So what was the mindset of gamers back then?

[Genesis Knight]

I'm relatively new to all things Genesis, and I didn't play videogames at all back in the 90s. Much less the 80s.) My question is this - did people leave their systems on constantly? I see no other explanation for the length of some games. You just can't beat some of those older titles in a reasonable period of time. Secondly, the old 'scores are only saved until you turn off the system' thing leads me to think that when people got new games they'd leave the system on for a week or two while they played it over and over.

All of this is just guessing, of course, but since most of you are older than me and lifelong gamers, I figured you could tell me about all this.

[David J.]

I did once by accident. It was on the options screen for Cool Spot.

[Obviously]

You usually had to set an entire day aside if you wanted to beat some save-less games.

The overnight pause in order to beat some games is also not unheard of and I've done it several of times back in the day.

[Melf]

Ah, the overnight pause...I remember those! That was the only way to truly beat Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts, unless you started playing really early in the day. We played until about 12 a.m. and then left it on pause until 9 that morning.

It was a real pain to play those score-based games that had no save. What we did was only honor those scores obtained with at least one witness. If you made a record alone, it didn't count.

[mish]

I had to use a little overnight pausage for streets of rage 3 (i wanted to keep Roo) but I wasn't really concerned with playing games all the way through.

[LoneSage]

Personally I never did it; I think the only time I left a console on and left the house was for Ninja Gaiden, and I wasn't gone too long.

If it didn't have a save function, I was pretty much forced to beat it in a sitting. Much more intense than games nowadays, because by the end I was usually on edge (Sonic 2, Death Egg; I was about to snap when Metal Sonic killed me).

[Joe Redifer]

I rarely gave a rat's ass about the score. I just played to get as far as I could. Most games are only an hour or so long, if that. Longer if you don't know what you're doing. But once you learn the game you can get through pretty quickly. I myself prefer arcade style games instead of the stop, scan, investigate, shoot 1 thing, investigate, scan, investigate, scan, walk, scan, investigate, shoot 1 or 2 things like Metroid Prime.

And any game from that era that required significant time always had a svae or at least a password.

[j_factor]

I remember leaving the system on overnight in Sim Earth so everything would be more advanced when I came back to it.

[extrarice]

I'm relatively new to all things Genesis, and I didn't play videogames at all back in the 90s. Much less the 80s.) My question is this - did people leave their systems on constantly? I see no other explanation for the length of some games. You just can't beat some of those older titles in a reasonable period of time. Secondly, the old 'scores are only saved until you turn off the system' thing leads me to think that when people got new games they'd leave the system on for a week or two while they played it over and over.

All of this is just guessing, of course, but since most of you are older than me and lifelong gamers, I figured you could tell me about all this.
Yeah, leaving the system on overnight to finish that freaking hard game without having to start over (Blaster Master comes to mind for me...) was common.

As for hi-scores, those were mostly important for when you and a buddy played something tag-team all afternoon and the hi-score table gave you bragging rights.

[Demonic Weasel]

I never did myself but I can understand that it would be necessary for some games. Kid Chameleon and Sonic the Hedgehog come to mind very quickly.

[Obviously]

The first game I ever left on all night was probably the original Megaman on the NES. Thank God the later games all had password/save features.

[Joe Redifer]

Sonic the Hedgehog is easily beatable in about an hour.

[Demonic Weasel]

I didn't find it so the first time around. It seemed to go on forever. And some of the underwater stages could take a damn long time.

[Flash1087]

As a kid, I very rarely ever finished a game. I was totally content with playing each game for a few levels and then moving on to something else, only to go back later and maybe get a little farther than last time. Having as many game systems as I did certainly didn't help my attention span. :D

[David J.]

As a kid, I very rarely ever finished a game. I was totally content with playing each game for a few levels and then moving on to something else, only to go back later and maybe get a little farther than last time. Having as many game systems as I did certainly didn't help my attention span. :D

That's how I play games today, and why I have so many.

[videolamer]

I would leave Kid Chameleon on while I went to school. That was a particularly long game, though.

[Melf]

Yeah, that's one game that is totally made better by save states. :)

[j_factor]

Are there any of those "game saver" things for Genesis? I've only seen them for SNES.

[Genesis Knight]

Pro Action Replay does that.