Multiple saves and backups: because games should be FUN!

It's probably happened to all of us; you sit down to continue your game, you go to load your save file only to find that it's gone. The first time this happened to me was on the original Legend of Zelda when my younger brother, too young to know what he was doing, erased all the games.

At the age of 12, Nintendo controller in hand, I was faced with the reality of my first Data loss, and the necessity of data backups became immediately clear. Ever since then I tried to make copies of my saves whenever the game allowed it. In fact, many gamed DID allow you to do this.

The PlayStation introduced the idea of a save card that was separate from the game. The data loss lesson I learned from Zelda was so powerful that I got TWO save cards just to be safe. I keep up this practice even today; I have two PS2 cards and two Wii cards.

But backups aren't enough. I've learned that some game designers are cruel, and they like to lock you out of areas that you've visited. Sometimes those areas contain items, weapons, armor, or whatnot that you can't get anywhere else in the game. If you saved the game after you got locked out of the area, and if you don't have an OLDER save file, then you're faced with a choice: Do without the item, or start your game over from the beginning.

Sometimes the item you miss is the ultimate weapon in the game. This happened to me in Final Fantasy VII....grrrrr! So, ever since then, I use as many save-game slots as they provide. I try to use a new save slot for each hour I've been playing.

Call me paranoid, but I use multiple saves and backup my saves once a month. I haven't been locked out of an area, or lost any saves, for many, many years...Except a few months ago. I had played Ocarina of Time with my daughter. My son, who's too young to know better, erased all the saves, including the one with 100% completion that my daughter liked to play. I guess erasing saves runs in the family! My daughter cried when she found out. I bought the Wii Virtual Console version and we're going through it again. The Wii version lets you back up your saves!

I'm off to play...wish me luck on the Shadow Temple.