Busy Gamer News

Longtime followers of this site know that one of our sub-missions is to advocate for busy gamer "rights." My recent bout with summer games has revealed that the state of save points still isn't optimal.

It seems that game designers still don't understand the busy gamer lifestyle. They don't realize that not everyone has endless hours of disposable time to devote to gaming.

Many of us are trying to squeeze in a few minutes of stress-relieving game time during a child's nap or at the end of a very long day after the rest of the household has turned in. When we go off to greet a restless toddler or turn in later than planned after shaving precious time from our own sleep schedule, we want our progress intact.

Here are a few examples of recent games that fail at this to varying degrees:

• Infamous: This PS3 title is a good busy gamer choice since you can meander aimlessly around a sandbox that resets with new challenges every time you launch the game or get defeated. Alas, some of the story missions aren't optimized for our kind. For example: When I went to unlock the second island, I completed the first stage of this, opening up a tunnel I then needed methodically clear of enemies. Checking the VCR clock, I realized it was 2:30 a.m. and, after a few failed attempts at the tunnel, I saved and quit. The next day, I loaded to find that the game had reset to the beginning of the mission instead of the last checkpoint. I understand the idea that this should be something of a continuous challenge, but when I was defeated in the tunnel it reset me to the opening of the tunnel. In this day and age, checkpoints and save points should match. It wasn't a ton of extra work to get back to where I was, but when I restart a game I don't always have a ton of time to make progress. Let me chip away at a game, if that's the way I play.
  
  
• Prototype: I had a similar experience with this similar sandbox-style title. After completing the game's brief mass destruction intro and starting out on the main story, I defeated two helicopters and then found what I thought was the start of the next story thread. I saved and quit only to find myself on next load back at the beginning of the first story section. I'm sorry, but destroying two helicopters in any game should warrant a save point! And when my mission shifts from destroying to seeking, save there too. I shouldn't have to travel halfway across town to save my game.
  
  
• Ghostbusters: The day I opened this, I only had about 20 minutes of playtime. I captured my first ghost and then found myself in the Ghostbusters garage ready to embark on the next mission. Rather than get in the car to start off on it, I saved and quit. Next time I played, you guessed it, I was back in the basement and the ghost I had previously caught was once again free. In a game like this, every capture should save your progress - and you shouldn't need to actually start the next mission to earn an autosave. I had planned to poke around the Ghostbusters HQ next time before starting the next leg, and I knew instinctively that getting in the car would take me away from there.

One game I'm playing this summer remains the gold standard for busy gamers: Fallout 3. Not only can you save anywhere at any moment, but they keep putting out great new expansions. I feel a little like a scolding parent when I bring this up to other game developers, but they need to hear it: "Why can't you be more like your sister, Bethesda Softworks?!"