Keeping track of your high scores

[Ramses]

I'm curious to hear what other people do to keep track of their high scores on old games. I've been playing a lot of Atari 2600 and Colecovision as of late, and I've been trying to figure out a good system. Right now I just take a picture of the screen with my phone which worked well at first, that is until the number or pictures increased and I had to dig through the old ones to see if the score was beaten. I might just go back to old way of just righting them down on a piece of paper though it would probably get lost eventually. Maybe there's a database app or something that would make it easier?

Edited November 1, 2017 by Ramses

[Gabriel]

I have a hardcover journal where I list games and update my scores as well as the game variations (if applicable) and dates I achieved them.

I don't worry about screenshots. My scores are for me.

[jaybird3rd]

Same here. Just a small notepad, with one page devoted to each game. If I beat an old record, I scratch it out and write in the new score, along with the date. If I don't already have a page for a game, I start a new one. Simple and inexpensive.

[fiddlepaddle]

I usually write it on a 3x5 card and include it with the cartridge, sometimes I just use a post-it for small carts like GB.

 

Too often over the years I've had too much work to convert a file format or media format. Sometimes, paper is better, especially for simple things like this.

[djour]

I never have, maybe I'm lazy, but mostly I just don't think it's important. Maybe I should start and include the scores on my YouTube channel?

[Cynicaster]

Most of my gaming is MAME and I have my cabinet set up to save high scores, which is great. Sometimes I'll fire up a game that I haven't played in years and see one of my old scores up there and find myself thinking "how on earth did I get that score?" Then I'll spend an hour or two trying to beat it again, which is really fun, and kind of rewarding when you succeed. IMO, you need score goals to get the most out of most old games--otherwise you're just doing repetitive things over and over again at a gradually faster pace.

 

For stuff where autosaving is not possible, I find an app like OneNote on a phone or tablet is great solution. You log the scores right after you achieve them, they sync to the cloud automatically, and you can then access them on any device. You can even include screenshots next to the scores for posterity.

 

Of course the good ol' notebook and pen works, too. But I play games often when I travel, and I'm not going to carry a score book around with me.

[VectorGamer]

There's an app for pinball scores called Pindigo. You take a picture of your score and upload it to the app. You can follow other people, comment on their scores and compare your scores not only with your followers but with everyone that uses the app.

 

Someone needs to develop an app like this for classic video games.

[Silverfleet]

Ever since digital cameras became a thing, I just started taking pics of them. I use my smartphone these days because it's always the closest camera.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

I store all my high scores in text documents on my computer, with the games ordered alphabetically and a different document for each system. For example, here's a copy/paste of my Atari 7800 high score list:

 

 

 

