, Adamska, and Liquid Ocelot in the recently revealed trailers for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a fictional character and recurring villain in the Metal Gear... Konami Corporation (コナミ) TYO: 9766 (NYSE: KNM) (SGX: K20) is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling computer and video games. ...

Another way saved games interact with each other, is through passing along data to a particular game's sequels. The most famous example of this is in Konami's own Suikoden series. By having and utilizing a save state from Suikoden's final save point that includes all 108 Stars of Destiny recruited, extra characters and plot elements are introduced in Suikoden II, and both previous games can stack with Suikoden III to show the player even more. Another notable example is the Ratchet & Clank series, with which having saves from previous entries to drastically reduce the price of previously purchased weapons that reappear in later games. Originally released in 1995, this is the first game in the Genso Suikoden series and is based off of the Chinese novel Shui Hu Zhuan. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Ratchet & Clank is a video game franchise. ...

Saved states

Saving games is also possible when playing under arcade and console emulators. These give the advantage of saving games even if the game or the system did not support such feature. This is done by means of a RAM dump, which saves all the RAM data of the emulated console into a computer file for later use. These kind of saved games are usually called "save(d) states." "Save state hacking" is the practice of modifying the data in these saved states to achieve various effects, some of which would be otherwise impossible. An arcade emulator is a program that emulates one or more arcade games on a different computer, such as a PC. See the List of emulators for examples of arcade emulators. ... A console emulator is a program that allows a computer to emulate a video game console. ... An emulator reproducing a console games playable atmosphere on a Windows computer. ... A four-megabyte RAM card for the VAX 8600 computer (circa 1986). ... A computer file is a collection of information that is stored in a computer system and can be identified by its full path name. ...

Some games that feature save points also use a variation of a save state called a suspend save; these saves will record the complete state of the game and the player will continue from that exact point when they resume. However, the point of this save is to allow the player to stop the game because they are interrupted, and do not have time to reach a save point; as such, this save state is erased when the player continues the game, so that the player cannot use this feature to inch their way through the game.

Checkpoints

Checkpoints are locations in a computer or video game (generally found in platform games) where a player's status is saved and where the character respawns in the status saved by the checkpoint, a respawn most often due to the death of the in-game character, but which can also be caused by the failure to meet an objective required to advance in the game. In racing games with a limited race completion time, checkpoints passed by the player increase the lapse of time available to the player to finish the race by incrementing time to the countdown. Platform games, or platformers, are a very popular genre of video games that originated in the early 1980s. ... In computer and video games, especially first-person shooters, spawning is the in-game creation of an entity, for instance a player character, non-player character (NPC), or an item. ... A racing game is any [game or games] that involve(s) competing in races through a surrogate playing piece or vehicle, either getting it from one point to another or completing a number of circuits in the shortest time. ...