Why don't they add multiple save profiles to Pokemon games?

[Sean Hollyman]

I mean, I can't be the only one who'd like the option to have more than one profile in a Pokemon game. After beating the game, sure it's fun to go out and catch 'em all (well not if you don't have internet connection LOL!) and level up and do post-game stuff, but sometimes I think it would be nice if I could start a new game and a new adventure, but keep my other file.

I've beaten Soul Silver and White, caught a lot, but it would be nice to play them again without having to delete them.

 

[Qitz]

Yeah I don't get it either. Maybe it's something to do with not wanting to take a lot of the memory up back when they used Cartridges but seeing as a lot of the stuff is stored on the consoles memory it shouldn't be an issue.

Or maybe it's something most people don't care about so they don't bother.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

It might have to do with how much space can be on the cartridges and only one game can be saved at a time.

It really sucks because there were times I wanted to replay Red but I have pokemon on it that I got from trades that I can't get in the game. I really wish they figure it all out and have multiple save slots like every other game has.

 

[Nooners]

This goes for a lot of other games too...kind of.

The game that had the best save system was Mass Effect 2 (haven't played 1/3). Not only could you have multiple profiles, but all those character's saves were kept seperate from the others, making individual profiles so easy to find. This is what the standard should be.

 

[Darkmantle]

probably has to do with wanting each kid to buy their own copy so siblings cant share a game. Make more money that way. It's why splitscreen co-op has almost died out.

 

[Ranorak]

I always figured it was so it would be slightly harder to obtain certain X or Y pokemon.
If you had 3 save files, you could just pick all 3 starters and trade them back to your main.
As well as..say.. Hitmolee and Hitmochan.

 

[Dryk]

Considering how long it takes to save in Pokemon lately, it's probably due to the size of the save files... you need a lot of boxes to store 600 Pokemon

 

[For.I.Am.Mad]

There are a lot of things they need to do with Pokemans. Like, maybe update the graphics to PS2 levels.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

There are a lot of things they need to do with Pokemans. Like, maybe update the graphics to PS2 levels.

I'm sure they will when the inevitable 3DS version gets released. The DS is slightly less powerful than an N64[footnote]But not by much; as far as I know, the only major thing it's missing is some hardware based texture filtering that was a major selling point to developers prior to launch, but not well known by the general public.[/footnote], it's not going to crank out PS2 level graphics.

OT: It's almost guaranteed to be a case of wanting to sell multiple copies of the game in one household, the same reason there's two versions of each game, neither one of which has all of the pokemon available. I doubt it's really the size of the save file, since flash memory is cheap and even a huge save file is going to be nothing but a few hundred kilobytes to maybe a megabyte or two of text.

 

[Angry_squirrel]

I reckon it's so that people can't share games. Specifically children, think about it, if a parent is buying a game for their children, then if multiple save files were available, they're only going to buy one game.

 

[cswurt]

I think it's silly how some people treat their Pokemon save games like they are their life's work.

Whatever you think you may have achieved on a Pokemon game means nothing.
No one will weep if you delete your save file and start it over.
The world will go on.

 

[SUPA FRANKY]

I always thought it was memory limitations, but nowadays I think its because they want people to buy more copies of the game.

 

[ccggenius12]

I think it's silly how some people treat their Pokemon save games like they are their life's work.

Whatever you think you may have achieved on a Pokemon game means nothing.
No one will weep if you delete your save file and start it over.
The world will go on.

It may mean nothing, but I'll be damned if I'm going to delete my collection of event pokemon and my box of surfing pikachus. You can't get that stuff legitimately any more.

OT: every pokemon you catch takes up a surprising amount of room. The save file has to keep track of what kind of pokemon it is, its level, base stats, EV's, IV's moves, personality, held item, ability, ribbons, ball capsule (if applicable) and the type of ball it was caught with, and whether or not its shiny. You have 30 boxes that can hold 30 pokemon each. It also has to keep track of everything in your inventory, and there's a very high cap on what you can have. It also needs to keep track of the gender you picked, the item's you have hotkeyed, your badges, and all that other stuff. The save file needs to bookmark enough space so that you don't run out of room while still having empty slots, so while there might be enough space for 2 files, there probably isn't enough in a ds cartridge for 2 files with full boxes. Note that that's all the information that's stored in the save file. And this is all before you get to the code that actually lets you play the game.
Honestly, I don't see why it's such a huge problem anyhow. They release a new edition often enough that you should be able to just reset old versions after you transfer all the cool stuff over. Granted this argument doesn't hold for that new turn based strategy game that's coming out this summer, but still.

TLDR: most handheld RPG's have 3 save slots. They also have to keep track of 900 characters. Do the math.

 

[MiriaJiyuu]

Think about the size of the game world, all those little detailed sprites, every single map, and everything that would possible have to be saved on that tiny card in order to run the game.

Now think about the amount of space that you would need to store everything about the player,
For each Pokemon:
-it's current health
-stats
-level
-what attacks it knows
-how much pp it has for those attacks, remember a pp up can cause a non-default number of times, meaning the game has to actually store it.
-its personality
-how much exp to the next level
-date, time, level and location of capture

and that's just some of it; each Pokemon has an incredible amount out small stuff stored with it. That adds up to a colossal amount of data when you have even over 100 Pokemon.

Now add to that your player's
-location
-name
-Trainer ID
-badges earned
-what trainer's on the map you've beaten
-how many steps you've taken since you beat that trainer (for rematches)
-what Pokemon they have in their party
-every single freaking item you are carrying, remember originally your bag and PC had storage limitations, they don't anymore so you can stuff hundreds of items in your backup, (hammerspace ftw)
-story progression
-side mission progression
-which pokemon is in what box in which particular of the 30 spaces
-box name and theme

As well as any multiplayer and online data that you may have and the National Pokedex.

Obviously I didn't list everything, but think for a second about how much that data that is, and think about how big much room that game card has on it, anywhere between 64mb and 4gb, that's not a lot of room even at 4gbs for all the music, sprites and engine data as well as the giant save data file. Even the amount of time it takes to save can be attributed to how little memory is in available in the standard DS and even the DSi and 3DS, less than a computer in the early 90s.

While I do think that Nintendo will never increase the number of save files past one, even if the storage becomes available, I do think it is still a matter of not having enough space leftover for another potentially massive save file, you would probably get a lot of 'out of space' errors if you had more than one. Keep in mind a lot of games that have more than one save are usually:
a) Not very large games or
b) Don't use 3D models or don't have the level of detail that the Pokemon games do, or
c) Don't save all that much data

Even if I'm wrong and it there actually is enough space on the card, anyone here who simply dismissed it as a way for Nintendo to sell more copies, I don't think you respect how much these games truly keep track of in order for people to get the experience they do. I wouldn't be surprised if it stores data that we never even see, but it needs for engine and gameplay purposes.

EDIT: The guy who said the same thing above me posted while I was writing mine, sorry if they say the same thing ^^;

 

[Erttheking]

Probably to avoid mass production and trading of starter pokemon.

 

[endtherapture]

Baldur's Gate gives me a save game which isn't too big, and has just as many stats and variables as Pokemon, and that game is like 14 years old.

So I don't see why Pokemon can't do it yet.