Ever resumed somebody else's saved game?

[bangtango]

Pretty much everyone here has found used/old cartridge games at a flea market or thrift store that already had stuff saved on them. It might be an rpg, a sports game, Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong Country, Phantasy Star or something else entirely. Maybe it was on the NES, Genesis, N64 or something in between. Unless you got the game from a friend or family member, you'll probably never know who the previous owner was. What do the rest of you end up doing with those saved games?

A few weeks ago, I picked up a couple of Sega Genesis/32X games in a thrift store. For the Genesis, I found "Greatest Heavyweights." On the 32X, I bought "NFL Quarterback Club." A day or so later, I bought "Zelda II: Adventure of Link" (classic) for the Game Boy Advance at GameCrazy.

When I played "Greatest Heavyweights" a few days ago, I found a couple of saved games in the Career Mode. One boxer was a couple of matches from winning the title and the other boxer only had one fight under his belt. Instead of erasing these two boxers and starting over, I have decided to resume their careers and see what happens. They are headed up the rankings as we speak.

Next I tried out "NFL Quarterback Club" (32X). I decided to try loading up saved games to see what was there. The previous owner was in the midst of a 14-1 season with the Dallas Cowboys, one game away from the end of the season. I played the 16th game in that season and have led Dallas into the playoffs.

The person who had "Zelda II" before me had finished the first five palaces and wasn't that far away from beating the game. I decided to jump right in where he/she had left off. What I noticed is that whoever was playing before me knew very little about some of the secrets in "Zelda II." They were missing at least one heart container and magic jar that you usually would have picked up by that point. What was puzzling was that they had yet to find the mirror, so they were missing the Life spell from the town of Saria. This was despite that fact that he/she had apparently been into every other town on the map, including New Kasuto. I thought that was funny but I also had to admit that person needed to be somewhat good to make it through all those later palaces, and the boss fights, without the Life spell.

Who else has a story like this? I know a lot of people might erase any saved games if they pick up a used game. For some reason, I have decided to continue a couple of boxing careers, a football season and a Zelda quest all of which were started by a total stranger. It is part of my nature to try and finish what other people started. That way all of their previous work to that point wasn't in vain. Of course they'll never know somebody else finished those games and probably have forgotten about them long before.

This doesn't have to be limited to cartridge games either. It could be a saved game from a hard drive (XBox) or memory card (Playstation) if you happened to have a copy of the same game there was a save for. For the purpose of this particular discussion, I'd prefer that you limit it to saved games that were started by a total stranger or a friend. It isn't quite the same when you pick up where a brother, sister, child, companion or spouse left off.

So the question is: Have you ever resumed somebody else's saved game?

[skaar]

I still remember leading "ASSMAN" "BITCH" and "FUCKJOB" through Secret of Mana's later dungeons.

Resuming other people's saved games seems dirty and wrong to me. I delete them immediately if I buy a used game.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I bought a lot of Dreamcast Memory Cards a while back and I can't bring myself to deleting the contents...

They have saved games and replays for Power Stone 2, Capcom Vs SNK, several NBA and NFL games... it kinda bugs me because I want to delete them but I can't because they're not my games.

[Keir]

I find these kinds of things fascinating. The only problem is, if it's a game where resuming someone else's saved game might "spoil" it for me (i.e. RPGs that I haven't played before) then I have to save them for later, and sometimes delete them if there aren't enough empty slots.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

it kinda bugs me because I want to delete them but I can't because they're not my games.
I feel the same way. I bought Saturn memory carts which had a number of saved games on it, but I could never delete them. I also never tried loading up the saves even though I had quite a few of the games they were from.

Cartridges are different since there you're dealing with a limited number of save slots, so I usually delete saves on used carts I get, though in that case I will check them first to see what was going on in the other player's game.

I don't know what I'd do with someone else's saves on a VMU, luckily it's never happened to me. VMUs aren't nearly as big as a Saturn backup cart, but I don't know if I'd feel justified deleting them. I'd probably move them to one of the unused pages of one of my 4x cards or something.

The only time I've played someone else's save is on Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. I bought that last summer and it had the previous owner's save on it which was absolutely and completely maxed out. The guy had found every single soul, made every single weapon, gotten every single item and accessory, etc. Obviously that's too cool of a save to just delete, so I'll leave it on my card. It also gave me a chance to play Julius mode before I'd finished the game myself, which was pretty cool.


