High score lists in older console games... pointless?

[mbd30]

Unless the scores are saved to battery backup (did any games actually do that?), they shouldn't even have included this feature in stuff for Sega Genesis, etc. It's just a minor annoyance. I guess it was to make the games seem more authentically arcade-like.

[Rybags]

Most arcade games up to probably the late 1980s also lost the high score when you turned them off.

[mbd30]

Most arcade games up to probably the late 1980s also lost the high score when you turned them off.

 

Interesting. How long did they usually keep these games running at a stretch? Did most arcades turn them all off at closing?

Edited July 19, 2009 by mbd30

[StanJr]

Yeah, NES games with high score charts that clear every time you turn the game off just seemed stupid to me, even as a kid. I was an only child, so unless I just sat there and played the game for hours, what good were 8 high score slots to me?

[CGQuarterly]

I agree, especially when the high scores are really low. I agree that it is probably just to bring the game closer to a true arcade experience. I wouldn't call it an annoyance though. Just unnecessary.

 

Chris

[Polybius]

I would like the high score list if the cart could actually save your score. Couldnt they just have installed a battery of a chip of some sort, like in a computer?

[BydoEmpire]

I wish classic games saved high scores as well, but the pre-existing list never really bothered me. Sometimes it was fun to see who's names they put in there (programmer's initials, etc).

 

My guess is that it would have been too expensive back in the day to have a battery in the cart. Was Zelda the first cart to have battery-backed storage? I can't think of anything prior. I don't recall that being priced at a premium, maybe it was $10 more. Certainly the battery-equipped RPGs were expensive, but they typically had more memory as well.

Edited July 19, 2009 by BydoEmpire

[Nukey Shay]

Most arcade games up to probably the late 1980s also lost the high score when you turned them off.

 

Interesting. How long did they usually keep these games running at a stretch? Did most arcades turn them all off at closing?

Heck no...any arcade that did that would not even be visited by the majority of players back in the early days. In addition, anybody spotted unplugging or switching a game off would be in pretty deep sheep dip.

Owners just left them running 24/7. If a game was popular enough, profit payed many times over to keep it (and it's neighbors) running constantly. It's not uncommon to see image burn-in on old monitors as a result.

[ed1475]

Most arcade games up to probably the late 1980s also lost the high score when you turned them off.

 

Interesting. How long did they usually keep these games running at a stretch? Did most arcades turn them all off at closing?

Heck no...any arcade that did that would not even be visited by the majority of players back in the early days. In addition, anybody spotted unplugging or switching a game off would be in pretty deep sheep dip.

Owners just left them running 24/7. If a game was popular enough, profit payed many times over to keep it (and it's neighbors) running constantly. It's not uncommon to see image burn-in on old monitors as a result.

 

I spent most of my freshman year of high school (1984-85) playing Robotron 2084 in the bowling alley after school while waiting for the city bus. I made a bet with a friend I would get into the top 10 by the end of the school year. I was up to 14th with a week left when somebody unplugged the machine and all the scores were reset. That was really dissappointing.

[gamerz]

Most arcade games up to probably the late 1980s also lost the high score when you turned them off.

 

Interesting. How long did they usually keep these games running at a stretch? Did most arcades turn them all off at closing?

Heck no...any arcade that did that would not even be visited by the majority of players back in the early days. In addition, anybody spotted unplugging or switching a game off would be in pretty deep sheep dip.

Owners just left them running 24/7. If a game was popular enough, profit payed many times over to keep it (and it's neighbors) running constantly. It's not uncommon to see image burn-in on old monitors as a result.

 

Aladdin's Castle turned them off at night.

[fiddlepaddle]

I worked in an arcade in 1979-1980 and we turned the games off every day when we closed, but sometimes people who were on the board really got upset if a game had to be reset in the middle of the day.

[+thegoldenband]

Was Zelda the first cart to have battery-backed storage? I can't think of anything prior.

According to this post, the first console game to have battery-backed storage was Dragon Slayer for the Super Cassette Vision.

 

I can't verify it myself, but if true, it's a neat factoid! I just happened to look at that thread yesterday, which is why it was on my mind -- in fact, I'd never heard of the SCV (or its predecessor, the Cassette Vision) before yesterday.

[BydoEmpire]

Was Zelda the first cart to have battery-backed storage? I can't think of anything prior.

According to this post, the first console game to have battery-backed storage was Dragon Slayer for the Super Cassette Vision.

 

I can't verify it myself, but if true, it's a neat factoid! I just happened to look at that thread yesterday, which is why it was on my mind -- in fact, I'd never heard of the SCV (or its predecessor, the Cassette Vision) before yesterday.

Neat, thanks!

[gdement]

I was pretty impressed when I discovered that my brother's F-Zero game actually had battery backup just so it could save the high scores. That's the first game I ever saw that with.

That feature makes a racing game much more interesting to play.