Password (video games)
Encyclopedia
In many video games of the 8-bit and, to a lesser extent, 16-bit eras (third and fourth generations), after a level
was beaten and/or when all continue
s were used, the game would display a password, that when entered in the game would allow the player to return to this part in the game. In simple cases this saves only the level achieved, while in other cases, such as CRPGs, it saves many more states – possessions, events, and the like. They are rarely used today, with a saved game
capacity generally being used instead.
s, games could not be saved without an additional memory card being integrated into the game, significantly increasing (often doubling) the manufacturing cost. By using passwords, nothing needed to be written on the cartridge, as the password itself contained all the information needed to continue the game, and thus a memory card was not necessary, lowering costs. These costs were particularly a concern on low volume titles by smaller third-party developers.
With the advent of optical based media at the tail end of the 16-bit era, data could not be stored on the game media, and a saved game required the introduction of non-volatile memory
to the console either in the form of internal memory or memory card
s (both of which were introduced with the Sega CD) which stored game data once the system was powered off; passwords avoided the need for this.
In the 32-bit era (fifth generation), passwords retained some limited practical use in conserving memory blocks, due to the small number of memory blocks on original PlayStation
memory cards (15 blocks per card). Platform
and puzzle
games were famous for this, as often the only data required is the level achieved – hence easily encoded in a simple password – and thus using one of the limited blocks for this data was seen as wasteful.
Some modern video games still use passwords as a homage to the early days of gaming, or for some of the advantages listed below, but they are now rare.
Passwords, as with saved games, have been primarily used for home systems, but have found some use in arcades, as in Gauntlet Legends
, which uses passwords to record player statistics/abilities and progress.
The complexity of passwords depends mostly on the number of variables stored. In games that only require the stage variable to be stored, a single word, with or without meaning, is sufficient. More complex games often base their passwords on several characters combined by an algorithm
. While it is possible to translate saves
into passwords even from the most complex titles, the practical use of them is very questionable. In games such as RPGs, where dozens of stats have to be stored, passwords would be hundreds of characters long.
In other languages with more characters, passwords can be shorter.
For example, Japanese
has many characters:
Japanese passwords can have more variables. For example, Japanese versions of Dragon Quest prior to the American NES
version used passwords with many variables, while the North American version used a battery backup.
Usually, the size and complexity of the password does not make "guessing" a valid password practical. However, particularly in the case of algorithmic passwords, a password can be found by pure chance (such as the famous JUSTIN BAILEY code from Metroid
).
Although passwords are seen as archaic by modern standards, they still carry a number of advantages over memory saving, including:
There are, however, several disadvantages:
, while passwords have taken on the distinct role of adding in extra characters
, vehicles, or weapons; in this context they are usually referred to as cheat codes. For example, in Animal Crossing
, passwords are used for giving items to friends; players could trade in an item for a password, and their friend could enter in the password to receive that same item. The PC-Engine version of Ys I & II
contained a password feature in addition to the conventional game save to allow players to transfer their games between consoles, possibly the first game to do this. In Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
, every demon that the player can own has a unique password of thirty-two characters that can be used to summon that demon from the Compendium even if the player has never encountered it. If a demon created through fusion has different skills from its normal version, a different password will be stored in the Compendium along with the original password, allowing players to store custom demons.
Today, many arcade games, such as the Initial D arcade game
, use hashes
to allow people to submit their fastest lap times to online score tables (though Initial D uses a proprietary magnetic card to save user data). The hash is used to stop people forging lap times. The password can then be entered on a website to have the time added online. An alternative to this is for the arcade consoles to be networked (internet-connected), as via Konami's e-Amusement
system.
It is also common in Warcraft 3 mods, where saving data between games is virtually impossible, but generating and reading passwords is not.
Level (computer and video games)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
was beaten and/or when all continue
Continue (video gaming)
Continue is a common term in video games for the option to continue the game after all of the player's lives have been lost, rather than ending the game and restarting from the very beginning.-Arcade games:...
s were used, the game would display a password, that when entered in the game would allow the player to return to this part in the game. In simple cases this saves only the level achieved, while in other cases, such as CRPGs, it saves many more states – possessions, events, and the like. They are rarely used today, with a saved game
Saved game
A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. This saved game can be reloaded later, so the player can continue where he or she had stopped...
capacity generally being used instead.
Rationale and history
Passwords were used when storage was either impossible or expensive. On early ROM cartridgeROM cartridge
A ROM cartridge, sometimes referred to as a cart, is a removable enclosure containing read-only memory devices designed to be connected to a computer or games console....
s, games could not be saved without an additional memory card being integrated into the game, significantly increasing (often doubling) the manufacturing cost. By using passwords, nothing needed to be written on the cartridge, as the password itself contained all the information needed to continue the game, and thus a memory card was not necessary, lowering costs. These costs were particularly a concern on low volume titles by smaller third-party developers.