Jin's Atari 7800 High Scores

---------------------------------------------

Asteroids: (Intermediate) 46,590 (Advanced) 21,480

Astro Fighter: (Normal) 6,780

Beef Drop: 46,300

Centipede: (Novice) 400,205 (Standard) 227,992

(Advanced) 127,520 (Expert) 122,136

Choplifter!: 62

Commando: (Standard) 92,500

Crossbow: (Joystick) 575,500

Dark Chambers: (Standard) 503,350

Dig Dug: 86,530

Donkey Kong: (Standard) 111,100 (Advanced) 50,300 (Expert) 42,600

Donkey Kong PK: (Arcade) 96,600

Donkey Kong Junior: (Standard) 142,900 (Advanced) 88,700 (Expert) 88,000

Double Dragon: 113,900

Dungeon Stalker: (Standard) 22,700

FailSafe: (Intermediate) 65,200

Food Fight: (Intermediate) 173,300 (Advanced) 361,600

Frenzy!: 9,654

Frenzy! - Berzerk: 2,370

Froggie: 10,290

Galaga: (Advanced) 171,110

Ikari Warriors: (Intermediate) 65,300

Joust: (Intermidate) 91,950

Mario Bros.: (Standard) 95,290

Motor Psycho: (Track 1) 508,113

Ms. Pac-Man: (Cherries) 78,290

Ninja Golf: (Easy) 154,850 (Normal) 159,940 (Hard) 181,650

Pac-Man Collection - Ms. Pac-Man: 48,960

Pac-Man Collection - Ms. Pac-Man (Fast Mode): 127,080

Pac-Man Collection - Ms. Pac-Man Plus: 21,490

Pac-Man Collection - Pac-Man: 27,260

Pac-Man Collection - Pac-Man Plus: 37,980

Pete Rose Baseball: 13 to 10

Planet Smashers: (Easy) 193,025

Pole Position II: (Test) 72,100 (Fuji) 70,100 (Seaside) 65,400 (Suzuka) 30,080

Robotron 2084: (Intermediate) 10,003,600 (Advanced) 719,900 (Challenge) 205,575

Scramble: (Normal) 120,680 (Hard) 94,800

Space Invaders: 3,900

Super Pac-Man: (Apple) 38,038

Xevious: (Intermediate) 222,080 (Advanced) 211,600

 

 

 

If I had a copy of AtariWriter and a 1050 disk drive I'd keep backups of all my high score lists on 5¼" floppy disks like a real pro retro gamer, but sadly I'm not quite cool enough for that yet.

Edited November 1, 2017 by Jin

[Ramses]

There's an app for pinball scores called Pindigo. You take a picture of your score and upload it to the app. You can follow other people, comment on their scores and compare your scores not only with your followers but with everyone that uses the app.

 

Someone needs to develop an app like this for classic video games.

 

Yeah, that would be really nice. I'm surprised no one has made an app like that for classic video games yet.

[Ramses]

Most of my gaming is MAME and I have my cabinet set up to save high scores, which is great. Sometimes I'll fire up a game that I haven't played in years and see one of my old scores up there and find myself thinking "how on earth did I get that score?" Then I'll spend an hour or two trying to beat it again, which is really fun, and kind of rewarding when you succeed. IMO, you need score goals to get the most out of most old games--otherwise you're just doing repetitive things over and over again at a gradually faster pace.

 

For stuff where autosaving is not possible, I find an app like OneNote on a phone or tablet is great solution. You log the scores right after you achieve them, they sync to the cloud automatically, and you can then access them on any device. You can even include screenshots next to the scores for posterity.

 

Of course the good ol' notebook and pen works, too. But I play games often when I travel, and I'm not going to carry a score book around with me.

 

Yeah, that's why I've started keeping track of my scores as well. Also, some games play a lot differently when you play that way instead of surviving as long as you can. It becomes more strategic and you can discover more depth in the gameplay (if the game has a good scoring system).

 

I'll have to mess around with OneNote. Sounds like it's what I'm looking for.

Edited November 2, 2017 by Ramses

[Cynicaster]

 

Yeah, that's why I've started keeping track of my scores as well. Also, some games play a lot differently when you play that way instead of surviving as long as you can. It becomes more strategic and you can discover more depth in the gameplay (if the game has a good scoring system).

 

I'll have to mess around with OneNote. Sounds like it's what I'm looking for.

 

That's a very good point about how playing for score reveals a game's true depth. If all you care about is beating as many levels as you can, then you lose that risk/reward dynamic that really amps up the tension in lots of games.

 

I am running the free OneNote app on my iPhone, I have to believe there is also one for Android and Mac. For any Windows 10 systems you have (PC, tablet, laptop, etc.) you can get a free OneNote app from the Windows store. It doesn't have the full functionality that comes in the full MS Office suite, but it's fine for most purposes.

 

Lastly, you can use your Windows ID to log in to the OneNote "web app" at www.onenote.com. The nice thing about that is it means you can use any computer with an internet connection to access/edit your notebooks. These all sync together automatically so once you enter info to your notebook from any of these sources, all of the others will instantly have it as well. I use it for pretty much everything, both at work and in my personal life.

Edited November 2, 2017 by Cynicaster

[The Mr. Video]

I write them down using a good ol' pencil and notepad. Mainly because the notepad's small enough for me to quickly jot down high scores and I don't have to turn on a computer or anything to look at them.

As of now my high score list is about 5 and a half pages long!

[Tanooki]

When I was a kid I did this. If any of you ever had Nintendo Power magazine in the 80s/early 90s they gave out this lime green looking small journal and I took all sorts of notes in it. Passwords, max stats for certain stuff, various useful codes, and other good information for all the games I was playing at the time (mainly SNES stuff.)

