8 Blatant Loading Screen Cover-ups

[Karthik]

You know what's worse than suffering through a long elevator ride? Suffering through a long elevator ride knowing that the fate of the entire universe rests in your hands. And yet, that's exactly what you have to do in the Mass Effect. Never mind that it's set thousands of years in the future and that humans have mastered inter-stellar travel: they just can't seem to get a firm grasp on elevator technology.

Link (http://www.omglists.com/article/46993/8-blatant-loading-screen-cover-ups/)

Check it out, it's quite funny.

[ShadeEX]

Personally I would rather have those than a blank stale

NOW LOADING screen..

That totally ruins a games atmosphere

[hellchicken]

I absolutely loved the way COD 4 handled loading screens! That's the way to go IMO.

[Hudson]

Yeah, at least it made the loading interesting

[Stense]

The first time I played Resident Evil, I thought that the doors slowly opening was just part of the first set of cut scenes to add to the suspense of starting this new spooky looking game. Then realised that it was just the loading screen and thinking 'this may get tedious'. To this day I still can't bear to open a door slowly now, I have to bash them open and crash through any door I come across. Resident Evil ruined doors for me. :P

[NutWrench]

I thought Doom 3 did a good job at covering up the load times by describing each area you were about to enter.

[avatar_58]

Not really a coverup, but Double Agent PC's briefing scenes were downright terrible. The speech was not timed well and would get cut off when the game was done loading. My PC couldn't even run the game on maximum and yet it loaded the scene before the briefing was done....A+ Ubisoft.

[Rider]

I thought Doom 3 did a good job at covering up the load times by describing each area you were about to enter.

Actually I disagree. I didn't have the hottest system in town at the time, so my loading times where pretty long. At that rate, it was just a picture to try and keep you from being bored to tears while loading.

Metroid Prime did it a lot better IMO :)

[Karthik]

Not really a coverup, but Double Agent PC's briefing scenes were downright terrible. The speech was not timed well and would get cut off when the game was done loading. My PC couldn't even run the game on maximum and yet it loaded the scene before the briefing was done....A+ Ubisoft.
Dang, imagine how they would look like on PCs 5 years from now.

[Fraeon Waser Duhni]

Someone should tell the writer that Mass Effect is not thousands of years in the future. Just a bit under 200. :p

[Nessus]

I absolutely loved the way COD 4 handled loading screens! That's the way to go IMO.

Agreed, this is the way to go. When you're loading up a few hundred megs for a level and 3 0r 4 to make some entertaining or informative screens is definetly worth it. There's no reason to be staring at a loading screen at this point in the evolution of gaming.

I just read an article that said you can't have a mini game during load screens due to patent issues, anyone know if that's true?

[ShadeEX]

I just read an article that said you can't have a mini game during load screens due to patent issues, anyone know if that's true?

Yup it's true..

Namco has a US Patent for Minigames during load times..

Wich can be read in the Wikipedia article about loading screens:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loading_screen#Minigames

Link to the actual US Patent:
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5718632.PN.&OS=PN/5718632&RS=PN/5718632

[avatar_58]

If your loading screen needs a minigame then it's too long.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

If your loading screen needs a minigame then it's too long.

What if your minigame was

http://claytonman.com/games/midgettoss.swf
?

[Telee]

I thought the elevator rides were a great idea, especially with the party member conversations and news broadcasts.

[Phait]

Patent for minigames during a loading screen? Thats idiotic. That's like patenting portable electronics use during a road trip. What a ******* monopoly.. how can you ******* patent that? No. Bullshit. A minigame is yet a game, which plenty of developers make. Loading screens too. Neither are exclusive to Namco, so **** 'em.

[avatar_58]

@%#$^@$^@%#$!!!!

[Nessus]

I'm with you Phait, I don't think that patent could hold up in court, it's absurd. someone should just put in a minigame and let them go choke on it, it would be an interesting lawsuit.

ICR the irony is that your minigame has it's own loading screen, perhaps a microgame for that?

[Karthik]

I'm with you Phait, I don't think that patent could hold up in court, it's absurd. someone should just put in a minigame and let them go choke on it, it would be an interesting lawsuit.

ICR the irony is that your minigame has it's own loading screen, perhaps a microgame for that?
Microgame....damn, I better patent that ASAP. Muhawhahhawhah :D

[Amakou]

Microgame....damn, I better patent that ASAP. Muhawhahhawhah :D

Then I'm taking Nanogame! ;)

Really though, that is BS.

~Amakou~

[thefly]

I just thought that the Metroid doors were a bug.

[WestSeven]

Does anyone remember the Commodore 64 'space invaders' loading minigame? I can't remember exactly what they called it or even what the main game it came with was called, for but the tag line was something like "Just when you thought it was safe to make a cup of coffee..." I thought it was great at the time.