...word is bondage...

[Wolfrider31]

I remember renting games (usually RPGs) when I was little and being forced to delete other people's files to play. Eventually though, an unwritten rule was established (among people who never met) that no one was to delete/alter the file that was furthest along in the game.

I remember playing Final Fantasy VI and watching a guy who named his main character "Dave" go all the way through the game. It was actually kind of exciting. I would pop into his file every now and then to see where he was and what awaited me.

Although, my file always ended up getting deleted. :(

[wallydawg]

I kept the tetris dx save on my gbcolor game. Dudes name was Adam, had over 20,000 lines. I can play against "him" in a versus match so it's pretty rad.

[mills]

my brother and I rented super metroid from blockbuster one weekend and made it very far. Returned it and one week later rented it again and luckily got the same cart with the save intact. beat it that weekend and returned it.

[digitalpress]

John Hardie steals Pokemon characters from the games traded in at my store... does that count?

PS awesome thread, I'm subscribed. Want to hear more because I live in a world of used memory cards and games and love these stories.

[Gapporin]

Whenever I buy a game that has save data already on it, I usually delete them all except for the one that is the farthest in. That way, if I get stuck or just want to see further in the game, I can see how the other guy managed.

[OdSquad64]

The saves on my used carts are alway really crappy. It's usually a save from like 3 or 4 minutes into a game, which is completely useless. Some of the wrestling games I have, like Wrestlemania 2000, have create-a-wrestlers of the former owner and some of his friends, but I know him and they're not really accurate portrayals.

[Pantechnicon]

In general, no. I briefly glimpse the name on the file and then wipe it away.

The closest I've come to actually doing this is when a friend gave me my first PSX along with his memory card and a copy of Tekken 2. He encouraged me to not erase his file since he had already unlocked everybody so I was happy to oblige.

I do admit that my curiosity gets a little but piqued about a game's history when I buy a used title that has files with names like "JOSH" and "DAD". That always makes me try a little harder at the game because I want my kids to know that I'm a cooler father than Josh's dad.

[bangtango]

The saves on my used carts are alway really crappy. It's usually a save from like 3 or 4 minutes into a game, which is completely useless. Some of the wrestling games I have, like Wrestlemania 2000, have create-a-wrestlers of the former owner and some of his friends, but I know him and they're not really accurate portrayals.

Create-A-Wrestler was a favorite of mine. Somewhere out there right now is a loose WWF Warzone cart for the N64 I used to own. It has what I believe is a 100% authentic version of Viscera (aka: Mabel), who was one of my favorites, from his Ministry of Darkness era. I had to create him because he wasn't on the roster for that game. It took an entire night but I got him pegged perfectly, including most of his moves which I recollected from his matches on tv so I could "create" him.

I hope someone is resuming his "career" because by the time I was finished with his move set and powering him up, he was unstoppable even on the hardest settings. I never played a second player who could beat him. I used to have those 60-90 second Mike Tyson type of finishes no matter who I faced when I was using him. Damn, I wish I still had that cart and that save. I'd never be able to make him again or get him that perfect.

[goemon]

Most of the games I play are CD based, so I don't experience this very often. Sometimes I buy used GBA games, and there is usually one save that is 100% done. Someone must have done everything to do in the game and then traded it in. I just delete it and start my own game.

[Y0u]

Typically I delete them only when I need space... I'll only look at them if they seem interesting.

I do remember when I got a good condition Lufia 1 CIB (poster too) for $15 back in '01. One file on the cart was totally- and I mean TOTALLY maxed out as far as I could tell with about 90 hours on it. Then, I was showing the game to my brother... and not noticing his SNES was on (it was a model 2 SNES so it didn't have a power light) took the cart out because we were gonna play some Super Bomberman 2. After I did, the maxed file and my file close to halfway through were (of course) gone. :(

[MarioMania]

I bought a VMU for my nefpew for Christmas it had the Data for Marvel vs Capcom 2 for all 56 Charaters, I copyed it on my VMU to play..I went back to play it 2 days ago..I lost the secrete charaters :(

[Haoie]

Whenever I buy old mem cards and check the content, I'm always surprised at how poor a sense of taste of the previous owner possessed. 1 terrible game save after another.

