1. Quick saves are there because of the portable nature of DS/GBA gaming, allowing us to suspend the game if we have to. (Normal) Saves are there as part of the design of the game.

Personally I do not know why people are complaining about the lack of saves in the dungeons (eg. FFIII DS). Many modern console titles like DQ VIII have no save points in dungeons as well!

Posted at 9:47AM on Jan 30th 2007 by JonC

2. I just close lid of my DS. And that's it. If game allows - I pause it of course.

I honestly find lack of reliable pause function in DS more disturbing. I like how Nintendo did it in Wii - pressing "Home" button brings system screen up, fades and pauses(!) game into background. That's really what I would loved to have on my DS.

Most of DS games disallow pause when they play some movies or prearranged actions. e.g. in Sonic start of level takes about 5 seconds when you cannot pause: you have to wait for level to appear completely/game actually start - and only then you can press 'Start' to pause it.

Saving takes time anyway. If you are in crowded waiting room - killing a minute with DS - you aren't going to make any notable/remarkable progress (worth saving) anyway. So IMHO lack of instant saving is not a problem.

Posted at 10:31AM on Jan 30th 2007 by Ihar Filipau

3. ^ Close lid = pause

Quick saves are important in RPG games as dungeons tends to be long. Simply closing the lid or pausing isn't as useful as quick saving, for one we actually get to save battery.

Posted at 11:28AM on Jan 30th 2007 by KIFF

4. I also simply close the DS. So far that's worked for me - with the exception of Hotel Dusk, which froze up when I closed the lid in the middle of a conversation.

Also, FFIII allows you to "Quicksave" anywhere, even in dungeons. The catch is, the save will be deleted upon loading. The same system exists in PoR, although the Phoenix Wright games do allow you to save almost anywhere and load from that point multiple times.

Posted at 11:52AM on Jan 30th 2007 by Mark

5. I am a lid closer. I guess yr SOL if the game comes out or the power gets shut off, but that happens very rarely, especially if you keep it in a case.

Posted at 12:58PM on Jan 30th 2007 by samorama

6. I think in a portable system, quicksaves that are deleted on load is fine. On consoles I have a problem with it because if you have a power outage, you could be rooked. On a portable, the only reason you could lose power is if you ignore the battery light, and that's your own fault.

I've employed the "close the lid" method constantly ever since my daughter was born... I'd be racing along in Mario Kart, she starts crying, i shut the lid and tend to the child. I once forgot to go back to playing for TWO DAYS and when I opened the DS to turn it on, found my game still sitting there waiting for me. Now THAT is some serious power conservation.

in reply to #2, the Home button on the Wii doesnt strictly "pause" your game in games that track playtime... best example, Zelda. I once left it on the Home button for half an hour when I got a phone call while playing through a dungeon, and once I left the dungeon and saved the game my playtime included all of the time I had left the system on while in the Home menu. It's not a big deal, and it does pause the action - but I'm just sayin'.

Posted at 1:24PM on Jan 30th 2007 by Ravage

7. "Allow a true save anywhere, and the game's difficulty is compromised."

This quote, as always, is complete bunk. Frustration DOES NOT EQUAL difficulty! It's a cheap way out for developers who cannot make an interesting game without resorting to frustration tactics (which doesn't make for a very fun game to begin with), like jump puzzles.

There is absolutely no reason not to have a save anywhere feature. None. Someone likes to be frustrated? Then they shouldn't save anywhere because, guess, what? It's an OPTION. If they didn't want it, then doesn't it stand to reason that they wouldn't use it?

Any game that doesn't a reasonable save option immediately gets major points off and goes into my no-longer-played bin. I have far MORE fun with games I can save anywhere as opposed to those I cannot.

Posted at 6:09PM on Jan 30th 2007 by Pacer Dawn

8. In something like FFIII, not being able to save in dungeons really hurts the game. You go through the whole dungeon, get to the boss, and die, ok, try again, no not try the boss again, do the WHOLE thing, wtf? How is this a smart design move?

I like being able to save anywhere, but in a handheld, it's not that big a deal. I agree with # 7 that the added frustration of not being able to save sometimes is usually the result of designers being lazy. I don't need to save anywhere, I just need to save before hard spots, so I don't have to replay things again.

Posted at 7:17PM on Jan 30th 2007 by Conbus

9. Closing the lid works fine for almost all games, and the battery power with the lid closed is amazing, especially seeing as how quickly the game pops back into action.

As for saving... Personally, I often find that save points lower the immersion level of a game. There's nothing really "fun" about running back to or hunting for a save point when you need to stop playing.

Quicksave/load features do make games a lot easier and tend to result in saving every 5 seconds - how many games with this feature have you been really close to death in? Crawling through the last few monsters with no more potions left and hoping you can get back to base and heal up? Not many, because most people load their quicksave if anything goes wrong.

I dont really know what the solution is. I guess each game needs to be thought through before deciding on what kind of save and pause options will be provided. Start of mission? Checkpoint? Anytime?

Posted at 7:45PM on Jan 30th 2007 by Kefka

10. That's not necessarily true. I think that having as complete an entire level, like Mega Man, for instance, is by design. The goal of the game is to have you run through many challenges in succession and be perfect enough to still have enough at the end to beat the boss. If you could save before the boss, you could simply run the level once or twice till you were satisfied, save the game, and keep grinding out the boss until you won. That's not the point.

It may be a little frustrating to redo things, but it's intentional. The satisfaction you get when you finally win is worth it.

Posted at 8:38PM on Jan 30th 2007 by Jason Wishnov

11. I must say I agree with Jason on the saving/frustration issue. I just got FFIII on Friday and I've played 15 hours so far, and I did lose about 2 hours from dying in the middle of a dungeon, but usually if you can't beat a boss when you saved right before it unless you score some crazy crits you aren't going to beat him the second time. If you didn't prepare for the boss enough throughout the dungeon, that's your fault. While I am somewhat frustrated by the lack of in-dungeon saving, I realize that including it would greatly reduce the difficulty and thus the overall satisfaction when you do beat the boss.

Posted at 12:01AM on Jan 31st 2007 by Ibrahim

12. Final Fantasy III DS, IMO, is dead easy. If you lose in dungeon, then you haven't grind enough or experimented with the job system. Even my girlfriend, who never played a single Final Fantasy game (or any other jRPG), breezed through the final dungeon without once dying. It is about strategy and thinking ahead, not wasting elixers and potions or phoenix down for trivia stuff.

Save system in FF III DS is fine. It gives us a challenge. Implementing save anywhere will make the game easier than it already is.

Posted at 10:04AM on Jan 31st 2007 by JHC

13. I'd just like to add something. If you can't save anywhere, it's not cause the developers are lazy, but because that's the way they want it. Just recently they had an article (somewhere) about the mentalities of the western and eastern developers, and eastern devs just want to control the players' experience. They don't want to give us the choice of when we can save, they want us to save when they have decided we should.

It can be frustrating but I understand why in a way. I played some games like F.E.A.R. and without realizing, I ruined my own experience by always loading/saving at difficult points until I was satisfied with my results. There was no challenge watsoever. You think I would have tried to save less? Nope I just saved all the time. Not being able to do that actually makes me more nervous knowing I'd lose a lot if I failed.

Posted at 1:40PM on Jan 31st 2007 by Alp