Why do you have to "Press Start" on every game ever made?

RationalGaze

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It's 2010 and we are still having to do this. Does anyone know why? Why can't games just load straight to the menu where you select "New Game", "Load Game" etc? :confused:
 
I press A myself.

I am guessing they do it as its an Arcade thing
 
Doesn't GTA IV just start you off directly in the game?
 
Doesn't GTA IV just start you off directly in the game?

Yup.

Besides, even when it says "Press Start", most games will start with a press of any other button.
I find that kind of funny.
 
Doesn't GTA IV just start you off directly in the game?

Yeah that was much better, you just got loaded straight into your latest save and appeared in your apartment.

I know it's not a big deal, I'm just questioning why we have this seemingly useless task every time we want to play a game. Imagine if every time you started your Xbox/PC it said "Press Start/A/Enter" to load the dashboard/desktop. No reason for this really. Seems developers just add this step since that's how games always start.
 
Was just thinking this myself the other day.

Slight derail, but believe it or not, I DO know what autosaving is and does so I don't need to be reminded EVERY time I switch on.:)

And, has anyone actually switched off their console mid save and lived to tell the tale. Or will I disappear into a space time vortex never to be seen again?
 
Was just thinking this myself the other day.

Slight derail, but believe it or not, I DO know what autosaving is and does so I don't need to be reminded EVERY time I switch on.:)

And, has anyone actually switched off their console mid save and lived to tell the tale. Or will I disappear into the space time vortex never to be seen again?


nothing like that 50/50 chance you will corrupt your save file though :smashin:
 
True, but by the time I got my sorry ass out of the sofa and over to the xbox the moment would be gone:)
 
I really hated the Wiis game starting: you got a message every time to "press a + b, then warnings not to throw the controller at the tv, punch out your grandma etc. Then the game would start it's loading, whereby you'd often get a second set of button confirmations and warnings :facepalm: Presumably Kinect will be doing similar after the videos of kinect injuries...

On a related note: I wonder if all the company logos are needed to hide loading the game, or do they actually slow things down compared to if they weren't there. And after the first time we start a game, do we really need to know which game engine, physics engine, sound whatever they're using? Really! Everytime!
 
Wonder if there was ever a real reason this came about in the early days. some limitation in programming when starting up etc!
 
It exists to prevent screen burn, by leaving the game on a Press Start screen it then triggers the games demo after inactivity that prevented screen burn on the old arcade cabinets. It also acted as a good promotion for the game.

It's something that has just stuck around, and particularly with modern consoles where they often ask the save location it is also useful to have the screen.
 
Maybe it's for the like of shops, usually if you don't press anything at that screen it goes into demo mode. The press start screen also sometimes looks like a poster or advertisement.
 
I remember when it was fields all round here, and the "press start to play".
It used to be the case that if you left the game on the "Start Button screen" without pressing start, that the game went into demo mode and you could watch the devs playing the game a helluva lot better than I ever did.

Its a good point though. I suppose you are just telling the game that you're ready to play, from days of old when loading times were a lot longer. You'd stick a tape on for the Speccy and then go and walk the dog. By the time you got back (it had failed) you were ready to go. :)

Interesting with CoD Black Ops, there's an option to boot the game straight to Multiplayer, without having to go through the developer splash screen or the "press start" screen. Could be a sign of things to come.
 
Also why does FIFA need to check what language I want to start the game in every time? You could probably assume that if I want English the first time I play the game I'll probably want that every time!
 
Also why does FIFA need to check what language I want to start the game in every time? You could probably assume that if I want English the first time I play the game I'll probably want that every time!

Winner! *Ding,Ding,Ding*

Most annoying game-time-waster ever! Language check followed by hospitality settings, just connect me and get on with it.

I quite Like the start menu's when the game is responsive afterwards, it's when it's used to allow for further loading of the game or menus that it becomes a bit of a pain.
 
it maybe due to the uk having more and more different languages in the uk today so it's probably to cater for people who are living here who don't speak english, again like the start button for me it's not a problem.
 
it maybe due to the uk having more and more different languages in the uk today so it's probably to cater for people who are living here who don't speak english, again like the start button for me it's not a problem.

But surely once you've chosen the language you want to use on the first play of the game it should remember your choice?
 
What if overnight you suddenly find yourself speaking nothing but Mandarin??

There was a game that had an achievement for pressing the Start button. Think it was The Simpsons or something like that.
 
What if overnight you suddenly find yourself speaking nothing but Mandarin??

That's not as unlikely as you may think.... well, it is as unlikely as you may think but still, it's technically a possibility if you've had a head injury.
 
And, has anyone actually switched off their console mid save and lived to tell the tale. Or will I disappear into a space time vortex never to be seen again?

Er, kinda.
I got busted on Nfs Carbon i think it was, woulda lost a car that i'd be working towards for ages, so I turned xbox off as it was saving, and.........red lights. :blush: Lolol. Took it back to the store, got it replaced, and learnt my lesson.;)
 
That's not as unlikely as you may think.... well, it is as unlikely as you may think but still, it's technically a possibility if you've had a head injury.

You still have to know Mandarin, which I imagine very few do in the UK. A head injury can make you think Mandarin is your primary language, but it can't teach you Mandarin if you don't know it.
 
It's Tradition. It allows for a splash screen to be presented, it also provides a platform for a rolling demo to run that showcases the game.

I hope it forever remains.
 

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