Re: Dear Publishers; Can We Please Stop...

On Sun, 16 Jun 2024 06:30:03 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07
<candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 01:44 this Sunday (GMT):

>
Dear Publishers,
>
Can we /please/ stop with the "this game uses automatic savepoints and
this icon will flash on your screen when it happens, press button to
continue" message at the start of every game?

>
Honestly, I don't fully get why they even flash an icon anymore. Unless
you only have one file internally and keep writing over it, there isn't
much risk for file corruption..

I'm not opposed to that. It lets me know -in the rare instances that I
notice it- that the game has been saved. For some games where
autosaves aren't too frequent, it's a useful indicator; a sign of
safety and reassurance. "All your hardwork in that last section will
be preserved and you won't have to redo it." Yay!

Of course, with some other games, which save every twenty six steps I
move forward, it's less useful. ;-)

I suspect the whole thing though is due to some requirement by console
manufacturers who - back when autosaves were a new thing - demanded it
be put in place by game publishers, and it's just stuck around since
then. Partly to remind console gamers - who up to that point were used
to just flicking the power switch on their device whenever they were
done playing it, rather than waiting for disk activity to stop - and
partly to advertise the fact that these new consoles had built in
storage now. Sort of like how publisher logos initially were a
response to console manufactuers demanding that the game show
something -anything!- within five seconds of loading a game, and a
short movie (or splash screen) showing the publisher name was the
quickest way to meet that requirement.