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

[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.

So it gives you 6 stats with different hidden individual values and effort values and differences through ability, status, naming, health status while having room for 726 different characters if you unlock every box? I am not adding this whole other shitton of data like what critter is it, level, item, original trainer + id, ribbons and all this fancy BS.

Also, a simple answer: Baldurs Gate is a PC title. You can increase the amount of space a PC has. Pokemon is limited to the shabby capabilities of a cartridge.

Well Baldur's Gate has 6 stats, levels, EXP values, 20 different NPCs who can join you, hundreds of different armour and weapon combinations that have to be saved, spells memorised and learned, NPCs you can kill, quests to flag, areas of maps which you have cleaned out, what items you've looted from various places and what dialogue options and reputation you have and the save file isn't giant? It's at least a equally complex game to Pokemon and it's save files take up like a few hundred kilobytes.

If it is truly hardware limitations as opposed to nostalgia reasons, it just shows Nintendo need to get it's arse in line and release things with proper save capabilities instead of pushing out hardware which is years behind it's time - there is NO reason we should be stuck with the same amount of save games we had in like 1997.

 

[chuckdm]

The short and correct answer is what some have hinted at: the cartridge doesn't have enough room, literally. I use a CycloDS (and yes I actually have bought all 4 of the games I have on it, plus 3 more I should probably go trade in...) and it has Platinum, HeartGold, Black, and also Radiant Historia on it. If you take the save file from either Platinum or Black (haven't tried with HeartGold) and open it in a hex editor, there is literally 3 unused bytes in the whole damn file. The save is 512k, and they have only 3 bytes to spare. It doesn't get much tighter than that guys.

While I'm on the topic, a CycloDS solves this issue. (I have seen them for sale, albeit very rarely, at Wal-Mart, and if you own the games you put on them, they are fully legal too.) Amongst other things like an IRC client, MP3 player, and even on-the-fly cheat code database updater, there is also a write-capable file manager you can use that would let you move/rename/etc the save files directly on the DS, so you wouldn't even have to use a PC & MicroSD reader to do it. This also means you never have to charge cartridges, never have to buy cases for the cartridges, and (almost) never have to blow out the damn cart slot, so considering the CycloDS is about the same price as 1 more game, it's a freaking bargain.

Anyhow...just so you know, yeah, this is why. Some of the games in the series have SLIGHTLY more space, but never more than 1K, so never enough for a second save. If you really want this, you'll have to find a third-party card like the CycloDS.

 

[Innegativeion]

NOt sure if mentioned yet (lot's of text walls having to do with memory: TLDR, sorry, but my point is separate from that.), but that'd also defeat the purpose of their ingenious 2-version system. IE, you can only get all pokemon of a generation by buying both games or convincing a friend to buy the other game to trade pokemon.

If we had multiple saves, inevitably people would want the ability to trade between saves, as locking out that option would seem a bit absurd.

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.

So it gives you 6 stats with different hidden individual values and effort values and differences through ability, status, naming, health status while having room for 726 different characters if you unlock every box? I am not adding this whole other shitton of data like what critter is it, level, item, original trainer + id, ribbons and all this fancy BS.

Also, a simple answer: Baldurs Gate is a PC title. You can increase the amount of space a PC has. Pokemon is limited to the shabby capabilities of a cartridge.

As an agreed affirmation from experience, but not to poke anyone's buttons or anything, I'm fairly sure the 2nd edition DnD rules used in BG (combat, basic stats etc.) are worlds less mathematically complicated than modern pokemon.

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.

Time spent stimulating your creativity, intellect, or sense of adventure is time that should be cherished and appreciated.

 

[Risingblade]

Memory issues, Nintendo's handhelds have never had much memory. The 3DS does have an SD slot however so It might be possible now.

 

[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.

So does about ANYTHING you'll ever do in your life. So whats your point?

I thought I'd made my point pretty clear. I guess I just have to plainly spell it out for the slower folks.