With the advent of optical based media at the tail end of the 16-bit era, data could not be stored on the game media, and a saved game required the introduction of non-volatile memory
Non-volatile memory
Non-volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, NVM or non-volatile storage, in the most basic sense, is computer memory that can retain the stored information even when not powered. Examples of non-volatile memory include read-only memory, flash memory, ferroelectric RAM, most types of magnetic computer...
to the console either in the form of internal memory or memory card
Memory card
A memory card or flash card is an electronic flash memory data storage device used for storing digital information. They are commonly used in many electronic devices, including digital cameras, mobile phones, laptop computers, MP3 players, and video game consoles...
s (both of which were introduced with the Sega CD) which stored game data once the system was powered off; passwords avoided the need for this.
In the 32-bit era (fifth generation), passwords retained some limited practical use in conserving memory blocks, due to the small number of memory blocks on original PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
memory cards (15 blocks per card). Platform
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
and puzzle
Computer puzzle game
Puzzle video games are a genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles to be solved can test many problem solving skills including logic, strategy, pattern recognition, sequence solving, and word completion....
games were famous for this, as often the only data required is the level achieved – hence easily encoded in a simple password – and thus using one of the limited blocks for this data was seen as wasteful.
Some modern video games still use passwords as a homage to the early days of gaming, or for some of the advantages listed below, but they are now rare.
Passwords, as with saved games, have been primarily used for home systems, but have found some use in arcades, as in Gauntlet Legends
Gauntlet Legends
Gauntlet Legends is an arcade game released in 1998 by Atari Games. It is a fantasy themed hack and slash game, a sequel to 1985's popular Gauntlet and 1986's Gauntlet II and marks the final game in the series to be produced by Atari Games...
, which uses passwords to record player statistics/abilities and progress.
Complexity of passwords
Algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
. While it is possible to translate saves
Saved game
A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. This saved game can be reloaded later, so the player can continue where he or she had stopped...
into passwords even from the most complex titles, the practical use of them is very questionable. In games such as RPGs, where dozens of stats have to be stored, passwords would be hundreds of characters long.
In other languages with more characters, passwords can be shorter.
For example, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
has many characters:
- numeralsJapanese numeralsThe system of Japanese numerals is the system of number names used in the Japanese language. The Japanese numerals in writing are entirely based on the Chinese numerals and the grouping of large numbers follow the Chinese tradition of grouping by 10,000...
... 10 - hiraganaHiraganais a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
and katakanaKatakanais a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
... 46 to 83 each- 46 normal characters (or 48 with rarely used ゐ and ゑ
- 9 or 10 small characters ... "ぁぃぅぇぉっゃゅょ" and the rarely used "ゎ"
- 25 voiced characters ... such as "が" and "ぱ"
- alphabetRomanization of JapaneseThe romanization of Japanese is the application of the Latin alphabet to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is known as , less strictly romaji, literally "Roman letters", sometimes incorrectly transliterated as romanji or rōmanji. There are several different romanization systems...
... 26 (or 52 with lower case)
Japanese passwords can have more variables. For example, Japanese versions of Dragon Quest prior to the American NES
Nes
-Localities:In Norway:* Nes, Akershus, a municipality in the county of Akershus in Norway* Nes, Buskerud, a municipality in the county of Buskerud in Norway* Nes, Hedmark, a former municipality in the county of Hedmark in Norway...
version used passwords with many variables, while the North American version used a battery backup.
Usually, the size and complexity of the password does not make "guessing" a valid password practical. However, particularly in the case of algorithmic passwords, a password can be found by pure chance (such as the famous JUSTIN BAILEY code from Metroid
Metroid
is an action-adventure video game, and the first entry in the Metroid series. It was co-developed by Nintendo's Research and Development 1 division and Intelligent Systems, and was released in Japan in August 1986, in North America in August 1987, and in Europe in January 1988...
).
Advantages and disadvantages
- Portability of passwords: they can be carried over any medium without requiring extra accessories such as memory cards or similar memory transfer media. In the cartridge-based games, it's also possible to continue playing in different cartridges, without losing progress changing between them.
- Always work: while saved media is prone to corruption, passwords (as long as the media is kept safe) will always work. Some cartridges with built-in backup batteries manufactured in the golden age of 16-bit consolesVideo game consoleA video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
(between 1990 and 1995) also have their batteries worn by now due to overuse, and more recently, users of Memory Cards could lose progress in a game if the card was physically damaged or had some kind of interference that corrupted data while operating. - Resume anytime: in console games (until the hard drive-based XboxXboxThe Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
appeared), there was a limited space that could be used to store games, which could become a problem, particularly in sports gameSports gameA sports game is a computer or video game that simulates the practice of traditional sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including team sports, athletics and extreme sports. Some games emphasize actually playing the sport , whilst others emphasize strategy and organization...
s: if a player wants to keep a list of final matches, he needs to acquire a new memory card for each handful of finals. With passwords, although no other statistics are saved, this problem does not exist. - Independent of version: While in some games installing a patchPatch (computing)A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...
can render all previously saved games unusable, passwords will always work unless the algorithm behind the password generation is changed. - Sharing: Once a password was acquired, anyone could use it. If a player unlocked a secret, power-up, extra levels, etc., or reached the last level of a game and acquired the password, he or she could publish and share it with anyone. This allowed players to access parts of a game they did not earn themselves.
