The Save Spot

What comes in the GTA IV Special Edition?

 

 

 

It’s so much fun to take a new toy out of the box for the first time!  This seems especially true for electronics, which are often marvels of packaging and which tend to have packed-in accessories.  It’s with this sense of anticipation that I drove home last night, knowing that the GTA IV Special Edition was sitting on my front porch! 

I took some pictures as I pulled the game out of the box.  

Here’s the front of the SE box, and the GTA IV license plate that came with my order from Amazon. 

 

Inside the box is another box - the lockbox - which is black, metal, and heavier than I was expecting.  Everything else in the Special Edition fits inside the lockbox - Al Gore would be so pleased!

Here’s the full array of goodies, layed out from inside the lockbox.  Moving in columns from right to left we have:

1)  The license plate (retailer-specific, not included in all SE’s I believe)

2)  The soundtrack.  Not surprisingly, this disc only has a typical number of song tracks on it - certainly not the entire contents of the radio programming!

3)  The art book.  Very nice, with some written commentary by the art director.

4)  The lockbox, with lid open.

5)  Oh, and the actual game.

6)  The duffel bag, folded up in a plastic bag

7)  Two keys for the lockbox

8)  A Rockstar “R-star” keychain

Here’s a look at the duffel bag and the closed lock box.

 

There are two keys for the lockbox, so who do you give the second key to?  I’m thinking about using the box to store some portable games - maybe my GBA/DS/PSP games?  Or maybe it will just end up collecting dust - if you have a great plan for the lockbox, post it in the comments!

What is this?

 

 

 

 

This is:

a)  An interesting bathroom conversation piece - what else are you going to do with your Virtual Boy?

b)  Unsanitary

c)  A way to go blind while curing constipation

d)  All of the above

A Busy Gamer’s Entreaty

An important but not insurmountable roadblock to carving out some time for video games has been on my mind recently.  Namely, the added difficulty of enjoying longer, story-driven games where save spots can be infrequent.  As a busy gamer, my gaming time is likely to be interrupted by phone calls, family commitments, and other responsibilities.  Nothing is quite as frustrating as telemarketers, but a close second is making significant progress in a game but being stuck in an extended cut-scene, firefight, or strategic battle and urgently needing a save spot. 

 

In some games, obviously, this is not a problem.  Many longer games have adopted a “save anywhere” or “save almost anywhere” mechanic that make a busy gamer’s life much easier.  A good recent example for me was Mass Effect, an RPG I very much enjoyed and which I knew I could pick up for 15 minutes or 3 hours and be able to put it back down quickly if necessary.  A good example of a difficult game for a busy gamer is any of the PS2 Xenosaga games.  I recently started playing through Xenosaga III, a traditional JRPG, and both extended cut-scenes and save spots which can be 30 minutes apart leave me anxious when interruptions inevitably arise.    

 

Now, I’m not suggesting that “save anywhere” is the solution here (and my 12th grade English teacher would rightly chastise me for not communicating my thesis prior to the third paragraph!)  There are many gaming genre’s where a sense of excitement, urgency, and vulnerability is present during the periods of the game in-between save spots.  Some shooters, traditional RPGs, and adventure games for example would be much less interesting if you could just save at any time.  But there’s another solution - one that has profitably been applied in some games for years, and which solves this busy gamer’s dilemma without removing any excitement: the quick save! 

 

Quick saves, you’ll recall, have been available in portable games for years (see, for example, any of the Final Fantasy games for the GBA) and are now (basically) available in any DS or PSP game by way of the ’sleep mode’ of each handheld.  When you quick save, you can pick up where you left off - but only once!  If you “Game Over” before reaching a ‘real’ save spot in the game, you can’t start again from your quick save location but have to go back to your last real save.  If quick saves were standard for games, you would be able to quit at any time and resume later without worry, but without removing the urgency of getting to that next real save spot the next time you pick it up.  In fact, in games where this mechanic is used I find myself more likely to want to get right back into the game: I’ve left my character(s) vulnerable, in limbo! 