[Retsudo]

Yes once. A friend copied his save from Resident Evil onto my card and said he was far in the game. Turns out, he wasnt and had a shotgun without any ammo. This was around the time RE first came out. Next time I saw him, I kicked him in the nutz

[NinjaJoey23]

When I was younger, my grandfather would always take me to local pawnshops on the weekends, looking for Game Boy and Super NES games. I bought Super Metroid because it looked neat (having never played nor heard of Metroid). It had a save file on it and I played from right before your fight Kraid to the end. I still have that cart.

I remember also saving files on rented cartridges and trying to find the same one at a later date. I did so with Mario RPG.

[2Dskillz]

I love old save files and codes written in the back of old manuals.

They give old games a sense of life. Much like collecting old books and finding names written in quill pen and such.

Personally I do not play someone elses save file, but I will go into it and check it out. I will also avoid deleting it unless it is necessary.

[calthaer]

Stealing Pokemon is a classic example.

There are several places in the games where the game benefits you for having guys from lots of different cartridges. So it's worth it to take those guys. Besides, sometimes someone has one of the rare promo ones...even if the person who used the old save cheated to get the promo one, I know some people that feel like: well, it wasn't ME that cheated, so it's OK. But they wouldn't use the Action Replay themselves. Weird, huh?

But for other games: I never use someone else's save game. I rarely buy used games, for one, and when I do - especially if the game has a story - it doesn't make sense to play through. Of course, some of my OWN save games where I've put down a game for a year, maybe two, feel like someone else's save...because I've forgotten everything that happened.

[Daria]

The first thing I usually do when getting a new cart is delete the old saves, unless someone's beaten the game. Some RPGs have those bonus dungeons or new game + modes and it's worth hanging onto, othertimes it just neat having a save at the last boss.

One such cart I own is Light Crusader for Genesis. I've played the game before but new got real far into it. The last copy I bought was saved at the end. So I loaded it up and beat the main baddie and watched the credits. I was a little dissapointed at how easy it was. First time I ever fought him and I beat the game.

I also never deleted the save file from Ocarina of Time. I bought it from GameStop, brought it home and noticed the save file was named Trevor. Turns out a friend of mine had actually traded in his copy and I bought it. Kinda cool.

[cyberfluxor]

I always check out what's on memory period.

When it comes to memory cards I usually own most of the games saved on it. The last PS1 card I bought had a FF7 game that was 38hrs long and they were lvl 35's, amazingly slow progression! I've looked at other things such as people's customed cars from GT2 and other racers. RPGs are usually the more interesting thing because I can see where they got stuck, gave up and sold their game! LOL

As for cartridge saved games, just about every time I've seen that they've beaten the game! That's right, beaten. Older games I believe are played through by gamers due to this and that newer ones are given up on all the time. I've beaten a few games because they already did the work for me! But really I delete their save and see if I can make it to the ending, plus it gives me a basic idea of what level I should be or what I need to buy before reaching that boss, or even a strat to go with.

[aaron7]

I used to love renting games and seeing other people's saved games that were SO far ahead of me. Zelda for SNES comes to mind here!

[theshizzle3000]

I have only done it with Super Mario 64, but it was after I had beaten it myself and I wanted to see where the other person was at in the game. I have also used a Dex Drive on occasion as well.

[Superman]

I usually leave at least one save on the game. I like to see where the previous owners were at in the game and see how it plays without waiting for the all the background stories that come with starting a new game.

I also like to leave the save so I can compare the level of my character to the other game at a similar point. It's usually pretty amusing comparing the games; I either can't figure out how the person got to that level with so few power ups and items, or I can see the reason why the save is at the point that it is (they couldn't go any further).

[Kamisama]

heh, nice question.
I never used another ones savegame. Always started from the start :)

[Zing]

I am one of those jerks who would deleted every save from every game I rented. I only did it because people always did it to me!

I rented Dragon Warrior II three times, having to start from the beginning every time, until I finally bought my own copy.