[Neo 64]

I don't keep track of high scores, I don't see the need. Can someone tell me the benefits of keeping track of your scores?

Edited November 5, 2017 by Neo 64

[Video]

I rarely keep track of scores, but would probably write them in a game journal like how I do with passwords, hints, cheats etc.

 

One of my copies of pitfall 2 has scores written on the back in old school permanent marker, you know those old school silver and brown ones that are actually permanent.

 

I see little need for high scores, even bitd because, that was a public bragging rights thing for arcade games, not home games. Most those could be beaten, error scores, crashing, have an end etc. My goal was always to play better, and longer, and chasing a high score, even in games where that is the intent of the game, is often detremental to that objective.

[Cynicaster]

I don't keep track of high scores, I don't see the need. Can someone tell me the benefits of keeping track of your scores?

 

Well, "benefit" is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose... if you see no value then there is none.

 

I agree that score doesn't mean a whole lot in post-SMB platform games and the like where "finishing the game" is clearly the goal. But if you play late 70s to early 80s games, I'd wonder why you even bother if you don't think score matters. In most of those games, there is no "finishing the game" and you quickly reach a point where there is nothing further to "explore." So what's left? If you're not trying to improve your score, you might as well be playing with a fidget spinner.

 

 

 

I see little need for high scores, even bitd because, that was a public bragging rights thing for arcade games, not home games. Most those could be beaten, error scores, crashing, have an end etc. My goal was always to play better, and longer, and chasing a high score, even in games where that is the intent of the game, is often detremental to that objective

 

Huh? High scores not being a thing with home games is news to me. You must not play much pre-crash stuff. If somebody asked you back then how good you are at Pressure Cooker or Demon Attack, you're saying you'd answer "my personal best is screen #37"...? I'm not being a smart ass, I'm genuinely trying to understand your point.

[VectorGamer]

I see little need for high scores, even bitd because, that was a public bragging rights thing for arcade games, not home games.

 

 

Huh? High scores not being a thing with home games is news to me.

 

It's not like gaming magazines of the era kept track of scores or you can earn patches from software companies.

[Eltigro]

First, let me say that I haven't actively kept track of high scores in quite a while, but I get it.

 

I don't know what the first arcade game to save high scores was, but I guess for those, it would be more about bragging rights. The games are there at the local hangout, and people see the high scores and get to put in their initials when they get in the top ten or whatever. Everyone guns for the top. If someone is dethroned, they fight to try to get back on top. At least, that's how I imagine it would have been for serious gamers playing the most popular game at the arcade... For home consoles, I see it more as a way to track your skill progression. Those high scores will creep upwards... at some point, you will rarely score below what was previously a personal best. Most of these games were games that didn't have an end. No final level or whatever. So keeping track of a high score was the only way to really track how good you had gotten at a game. (Admittedly, some do have an unintentional ending, like the 256th level in Pac Man or whatever... but it's mainly because, I think, the programmers originally thought that players would never get that far, so they didn't bother to fix any issues that would arise from such a high level.)

 

Then games started to have "endings" or a defined goal to work towards. The aim could be just "beating" the game, like in games such as Mega Man or similar games, where you progress though levels toward a game ending. Then, when someone talks about a game, you can say you've beaten it. It's changed, but it's still the same idea. A way of measuring skill progression. Taking that further, there are speed runners. Nowadays, many people can say they've beaten Super Mario Bros for the NES, but now it becomes how fast can you do it? Again, it's all about a way of measuring skill progression.

 

Today's modern games? How do we know when we've "finished" a game like GTA V? Is it when we completed the main story missions? Is it when we've won all the races? Is it when we've bought all the different guns, have a full garage, and a big house? More and more often these days, for games on modern consoles, the way to track skill progression is through achievements or trophies. I don't know how many times I've seen pictures on Reddit of people showing how they've finally Platinum trophied a game or one hundred percented a game. There's The Completionist on YouTube who will play a game and often considers himself finished when he's gotten all possible achievements. But we can look at how many trophies we've earned, or which achievements we've earned. And... other people, our friends online can also see what we have accomplished. I can even get updates when a friend gets an achievement on XBox Live or whatever. And there's a monthly tally of who has gotten the most achievement points each month (last month I was second out of all my friends... not a great accomplishment, because I've not got many friends on XBox Live, but whatever).

