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[larvi]

Scanned hard drives for .sav files and it looks like Ultima 4 from 1987 followed by Pool of Radiance from 1988:

I have older Apple IIe save diskettes dating back to the early 80s too but don't feel like dragging out the Franklin Ace to verify if they are still good.

 

[Minamu]

Hmm well I checked my ps2 card & it was FFX from 2003. I'll never delete my 234 hour game save :lol However, among my friends, I'm quite well known for deleting save files. I always need to have as much free space available even if I don't actually need it. Same thing with my computer HDD. OCD or something. Cards must be tidy! The way I look at it, if I were to play FF7 today after all these years, what good would an end game save file be to me if I'm going to start from disc 1 anyway? I'm not gonna pop in disc 4 just to see the awesome final boss or to view the credits. I can do that on youtube just as easily. So, if more than 1-2 years have past since I last touched a game, I start over from a clean slate. And for some reason, I never ever use more than 1 save slot per game, fully knowing the risks it comes with. So Dead Rising never bothered me

It's not like my memories of the experiences will go away just because I delete a save file Though with my FFX save, I save it mostly because of the hard work of deleting every single node from its original position & rebuilding the entire board so each attribute has its own corner instead of just being randomly placed on it. Quite unnecessary but it was fun

 

[JustAnotherOtaku]

Got my Playstation in 97 and still have the original memory card so stuff like Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider 2, Tekken 2, FF VII will all still be on there

 

[Gaz Pwnage]

Cannon fodder amiga save disk from 1993.

 

[MisterAnderson]

Probably Super Mario World on SNES? I never owned a Zelda NES cart and I'm pretty sure that was the first cartridge with battery save and it didn't become a standard until SNES, right?

 

[gamergirly]

One that's still alive and accessible :lol? Super Mario World/Allstars for SNES, 1994

 

[impirius]

Another Zelda II here, although I imagine the battery is long gone.

 

[botticus]

I haven't verified any save games in a while, but assuming the batteries haven't died, it'd probably be Zelda or Zelda II since I never had the need to overwrite any on the latter, 87-88ish.

 

[kswiston]

I have plenty of PS2 saves from 01/02. I'm not sure if I have any of my original PS1 saves still. I sold most of my PS1 collection before going away to college. Even though I have re-purchased a handful of the games I used to own, I think I purged the original saves years ago. Before the 32bit generation, I was a poor kid who had to sell his old consoles to fund newer ones. All of my 8/16bit saves are lost as well.

 

[viewtiful_dru]

Zelda on NES (so from roughly 1991 till now)

 

[Celcius]

I've still got my ps1 mem card with all my saves on it.

 

[kodt]

Do cartridges count? I know I have some NES/SNES/and N64 cartridges around with save games on them.

On PC I probably have a backup CD somewhere with stuff from '99 or so.

 

[squall211]

Oldest save? Probably on my Zelda II cart dating back from November 1989. Provided it still works, next up would be my save from Dragon Warrior dating back from May 1990. I remember coming home from Exams in school that June as fast as I could, just so I could explore more of the Dragonlord's Castle. Just a little further to see what lied beyond...

I probably have my FFIV save on SNES ranking up there being from late 1991 or so. Nearly maxed out my characters with that one.

Oldest PS1 save would be from March 1996, with the original RE. PS2 save would be December 2000 with RRV. PS3 would be November 2006 with RR7.

Course I could look into my father's collection of ST and Amiga games and find say... my King's Quest III save from 1986 on the smaller floppy disks...

It's so wierd looking at old saves, now that I think on it. It's like a timestamp, showing everything frozen in time. In some cases, like my DQVII save on PS1, It's almost another language since I have since forgotten the nuances of that particular game as opposed to when I was hardcore playing it at the time.

I couldn't agree more, especially if it's an old save that you haven't touched in years.

 

[Jive Turkey]

Oldest known working.. Zelda 1 NES, (24-ish year old).

Either this or Metroid. My FFVII save didn't last long. I wanted to make room for good games.

EDIT: Wait...Metroid used codes...

 

[Chojin]

I still have an old save file of my ultima 1 game on my c64 from 1985

 

[infinityBCRT]

It's probably an old Hero's Quest (Quest for Glory) save with maxed out stats.

