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Time is a precious resource, agreed? So this is how I intend to break apart my next hated gaming relic: The "Press Start" Title Sceen.
In the beginning, arcade games created the Start button. No doubt a simple solution to a need to seperate the coin up and demo sequence from the game itself. I'd like to think the conversation went something like this:
Old programmer dude: "So you put the coin in the slot and then the game starts."
Nonprogrammer business guy: "But what if the drunk customers in the bar haven't put their beer down yet? Maybe they need to pick themselves up off the floor after they try to stoop over to put their coin in?"
Old programmer dude: "Fine, I'll make a button they have to press in case they aren't ready. Thank god you have such amazing foresight into the realms of drunkeness. You definately deserve to take all the credit some day and discard me to the dustbin of history."
The transition to consoles was a natural result, whether on the console itself, or later migrating to the controller. At some point in time, this seemingly innocent convention began to stroll down a darker road... press start to access a menu.
Wait, whaaa? The name of the button is start. It says on the screen to press start, but when I comply I have to jump through another hoop before I can actually start playing? Wouldn't it be much simpler to just take me directly to the menu screen? Alright, l'll play along. After all this is a new convention so at some point developers will figure it out. Shouldn't take too long. Not like 25 years or anything...
Of course, we're still suffering from this ugly relic. So back to my first premise. Not only are the developers wasting my time by slogging through an extra screen that serves no purpose other than to make me push a button, they are spending time and resources to have their programmers and art staff create a useless screen. So who benefits? No one. So let's drive a stake through this thing's heart. Let's give the Start button some meaning again!
So are you with me, or do I just have too much time on my hands to think about silly nothings like this?
After loosing about a hours worth of progress in Bioshock 2 today due to a system lock-up, I have to point out what is the true problem: manual saves (or poor autosaving).
The idea of the save file is nearly timeless in gaming, dating back to early computing. At that time initiating a save state manually was a requirement due to primitive storage technology. Take out the game disk, insert a disk to hold your save, now swap back to continue playing. At the time it met the needs of the gamer well, but games have evolved significantly. Unfortunately, the save mechanic has often remained archaic.
Let's take my situation. I'm playing a game that does have an autosave feature, but it only bothers to take a snapshot every stage. Any other save state requires me to initiate it myself. I'm not advocating removing the possibility to save when desired, but what prevents the developer to at least give the option of a continuous save state. Power goes out, game locks up... no problem just pick up and play. I certainly don't plan for my game to lock up, so why should I be forced to initiate a series of time consuming saves to make up for the shortcoming? Companies need to innovate, and this is long past due.
It reminds me of why I liked Space Giraffe on the 360 so much. The game itself was ok at times and a trippy mess at others, but it did one thing I have been waiting for in shooters for an eternity... auto fire. Unless I am playing a game that requires technique or limited shots, why would I ever not want to shoot? There is absolutely no reason that an auto fire button ever needs to exist on a controller. Developers are wise enough to figure out when it is needed, and to do anything else is just to test my patience and make my thumb sore.
So I think it is time for the save to evolve. Agree or disagree, what do you think?
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