- Infinite Amounts: Cartridge based game saves are limited in quantity by the amount of RAM on the cartridge. Most cartridges save between 1 and 4 saves. But with passwords, you can have as many different saves as you want.
- Undo: Once you save over a file or a memory slot, you cannot bring it back. But with passwords, you can always go back to the password you last typed in.
There are, however, several disadvantages:
- Complexity and necessity of human input: some passwords, even for older games, can be over 20 characters long. Not only are they hard and take time to input, but a single error transcribing the password from the screen to the paper could mean a useless password. There can also be interpretation errors, such as confusing 0 (the number zero) and O (the letter "O"), although these code confusions are easily tested and fixed. Some of the later games only had non-ambiguous characters to overcome this problem (such as having either the letter O or the number 0, the letter l or the number 1, etc. and not both). An unusual variant is in The Magic of Scheherazade, which features semi-fault tolerant passwords: passwords between 1 and 5 incorrect characters still work to a limited degree, preserving the stage one has achieved, but not the player's attributes.
- Separate media: the medium used by the player to store passwords acquired—usually a piece of paper, a corner or a blank page of the manual—if not kept properly, is susceptible to loss or damage: ink can fade away, pages can be lost, etc.
- Fewer variables stored: considering the complexity limit, passwords can't hold more than a few variables, which means that they are not practical for variable-oriented games such as RPGs and racing gameRacing gameA racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first-person or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings...
s; sports games are stripped of statistics and, since saving mid-level usually requires an impractical amount of data, strategy gameStrategy gameA strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
s have to be organized into levels to be completed in one sitting. - No records: it is also completely impractical to save records of the game, such as "fastest run in a level", "highest score", user statistics, "fastest lap", "total time played", etc.
Modern use
In recent games, the use of passwords for saving progress has been generally replaced by savesSaved game
A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. This saved game can be reloaded later, so the player can continue where he or she had stopped...
, while passwords have taken on the distinct role of adding in extra characters
Secret character
A secret character can be a player character or a non-player character in a video game that must be unlocked by completing a goal within the game...
, vehicles, or weapons; in this context they are usually referred to as cheat codes. For example, in Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing
The Animal Crossing games have garnered positive response. The first three games are among the best-selling for their respective consoles. Animal Crossing has sold 2.321 million copies; Wild World 10.79 million; and City Folk 3.38 million...
, passwords are used for giving items to friends; players could trade in an item for a password, and their friend could enter in the password to receive that same item. The PC-Engine version of Ys I & II
Ys (video game)
is a Japanese computer and console role-playing video game series, and Nihon Falcom corporation's flagship franchise. It started on the NEC PC-8801 in 1987, created by Masaya Hashimoto and Tomoyoshi Miyazaki...
contained a password feature in addition to the conventional game save to allow players to transfer their games between consoles, possibly the first game to do this. In Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
is a role-playing video game developed by Atlus and Lancarse for the Nintendo DS. It is a title within the Megami Tensei series of video games, and was released in Japan on October 8, 2009 and in North America on March 23, 2010...
, every demon that the player can own has a unique password of thirty-two characters that can be used to summon that demon from the Compendium even if the player has never encountered it. If a demon created through fusion has different skills from its normal version, a different password will be stored in the Compendium along with the original password, allowing players to store custom demons.
Today, many arcade games, such as the Initial D arcade game
Initial D Arcade Stage
Initial D Arcade Stage is a racing game series developed by Sega Rosso, a division of Sega, based on the anime and manga Initial D...
, use hashes
Hash function
A hash function is any algorithm or subroutine that maps large data sets to smaller data sets, called keys. For example, a single integer can serve as an index to an array...
to allow people to submit their fastest lap times to online score tables (though Initial D uses a proprietary magnetic card to save user data). The hash is used to stop people forging lap times. The password can then be entered on a website to have the time added online. An alternative to this is for the arcade consoles to be networked (internet-connected), as via Konami's e-Amusement
E-AMUSEMENT
e-AMUSEMENT is an online service offered worldwide by Konami to enable exclusive online features in games, such as Internet Rankings and unlockable content. It is utilized by multiple Konami games as listed below, including the arcade and the PlayStation 2 platforms.- Magnetic Cards :Before 2006,...
system.
It is also common in Warcraft 3 mods, where saving data between games is virtually impossible, but generating and reading passwords is not.
External links
- Video Game Password Generators
- NES Password Generators and Trivia
- IGN's review of GT Advance Championship RacingGT Advance Championship RacingGT Advance Championship Racing is a racing game developed by MTO and published by THQ. It was a launch title for the Game Boy Advance, and was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, and in Europe on June 15, 2001...
- a game which was seriously hurt by the removal of a game save in favor of a password system