[Mblackwell]

I just thought that the Metroid doors were a bug.

Nope. If you never want to wait for a door, shoot the door you want to go through before you get across the room.

It loads each area after you shoot open the door and dumps the previous from memory after a minute. It's actually a pretty genius system. Combined with the elevators it generally makes loading seamless, except here and there. Prime 3 seems to have even less hitches.

[ShadeEX]

Well they just have a US Patent so technically they can't sue me since I live in Denmark..

If I ever made a game with ninigames in the loading screen that is..

But then again if a load screen needs a Minigame then obviously there's something wrong..

Because then quite frankly the load times are too long..

[Echo Black]

They bash the Castlevania SOTN "cover-up"? It's pretty artsy/tasteful, and a "cd" engraving appears on the middle of ths screen, so it's not really trying to fool anyone. Meh.

[Phait]

I prefer loading screens with some semblance of progress, instead of a static "Loading" screen.

[Daedolon]

I also thought that Metroid Prime: Hunters was seriously buggy, it was much later when I realized it's the loading times :doh:

[Malgon]

I don't mind information about locations and characters etc. being displayed in load screens. It's been done in RPG's for a while and FPS games are starting to do it more recently. Ultimately less load times are better, but something to look at while you're waiting is much better than just the plain "loading" screens that many games still utilise.

[The Deadsider]

I liked Kane and Lynch's idea. The loading screens sort of continue or begin a cutscene with a voice over.

[Sang]

I think loading times, if not too often, can also serve as a necessary short, gaming break. I don't know if you guys ever do it, but sometimes when I get at a loading point I just pull my chair back and take a breath ;)

Even if there is really good pacing (like HL2: Episode Two) - a silent moment of immobility is still a good thing once in a while.

[Daedolon]

I think loading times, if not too often, can also serve as a necessary short, gaming break.

Good point. I usually stretch my limbs and fingers and rest my eyes while a game loads.

[jimbob]

i usually get a beer, or 2. depending on the game.

[Hyperactive Slob]

I hate it when games have information on the loading screens but the game loads to fast for you to read it.

[Malgon]

^Your computer is too fast. :p

[Karthik]

^Your computer is too fast. :p
Don't you just hate it. Your first computer is too slow to play "the game you've been waiting all your life", you put the game in you closet waiting for the day your new PC arrives, it arrives and wallah now it's just way too fast to be played. Grrr..

[Zombie_Boy]

Anything that covers up a loading screen will please me no matter what. I loved how Resident Evil got around that with the slow-opening doors. When I first played the game, the slow sound of the creaking door opening to load the next area was just too awesome! Seriously!

It really just adds alot more to the atmosphere.. cause nothing takes you outta the game more then to see "now loading".

[Vroomfondel]

Don't you just hate it. Your first computer is too slow to play "the game you've been waiting all your life", you put the game in you closet waiting for the day your new PC arrives, it arrives and wallah now it's just way too fast to be played. Grrr..

That would be Syndicate Wars for me.

[XPM]

Ah the good old mini games loading screens...

They've been around since the nes days...not that it needed any loading...it was rather a...switching between levels kind of game...I seem to remember it from some sort of hockey game. And then it was of course...ridge racer

[steauengeglase]

I dunno, the list is kind of pointless. Why have a list of "8 load screens that we recognize as load screens."?

With that said, the Prime games should have done something extra with the doors. Perhaps a response from the door that it was checking outer integrity or some type of decompression was needed before opening; anything to let you know that needlessly attacking it helped neither of you.

Fighting game screens are a kind of 50/50. If play was consistent my hands would have fallen off years ago thanks to the Tekken series. On the plus side, Soul Calibur 2's insults between rounds was the perfect addition, giving the player time to breathe and berate his/her opponent.

I'll agree with pretty much everyone on the RE load screens. So often I just want to hit the start button and get a simple load screen.

Shame about Namco, but a perfect example of why software patents aren't always a good idea.

[Dr. Kill]

Yup it's true..

Namco has a US Patent for Minigames during load times..

Wich can be read in the Wikipedia article about loading screens:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loading_screen#Minigames

Link to the actual US Patent:
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5718632.PN.&OS=PN/5718632&RS=PN/5718632

Umm... then how was Infogrames able to have a playable version of Pong during the Test Drive (xbox, ps2) loading screens? :confused: I never heard of this patent, anyway.

[SonnyBonds]

C64 games sometimes let you play minigames while the games were loading.. I remember Ghost Busters had a Space Invaders game you could play. Loading games from tapes usually took several minutes so it was nice to have something to do.

Most often though, they only had a cool picture and a loading tune. Some companies had very cool loader tunes, like Ocean. I often loaded games only to listen to the loading tune and reset it once it was done loading :D

[Fjallraven]

In "the darkness" there was movies as a loading screen cover-up. It worked really well. Starbreeze are so humourous. :)