My point is, "Why make a big deal over it?"

Do you understand now? :]


Captcha: taco tuesday
Good idea!

 

[daveman247]

I would LOVE to think it was because of limited cartridges, which may have been true back on gameboy. But nowadays theres just no excuse. Its to avoid sharing i think.

Its weird not many seem to be demanding multiple save games. If any other game tried to have just a single save slot, people would string the devs up.

 

[ElPatron]

My point is, "Why make a big deal over it?"

Because I hate being stuck with a single save slot.

It happened on BF Bad Company. Why the hell would I need to lose my saved game if I wanted to replay a level? And it's a 360, not a handheld.

 

[DarkRyter]

Because that would require innovation, and you aren't allowed to do anything new in a pokemon game.
Case in point, Black and White 2.

BITTER!? MOI!?

Black and White 2 is a fresher idea than a Grey, at least.

 

[soren7550]

I think initially, it was because there wasn't enough room to have any other save files. Now, I think it's a balance issue. I mean, with extra save files, what's to stop you from giving yourself extra starters/legendaries/rare items/rare pokemon/etc.?

 

[RyoScar]

I never got why they didn't, I thought it was something to do with not enough memory, but my copy of Golden Sun will hold 3, over 30 hour game solts and all the monster/character sprites. Therefore never got why pokemon couldn't

So yeah very odd

 

[gigastar]

Youre forgetting that, despite all appearances, the Pokemon games are huge for a handheld title...

Oh wait someone else said it all already.

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...

Thanks for saving me an assload of typing.

 

[him over there]

It's probably either hardware reasons but I like to think of it as a design decision.

Think about it. These creatures are your best friends, this is the only life you get, you can't just trade them in whenever you feel like starting over. Knowing that there isn't any going back and these are who you are stuck with means you can't start over without getting rid of them. I think it helps strengthen the bonds people make on their adventures. Not going to just leave your starter behind, or suddenly dump everybody because you think that you chose the wrong one.

 

[Grape_Bullion]

I'm sure there were technical reasons why it couldn't happen in Gen I and II, but now it's more of a personal choice, one Gamefreak felt was still important to the game. I feel that Gamefreak wants your journey in pokemon land to be a lasting experience, and if you want to start a new one, losing your comrades that you've come to love and the journey you've undertaken with them will make you think twice about how you approach the idea of starting a new one. I'm probably over thinking the idea, but it's nice to imagine a producer who puts that much thought in a game.

 

[Epona]

If we had multiple saves, inevitably people would want the ability to trade between saves, as locking out that option would seem a bit absurd.

What gives you this idea? No one ever made an issue out of not being able to transfer Mario's from one save to another in Super Mario World. How many JRPG's have you played where you could have multiple save files but couldn't transfer anything between save files? Most I would say.

So do tell, why would it seem absurd that you can't trade Pokemon between save files on the same card?

 

[Epona]

I'm sure there were technical reasons why it couldn't happen in Gen I and II, but now it's more of a personal choice, one Gamefreak felt was still important to the game. I feel that Gamefreak wants your journey in pokemon land to be a lasting experience, and if you want to start a new one, losing your comrades that you've come to love and the journey you've undertaken with them will make you think twice about how you approach the idea of starting a new one. I'm probably over thinking the idea, but it's nice to imagine a producer who puts that much thought in a game.

Maybe it's more about them getting away with in Gens 1 and 2 and then continuing to do it the same way because it results in more games sold. I mean, look around, not only would you be able to share a copy of a Pokemon game with your brother while you're playing. Even after you're done you wouldn't want your brother to play using your copy because you would lose your save file.

So I think they could accommodate more than one save file if they started development with a certain amount of space set aside but they won't.

 

[Wintermoot]

maybe they have huge save files or it,s a leftover from the first gen and they just ran with it

 

[DragonStorm247]

It would completely decrease the value of legendaries. What's to stop you from farming your second save slot for trade exports?

Not that the GTS trading economy isn't already completely fucked.