 

So... we've gone from getting a high score that shows up on a list on an arcade game so we can be proud or have bragging rights to getting a high achievement number on XBox Live that shows up on a list online so we can be proud or have bragging rights...

[Cynicaster]

Actually, the lack of meaningful merit systems is one of the primary gripes I have with modern games. A traditional numeric score wouldn't make much sense in most of them, and the trophy bullshit is pointless, IMO, because it usually says more about how many hours somebody has wasted on a game than it says about their skills.

[Eltigro]

As far as the trophy thing goes, it's really, I think, a combination. Sure some are just ones that anyone can get if they spend enough time playing. For example, there's one in Forza 6 that is something like "Race 300 laps in multiplayer. You could lose every race and still get that one eventually. Some, though, are more skill based. For example, there are often ones for something like completing the game in hard difficulty. Some are a combination of the two. One that comes to mind is one where you get an achievement for winning a match/race against a member of the development staff. You could win race after race after race and never get matched up with a development staff member. So you'd need skill and luck/time playing to get one like that.

 

I will say though, that comparing achievement point totals (I'm more familiar with the XBox achievements than the Playstation trophy stuff) is weighted. More difficult achievements are usually worth more points while easy stuff is less. I think I've seen a range of something like from 5 points to upwards of 300 or 400 points. And yes, some of these are just a time spent playing kind of deal. (There's one in Madden '06 worth 400 points for going through 30 years worth of football seasons. I've never played a Madden game... looked this up online.) But really, it's about as close as we have right now.

 

Other than that, there are some games that have online scoreboards or whatever. In Forza, there are leaderboards that show lap times. In games like Call of Duty, there are stats kept for players like kill/death ratios (again, don't play them, but I've heard of such a thing). These are definitely skill based (unless someone is cheating... I've seen some lap times that are impossibly low...).

 

My main point is, the old arcade high score table is kinda still around. It has just evolved/mutated into something else. And if someone says they don't get the point of keeping high scores, but they know what their Playstation trophy count is, they need to rethink things.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Eltigro

[Video]

My only experience for a pressure cooker, outside of a steam engine project bitd but that didn't work to well.

 

I do know the vast majority of people when asked, say, how good they are at pacman, will say something to the extent of "oh I can usually get to the fifth key levels" rather than "I get x hundred thousand" or whatever.

 

Tetris would be a good example. I can go for 50 levels, or go for a high score, which will be higher, but likely kill me off by level 10.

 

I guess it depends on the game, but most you can have fun with, or go through pre scripted dance moves for a score, but very few are well enough designed to do both. I just never particularly gave two craps about scores. I'm not an achievement chaser either, honestly I'd like the option of opting out of that crap. I play games to have fun, and limiting to a meer score just isn't for me.

[pjs]

I started using Highscore.com. I can honestly say that it has put a lot of new life into my old games. Especially 7800 and 2600. The site is easy to use, and adds a bit of competition. (Whether it be with yourself or the other gamers on the site.)

 

I was using a notebook but pages would get torn, it would disappear, etc. At least I know those scores will be out there for a while, as long as the site is up.

[Keatah]

I keep track of only a few games' hi-scores. So either a simple free-form text file works or a piece of paper and pencil.

 

I dislike specialized apps for something like this because you never know when it'll be shut down, or upgraded into something you don't like, or all-of-a-sudden require a subscription fee. And all the motions you have to go through to make it all work, setup, accounts & passwords, and all that. It's too much for something simple like this.

[StickerPeeler]

I didn't see anyone mention the VG Collection Tracker app yet. I use it for inventory and for high scores and completed games as well.

The way I do it is to snap a pic of the screen or just scribble it down and then just jot it down to the app.

It depends on what game I'm playing. Speedy games like Fast Food and Yar's Revenge tend to lock me into scribbles more than not.