[grolt]

I had a funny experience with this the other day, buying a boxed Sega Saturn brand memory card. The owner said it had never been used, but I popped it in and there were two Sim City 2000 saves on it. Whatever. The funny thing though, was the naming of the cities. Every save says something like SIM_CITY:CITYNAME001 or whatever. So the first one: SIM_CITY:HOLLYWOOD. Fair enough, we all envy the glamour of Hollywood. The next save? SIM_CITY:JEWTOWN. Thinking I must be reading it politically incorrectly (maybe it's Jewt Own?) I load it up. Lo and behold, it's a huge open area of light residential in the middle surrounded by a big road, like some sort of camp. On the perimeter are police stations the whole way around. There are then power lines around all the rest of the map shaped into giant Swastikas. This dude had some issues. LOL

[Barbarianoutkast85]

I think I've ever done this type of thing with one game. It was Super Mario RPG for the SNES. The save wasnt very far into the game, maybe four or five hours. So I figured I would just go from there instead of going threw all the boring stuff at the very beginning of the game.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

So the first one: SIM_CITY:HOLLYWOOD. Fair enough, we all envy the glamour of Hollywood. The next save? SIM_CITY:JEWTOWN.
So he had the same city on there twice?

I kid..I kid...

It's true, though.


...word is bondage...

[otaku]

usually no but I have before but usually I delete them. Almost always delete my stuff before selling/trading

[kentuckyfried]

I've always felt bad when forced to make a choice in deleting a save file from a maxed cart I've picked up. Lowest Level/Least time is always the victim.

It's really bad when I see 3 save files all deep into the game and all are unique and one of them has to go :(

[Overbite]

When I bought FF3 used I loaded up the cart and found all 3 save spots filled with level 90+ characters all named GOKU, VEGETA, KRILLIN, ect. 3 saves, all 90+ and at the end of the game, all with DBZ names. Holy crap.

I deleted the lowest level save and started new in that one. The guy who had this cart before me was a huge nerd.

[Nukie]

When I bought my LttP used cart the top save was a complete game (all hearts, everything done). It's still sitting there and I deleted the other ones.

[King Neptune]

Back in the day I bought Super Mario RPG brand new and when I popped it into the SNES, lo and behold, there was a saved game on it o.O I don't know if the game was tested and then not erased or what, but the game was saved all the way up to Punchinello which is like the 3rd star! lol I went ahead and played from there and beat the game. Later I started my own.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Taken over somebody else's save game?

Ew, that would be like putting on their used condom.

[Damaramu]

I ALWAYS delete game saves on used carts I buy.

PET PEEVE MOMENT:
Occasionally, you run across the games that don't have a delete feature and has 3+ save slots with crap save files saved to them and guess what? You're stuck with them!

My new copy of Beggar Prince had test saves on all the slots and no way to delete them through the game. So what did I do? Yup. Popped that cart open, yanked the back up battery, and ouila! All game slots are clean!

[jwm2]

I don't think i've ever played someone elses gamesave at least until i was done with the game myself. Then possibly i'd play someone elses on accident, or to help them out if they are stuck.

[steeniekins]

I bought a ps1 memory card a while back, probably about 8months ago when I was managing a video game store. I bought it from a guy who ONLY liked sports games and such. I check it at home. and it has suikoden 1 saved to level 52! I was OOoooOOoo suikoden! So I still have it one there cuz...it's Suikoden!

Also, I got Ocarina of time a while back. There were two saved games on it already. So I started my own..and I could not get Epona...I know lame, whatever. So I ended up beating the game with the guy who had epona. I wanted the Goron sword okay?!..I ended up beating Ganondorf without the goron sword later on...but I just wanted to finally see the ending after 7years of playing it on and off...

[Slate]

I remember doing it in my first copy of Pokemon stadium that I bought from EBGames. I couldn't delete it, It had mewtwo in there!

[Zing]

Also, I got Ocarina of time a while back. There were two saved games on it already. So I started my own..and I could not get Epona...I know lame, whatever. So I ended up beating the game with the guy who had epona. I wanted the Goron sword okay?!..I ended up beating Ganondorf without the goron sword later on...but I just wanted to finally see the ending after 7years of playing it on and off...

I don't recall it being difficult to get the horse (I assume that is who Epona is). I was literally trudging through this game and I had the horse. I finally gave up when I got to the "light dungeon" or something. The game was just plain boring as hell. From your post it sounds like I made the right decision.