The Value of Your Saved Game

N'Gai and the LevelUp blog take on an interesting thought experiment: which is more valuable, the $60 game you bought at the store, or the save-game file sitting on your console's hard drive? The article explores the various ways save-games can be backed up, and calculates how much the average saved game is worth based on your age and income. "Our back of the envelope calculations clearly demonstrate that in all but one of the categories, the save file is more valuable than the game itself, and ought to be backed up regularly in recognition of that value. And that's without even attempting to figure out the worth of any intangibles: the frustration of having to replay familiar levels and challenges just to get back to the halfway mark; the attachment that you may have built up to the character; any customization and personalization you did the first time through; the loss of unlocks, user-generated content and other valuable elements." I have a massive save-game file for Oblivion that I would be very distraught to lose. Any saved-games you've been carting around or protecting over the months/years?

Comments

Used to back up savegames

[El_Muerte_TDS]

But I no longer see the point. I usually complete the game. When I don't complete a game it's probably because the game annoyed the hell out of me. And what use is a savegame of a game I already completed. Next time I play the game I would probably start a new game.
For games that don't really end (like sim city or elder scroll games), why would I continue with the same instance, there was a reason I stopped playing that instance.

Re:Used to back up savegames

[eln]

I think most of the value is in a game that you're currently playing. Say you have played 23 hours into a 28 hour game, and you go back to play it again the next day and your hard drive crashes. You can reload the game from original media, but the save files are gone. Personally, there aren't many games that I would pick up and start over with after that kind of loss. The majority of games are the "beat it once and never play it again" variety.

With games like SimCity, I don't think the loss would be all that horrible, because replayability tends to be fairly high. I tend to get bored with any one city after a few days with that game anyway.

Re:Used to back up savegames

[eln]

I don't think you can really overvalue the simple joy of eating half a bucket of movie theatre popcorn for breakfast on a Saturday morning.

Although, at the local theatre they've recently started dumping about twice as much salt as they used to into the popcorn, rendering it nearly inedible, so it's not worth as much as it used to be.

Re:Used to back up savegames

[2nd Post!]

You're playing the wrong games then.

My completed save games allow me to start new games with the stats or equipment from the previous incarnation, which usually unlocks a whole new series of areas I was previously unable to enter due to low stats or poor equipment.

Then there is the value of playing a game without having to grind.

Re:Used to back up savegames

[dintech]

it wouldn't be the end of the world if I lost it

In a way, with civ you created your own little world. To loose the save game would in fact be the end of the world. :P

Depends on where you are in the game.

[Aladrin]

Games are about the journey, and the ending. Your save file increases in value until just before complete it... After that, the file is nearly worthless.

The exception to this is open-ended games, of course... There is no end to those. Even Oblivion never 'ends' because you can continue doing minor quests after you beat the game. The Sims is another obvious sandbox game that had savefiles that only increase in value... Until a new version of the game (not expansion) is released. At that point, the saves are just as worthless as the ones from games that end.

Any game that you quit before the end, for whatever reason, has no little or no value as well. The effort to get back into the game after a 2 month break is better spent re-playing the beginning and getting better at the game before you get to the stopping point.

And one last remark: Games are entertainment, not work. Playing them produces nothing of value and is only useful for relieving stress or boredom.

BTW, I'm an avid gamer with a couple decades experience.

Re:Depends on where you are in the game.

[pla]

The only game that's worse is Pac Man. I have played that game, in total, for hundreds of hours, but I never managed to reach the end.

You want to talk about unmemorable "endings"? Pac-Man has none. It just crashes after 255 levels (scroll down to the end of the page).

Then again, if that had happened to me back in the prime of Pac-Man, I'd have thought it a random crash rather than "the end", and probably blown an aneurysm. So I guess you could call that memorable, in its own way...

My Content Vendor Software

[EXTomar]

Like other software, the data I create is more valuable (to me) than the software I bought from the store. During the days I played Disgaea religiously, at the point where I had more than 20 hours of play, lots of bills/areas passed, many characters at least transmigrated once, the amount of time and energy put into that game alone was far more valuable than the disk itself. Far more valuable. The disk could be stolen (or exploded) by Prinnies at that point and I could go out and find a new disk. If the memory card the save game was stolen (or exploded), there is not much I could do because the only way to "replace" it would be to play the game from the start.

You see this all over technology though. The 10 million piece model is more valuable than the CAD tool program that created it. The 500 million row database with years of collected data is more valuable than the software used to serve it up. This is why backups are so important to any IT infrastructure. You want to capture and safe guard the created content, not necessarily the software that runs it.

This is where Valve could shine

[AccUser]

Or, at least the Steam service.

I have just re-installed all of my Steam powered games, but what is missing are all my saved games. Wouldn't it be great if I could add those to my Steam account, so that not only do I always have access to my games, but also my saved games? I guess it would only be necessary to store the last saved game, but this could really be a useful feature.

Valve? Anyone?

Re:This is where Valve could shine

[AmaDaden]

I was just thinking that. I'm gonna guess they plan on doing that soon. With the Orange Box they just added achievements for the PC. I remember that I noticed a change in the achievement system a few days ofter the games came out too. For those of you that are unaware your achievements are stored online. The change that I noticed was that Portal and HL2 achievements became visible from your Steam page http://steamcommunity.com/. An issue with this is that if you complete an achievement while off line it's not counted. The problem is that saved games are far bigger and used for more frequently. They might just make a "back up this save" option from the save menu.

Why place a price on it?

[TheGreatHegemon]

Did we forget games are for fun, not for work? You can equate the "value" of your time as if it was work to playing games. If you lose a saved game, then the game should still be fun if you play it again. If not, you stop playing. Not like you're being forced to.

The value of FF7 save games?

[RingDev]

When I was in MOS school a buddy in the barracks had a Play Station and FF7. He gave me the first slot on the memory stick, so when ever I wanted to save, I just hit the OK button over and over. Well, after he moved out I was hanging out with another guy who had just moved in. He also had a PS and FF7 and he let me play on it one day. As we were sitting there chatting, with out thinking about it, I went to save my game, and yup, saved my brand new game over slot one on the stick.

Right over his level 97 toons.

whoops.

I think there may have been tears. There was definitely a lot of anger. I was not invited back.

-Rick

Re: There is always an End.

[trdrstv]

The only game that's worse is Pac Man. I have played that game, in total, for hundreds of hours, but I never managed to reach the end. I've talked to others, and no one has reached the end of Pac Man. What's the point in making a game so difficult that no one can beat it?

You did reach the end. You died. Many games simply get progressively harder until you simply can't continue and die. In that regard, it's a lot like life.