Saving Saves: Taking our Progress for Granted

There was a death in my household last week. It happened without warning in front of my own eyes. I was in a flustered panic; I didn't know what to do; do I call someone? Should I handle the corpse myself? Millions of thoughts raced in my head, but one in particular stood out the most which defined the significance of this demise:“What the f******** is going to happen to my save data?”

Hate to use a tired image, but this is the exact face I made when it happened.

My fat, 60GB PS3 suffered a Yellow Light of Death (or YLOD), and I didn't back up my save data to prepare for it. I was pretty pissed off because that would mean that a) I would have to get it repaired somehow and b) I lost a ton of good save data. I transferred all of my PSX and PS2 save data onto my PS3 for whatever reason a couple of years ago because I thought my PS3 would be a “safe place to put them” (ugh, idiot).

Some really good saves from the PSX like my 200.6% completion of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (yes, 200.6% is a full clear, the Japanese are hilarious) and my autistically-accomplished “did nearly everything possible in the game under 50 hours” Final Fantasy 7 save as well as some good PS2 game saves were nestled in the hard drive of my dead PS3. I felt that the little gamer inside of me, the one that helped create those very save games as I grew up, was going throw a tantrum and beat me to death (but not really since the little gamer me isn't very athletic and has the punching power of cat hair falling on a cotton ball).

When save games get lost, corrupted, or deleted, it's a pretty sh*t*y feeling. It's similar to when you're working on a 10 page paper and your computer crashes, or when you're baking a turkey for Thanksgiving and you leave it in the over for too long, or when you're excavating the cadaver of your dead wife out of loneliness only to find out you dug up the wrong grave – you gotta start over, right? But do you actually suck it up and restart on a new save file, or do you just say f-it and give up completely? With games that have a dreadful first-20 hours of gameplay like Final Fantasy XIII, I wasn't planning on doing the former.

Hell, back in the day, save files didn't even exist (I am now a cranky old man)! Games for the NES (and even some games for the Genesis or SNES) used password systems, with some requiring you to input as many as 40 letters/symbols/bananas to continue your progress. Some games didn't even use a save system! Can you imagine the kids today, who grow up on save states and checkpoints every 10 steps in every modern game, having to play the original Mega Man, Contra, Ninja Gaiden, or even Super Mario Bros without a way to save? They'd break into tears at the title screen ('cuz it has no continue option!!! Get it???)

This is a password screen from the Mega Man series of games. As a kid I didn't know how to read grids so I physically drew this out (by kid I mean senior in high school).

But those save files you keep that have stood the test of time (because your console didn't die, or your cartridge batteries didn't go out, or your niece didn't overwrite your save file) are quite the gems. They're like achievements or trophies in its purest form; it was definitely you and only you alone who beat Chrono Trigger and got all the endings because it was you who named the main character (Crono) “Butt” and the lead woman (Marle) “Boobs.” It's always nice to boot up some old save files and see all that you've accomplished and feel good about yourself. It's also a nice way to add up the total hours played of the save files as a means to contribute to self-deprecating humor.

"Hell yeah dude 24x the space as a normal memory card, AND it's cheaper?? I'm in, bro!!" *all the files get erased after 2 days*

Fortunately, my PS3 ended up working again (thanks to the internet and having friends with the proper tools), and I was able to back up all of its data. I've wondered if this was a sign that my save files will continue to live on, and entertained the possibility that eventually my offspring will venture into my Demon's Souls file and play my New Game+ file with Julio Travesty (the name of my character). Seconds later, I decided not to think about anything ever again. I'm glad I saved myself.