 

Now, you could argue that this functionality is available in most all games through the process of pausing the game and leaving the console on.  If you’re my age (ahem, let’s not go into details on that one just yet!) you probably remember leaving your NES on for days at a time, with gaming time interrupted only by trips to the local institutional learning center (ok, “school.”)  I’m loathe, however, to leave my PS3 on for days (and what if I want to watch a blu-ray?) and my Xbox 360 would surely survive only hours before offering a red ring retort.

 

So, this busy gamer makes his entreaty to game and hardware developers: please, let’s make the quick save a standard feature!  Let’s build it in to the hardware!  Let’s help to embrace legions of older gamers and make the video gaming world better for busy gamers everywhere!

 

Finding Time for Games

 

 

 

As a busy gamer who also has a full time job, a wife, and lots of responsibilities, finding time for playing games can be a challenge.  Carving out several hours to get together with friends on Xbox Live, or to work through the new RPG is one kind of problem (and one that I’ll deal with in a different post).  But what if you’re looking for a mid-week gaming fix, a mid-day pick-me-up?   With a little planning and ingenuity you’ll find there are opportunities to fit gaming into the little spaces in life as well.  Here are some of my top strategies for getting in some gaming time during the week.  

1. Going Nowhere Fast: If your idea of exercise is preparing for an Iron Man triathalon (no, I’m not talking about your plan to attend three showings of Iron Man on May 2nd) then this one won’t work for you.  If you’re more my speed, get yourself a comfortable exercise bike or other stable, stationary workout equipment.  Haul that old CRT TV out of the garage, and hook up one of your current gen or older gaming systems and sit yourself down for 30-60 minutes of exergaming!  I find my workouts tend to be less intense when gaming (I’m distracted?) but also longer (I’m distracted!)  My favorite genres for exergaming are strategy games, which are especially good at taking your mind off of the job at hand.  Recommended game: Age of Empires: Age of Kings, DS.
2.  I’m not tired yet:  If you’re a married gamer you’re probably already familiar with this one, in which you stay up late after your wife goes to bed in order to game for a little while.  Pitfalls to watch out for include:  a.  You’ll need to keep it down (Rock Band may be out.)   b.  You still need to get some sleep (WoW is probably out, as are those favorite “just one more turn” games.  I’m looking at you Civilization. )   c.  You probably can’t do this every day or you’ll risk an unhappy spouse.
3. Going Nowhere Fast (Redux):  Yeah, I’m going there.  Grab your DS, PSP, or GBA and head to the bathroom (the Virtual Boy is not recommended, for more than one reason).  You’re going to be in there for a while anyways, so why waste your time with Sports Illustrated?  Just don’t let your legs fall asleep (your grandpa’s padded toilet seat isn’t sounding so silly now, is it?) and stay away from portable games with poor save spot distributions.

So, these are some of my top ways to get a mid-week gaming fix - what are yours?

 

 

What’s a GAUGE?

 

 

 

One of the things we do every year is get together for about a week and do nothing but play video games, watch TV and drink some adult beverages.  Why?

Because it’s fun.

But we also do it as a way to stay in touch.  To break up the monotony of “regular” life.  And because its something none of us get to do on a regular basis.  Remember, our lives are busy (as is yours).  But we like making time for our passions.  And gaming is one of those passions.

Of course we’re never satisfied with something until we name it.  So being the clever people we are, we came up with an acronym: GAUGE.

Welcome!

 

 

 

Welcome to The Save Spot.

Perhaps a word of introduction is in order.  The Save Spot was created by three friends from college who love playing games.  Only one problem: our lives are crazy busy.  And our employers don’t see why they should pay us if we’re not going to show up for work. 

So this is our story.  A story of how we game, when all we have is a few minutes.  It’s a story of our frantic search for that one last save spot…