Need info on Game Saver+ (pics inside)

[nesgamer]

One night at work a few friends and I were talking about the NES and SNES. I told them about how I collect for both and what not. One of them said that he was going to throw his old SNES away cause it was discolored and he didn't play it anymore. So I asked him if he would give me the system and hook ups for it. The next day he brought it and also gave me this thing. He said that it saves games. So I'm wondering if anyone has any info on it. From what I can tell it's basically a hard drive for the SNES to save games. Thanks for the info in advance.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Someone at the buying and selling forum said they were looking for one, as well.

I vaguely remember hearing about one of these things for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color, but I never knew there was one for the SNES until recently.

[badinsults]

I believe it makes a backup of the ram, so it is sort of like using a savestate in an emulator.

[scorch56]

It's a Nakitek Gamesaver. There's a guy in the B&S forum looking to buy one right now. Mine is stored away somewhere with a manual; and I couldn't find it for him.

Basically.. the way it works is you plug it into your SNES and your cart into it. It saves your game at ANY point in gameplay thereby bypassing save points, passwords and/or the cart battery. It normally comes with an AC adapter; as long as it's powered up by AC and you don't remove the cart from it; or IT from the SNES.. it can save your game indefinitely. It also has space for some batteries (a bunch.. as I recall).. should you put batteries in it.. it will allow you to take the unit out of the SNES as well (just make sure and leave the cart in it) and take the unit itself (again w/cart) to another SNES (as in "friend's house") and plug it in and resume play in another SNES.

They USED to be very common on eBay (I haven't checked in years though) and were sold very cheap. I bought mine brand new simply for it's added feature.. it also doubles as a slot convertor for Super Famicon games (I got mine to play JAP Front Mission games.. but never needed it because the carts themselves had been modified to fit US machines).

I've never even tested mine; the seller took it out of the box and sent it complete with the box flattened. That's how I stored it as well. I don't think I paid more than $10 for it way back when (plus S&H). Someone said one's on eBay right now for $15 plus S&H. Contrary to what some dealers are saying though.. they are not rare. They were a dime a dozen just a few years back when I got mine, dealers couldn't give them away.

[nate1749]

wow i wish I would have known about that when I was a kid playing ghouls and ghosts (or was it ghosts n ghouls), that's my biggest reason for loving emulation is save states.. Had no idea an accessory was made to do such a thing.

Nate

[scorch56]

As far as I know.. the SNES was the only console that EVER had anything like this made for it. They obviously didn't go over very well.. either. They were even plentiful until a few years ago.. brand new. Just for curiosities sake though.. I wish I knew how much they originally retailed for before everyone started clearing them out. Probably wasn't much though.. and I bet I'll get an answer now.

[rbudrick]

Yeah, it basically did the same thing as an emulator's save states. There actually was quite a few units like this for other systems...mostly made for Japanese systems by companies like Bung. But the NES saw the Game Action Replay, which was the NES's version of the Game Saver +, both of which were rumored to be based on Bung's own code anyway! I finally got my GAR dumped (and my proto one too), so if anyones got other Bung code for NES devices, lets compare notes.

They used to sell these by the shit ton in WalMart back in the day ($35, I think). That's where I got mine, It came with a sheet of codes you could type in for certain games that didn't work right off the bat or were know to glitch. I still have this sheet somewhere.

-Rob

[50TBRD]

I thought that I would post this. Its from an Old EGM that I was looking through.



Not a lot of new info but its semi-interesting at the very least. There's no mention of it being able to play imports but I know it is because that's what I use it for. I not sure which buttons you use to save and then recall it.

[mydjsobad]

I thought that I would post this. Its from an Old EGM that I was looking through.



Not a lot of new info but its semi-interesting at the very least. There's no mention of it being able to play imports but I know it is because that's what I use it for. I not sure which buttons you use to save and then recall it.

Not to mention that the picture in the advertisement has an import in it as well. That's actually really cool. I think I might try and hunt one of these down sometime.

[50TBRD]

Another thing about them is that its like having a clean surface to contact to the game. The games read a bit better and there's not so much blowing and etc.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Haha, I was about to post that picture, I found it at 4chan!

Looks like a really cool thing to have. Man, I wish I'd seen one of those back in the day. Does anyone know if they worked with ALL games? Did it have problems with some games?

[50TBRD]

Worked on SF Alpha and Stunt Race so shouldn't it work on just about anything else. I'm not sure what else would cause issues. Ask me to try any game and I'll see if it works. I have at least one of just about any chip and I have more than a few SCF games so try me. If I don't have it, we can see if I have a comparable game.

[50TBRD]

This is from an Ebay auction description.

I've heard that you can save games anywhere by just hold SELECT + R, and hold SELECT + L, until the screen flashes. Some games will however have distorted sound or graphics, so a piece of paper with a ton of codes which can be typed into the Game Saver on a special screen (hold SELECT while the Game Saver loads) and will fix sound and/or graphic problems (see second picture below). I would suggest searching the internet for more information because I cannot confirm this. I originally bought it for another purpose, read on.

Interesting note: I can confirm that I have actually been able to play Japanese SNES (Super Famicom) games on a NTSC SNES system with this device. Just insert the Game Saver into the SNES like you would with any other game, and then insert the game into the back of the Game Saver. This allows you to sort of "piggyback" your way to playing Japanese imports! It's the simplest way to circumvent the regional lockout.

[rbudrick]

Like I mentioned above:

It came with a sheet of codes you could type in for certain games that didn't work right off the bat or were know to glitch. I still have this sheet somewhere.

Does that answer the ambiguity of the last few posts?

-Rob

[50TBRD]

Do...you...mean...like this sheet.



I never got this sheet and didn't even know about any codes until I saw this in an auction which is on Ebay right now. I use my gamesaver solely for imports. Svaing doesn't interest me and neither does some codes for what ever they do or are supposed to do. It looks like there are a lot of SFC games on that list.

[rbudrick]

That's the sheet!

-Rob

[Lucifersam1]

I know this thread has been dead forever; for the sake of creating a database of knowledge on the forums (for future searchers), I thought I would add some information.

Having just bought one of these on eBay and already owning a Super 8, I was wondering if they would work together. They do! The power wire will connect to the Super 8 by going around the side. Obviously it won't save NES games, but my SNES booted to the Super 8 menu, I selected 16-bit, and then the Game Saver screen came up.

I tested it with Final Fight, and the save state worked. There was no sound when I loaded the save, but when I got to the next area it was fine.

I hope this helps someone who might search for information on this in the future!

[Natty Bumppo]

I haven't used mine for ages - but I recall having a couple of problems with it. If you take it out of the console it has a battery backup (I think it was 6 AA batteries) which is somewhat limited timewise IIRC. (Or if the console loses power or is unplugged).

I had it screw up a copy of Super Conflict. Super Conlfict has a weird hybrid password/battery save system - the device bollixed up the password feature some how. (there is a workaround to it with the levels via a cheat - don't remeber what it was though - I just got another copy of it.)