Password/Battery Feature

The Nes made many incredible advances in the video game industry, but I believe one stands above the rest. The nes was the first system to have a password or battery backup system for its games. Just think about how huge that was. Imagine having to beat Metroid in one sitting, or Zelda, or Final Fantasy! Before the nes most games were point based and adventure games had to be somewhat short. The password feature made it possible to have a long adventure that could take weeks. Then again the password was a pain in the butt. I remember many times writing down some insanely long and strange password only to have it not work the next time because I confused a 0 with an O or a 6 with a G. However, it was well worth the frustration. The greatest achievement of the nes though is the battery feature. The battery increased the enjoyment of some games a thousand percent. The jump from Tecmo Bowl to Tecmo Super Bowl is tremendous and that is all due to the battery. The battery allowed a more complex save, just imagine some of the codes we would have had to written for Tecmo Super Bowl. Okay Bo Jackson has 1203 yards, Marino has 3,008 etc. Man that would have been really nuts. For me whenever I see that little gold sticker on the back of a game I pick it up wehter or not I've heard the game is good. Because a game with a battery has a big advantage over one without. I still don't understand why companies would make an RPG without a battery (ahem Swords and Serpents). That was just ridiculous. I think the battery revolutionized console gaming and certainly sets the nes apart in history as the first to do it. I still remember when my brother bought his playstation and I laughed at him about how he had to buy special memory cards. Alas all games do that now due to the huge amounts of memory they need to save , but I'll never forget the good ole nes who had it built right in.