Was Ghostbusters for the SMS the first US password game?
Was this old Sega Master System game the very first video game cartridge ever to use the password system (at least in the US)? I have reason to believe that it is, and no one ever gives it credit for it's huge landmark. While I don't know exactly when in 1987 it was released, I bought it in April/May of that year. Metroid and Kid Icarus, the first password NES games, didn't come out until late in 1987.
Last edited by Zap!; 08-05-2009 at 03:14 PM.
you forget goonies 2 came out before metroid or kid icarus
Originally Posted by Blitzwing256
Metroid/Kid Icarus was released August 1987 in the States. Goonies 2 was released November 1987 in the states. As far as Ghostbusters, I guess it all depends on what month it was released.
"Game programmers are generally lazy individuals. That's right. It's true. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Since the dawn of computer games, game programmers have looked for shortcuts to coolness." Kurt Arnlund - Game programmer for Activision, Accolade...
Did the other versions of Ghostbusters use password save as well?
I don't know about the US, but there were definitely Famicom games released in 1986 that used passwords. The earliest I know of is the original Dragon Quest, released in May 1986. (DQ1 and 2 used password systems that were replaced with backup memory for the English releases)
Goonies II come out in November, 1987 if I remember right. Long after Ghostbusters.
Not sure, but the NES version was released much later.
Maybe my trivia is wrong, but I always thought Metroid and Kid Icarus were the first password games. I knowthey came out in the US in 87, but the copyright on screen says 1986.
-Rob
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That's what I always heard too. I think the only place it gets tricky is for the Japanese release since the FDS saved to disk and didn't need a password. So the game was released earlier but the password system wasn't used till later.
I don't know about the Japanese Dragon Quest, but if it did use a password and was released after Metroid there but before here, then it could be the first. I don't really know.
"Game programmers are generally lazy individuals. That's right. It's true. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Since the dawn of computer games, game programmers have looked for shortcuts to coolness." Kurt Arnlund - Game programmer for Activision, Accolade...
That's why I said "in the US."
DQ did indeed use a password in 1986, but I'm talking strictly US only.
This is actually kind of frustrating. All the sites that list the actual release dates for SMS games just say 1987 for Ghost Busters.
"Game programmers are generally lazy individuals. That's right. It's true. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Since the dawn of computer games, game programmers have looked for shortcuts to coolness." Kurt Arnlund - Game programmer for Activision, Accolade...
Take my word for it, I am superb with dates. Ghostbusters was not released after the Summer, 1987. At the latest, July 1987. More like May 1987 I'm thinking.
I remember an Apple ][ game from 1983/84? with password, but I forgot the title.
But I'm pretty sure the Atari 8-bit version came much earlier.
I should have been more specific in the OP, but I am talking about console versions only, in the US. My fault.
Two other early password-using games come to mind: Deadly Towers and the NES port of Gauntlet. Deadly Towers came out in September of 1987 (and the year before in Japan). Gauntlet was released the same year, but I can't pin down a month.
As long as you're backpedaling, why not narrow down your range to movie-based games that were released on Sega systems and start with the letter G? In that case, Ghostbusters was indeed the first U.S.-released game with a password feature.
If it's just a localization of the a Japanese cart, and other Japanese carts (FC or Mark III) did it before hand, then how is that a "landmark"? Especially if other games using a password system also came out with in a couple of months (i.e. weren't influenced by this great landmark/password system)?
The Atari 8-bit practically is a console. I mean you could play it on the XEGS. Although I guess technically, the XEGS wasn't quite out yet. But still, the XE "Game System" and the computer aren't really any different in practical terms.
I only backpedaled in one thing, console releases. In my OP, I did say US only. Since GB SMS came out no later than May/June, it is indeed the first US console PW game until further notice. Gauntlet was later on.
There was no Mark III release for Ghostbusters, so the US release would certainly stand on its own.
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