Yeah I figure the same for me. Its probably on some floppy disk in a box which is collecting dust in my garage.

 

[JaCy]

Oldest one is a save file for FFX that is from 2004.

 

[jetjevons]

Not counting home computers it's got to be something like Ys on Master System (1988?). Didn't that have a save game?

 

[Rolf NB]

I have an Eye Of The Beholder save from 1992.

 

[revolverjgw]

I'd say about 15 years, probably a Zelda- LTTP or Earthbound save. Assuming the batteries haven't died or something in the past few years.

 

[HUELEN10]

I bought a lot of Apple II stuff, so I expect something there. Personally though, at least console-wise, it would probably be Hanukah 2002, when I got my GCN.

 

[Takeda Kenshi]

Revolution '76 on Apple II GS or Zelda I on NES. I'd have to check.

 

[Label]

I have quite a few save discs for my Amiga still, which date back to around 1990.

Pretty impressive as I was born in 1987.. :lol

 

[oracrest]

Still have my original playthrough. I guess that puts this one at about 21 years old. I'm not counting the years it took playing through it to finally beat it.

 

[Pyke Presco]

It's gotta be either my Ocarina of Time save file or my Goldeneye 007 save, have no idea which. Both are circa 98-99. That Ocarina file has beat the game with only 3 hearts, and the goldeneye file has everything unlocked EXCEPT for that fucking invinciblity cheat (2:05 min run in Facility on 007 difficulty. It's a fucking fluke if the docter is even in the right area so you can skip part of the level...I tried to get it so many times...), with every level beat on 007. I used to be so good at the very few games I owned, and I knew everything in them. Nowadays? I'm lucky if I even end up finishing a game once, let alone replaying it to master it.

 

[AwRy108]

Cool question, OP.

Probably my savegame from the PSOne version of Street Fighter Alpha (big box).

Side note: I miss memory cards! Damned HDD's are too unreliable, which is why I'm so glad I have my 60GB PS3 with all its card readers.

 

[Scythesurge]

I'm not entirely sure, but if I had to guess it's probably my Legend of Zelda files from way back in the day, though of course it has been a while since I checked and the battery very well may have died. The oldest that I can confirm as of recently that I know of is my Pokemon Blue data from 1998

 

[Raiden]

I guess if i check my old gameboy cartridges i can find some old saves. But on consoles its probally mario 64 back when it came out.

 

[Neoriceisgood]

Donkey Kong 94' for gameboy, still seems to work, have one or two save states on that from like, eons ago.

 

[MikeE21286]

Mine's gotta be on a genesis cart

 

[Otheradam]

My Final Fantasy Tactics and VII saves from 97 are probably the oldest. Still have a bunch of stuff on my PS1 memory cards, which I've also transfered to my PS3.

 

[HUELEN10]

Donkey Kong 94' for gameboy, still seems to work, have one or two save states on that from like, eons ago.

Mine has a dead battery. I need to replace it badly. Such an amazing game though.

 

[Diablos]

Probably my FFVII saves, because anything prior to that was on a cartridge, and the batteries are likely dead by now.

Sooo, we're talking 12 years or so.

 

[MikeE21286]

It'd be funny to go back and fire up one of those old saves and try to see how you've changed (if applicable to the game) in terms of how you play games

 

[tapedeck]

Either Cybernator or Final Fantasy VI (SNES). Somehow the saves still work, those batteries are legendary. Unfortunately I traded in all my NES stuff to get my SNES...I wish I would have just done more chores.

 

[bjork]

Death in the Carribean saves from 1984.

 

[drakesfortune]

I'm pretty sure my Phantasy Star save is still good from the late 80's. The battery has to be close to dead though and I haven't turned it on in 7-9 years or so. I have that game on two compilations now anyway, so the cartridge is pretty much useless to me now.

 

[poppabk]

If I looked hard enough in my parents house I am sure I could find some tapes with Battlecars saves on them. Probably from 1986 or so = 23 years old - if they still work.

 

[erpg]

Diddy Kong Racing. Game was tough as nails when I was 10.

 

[Ronabo]

I have a 100% complete Ridge Racer file on a Playstation card from about 1996.

 

[Diomedeskun]

On a memory card? FFVII from 1997. On a cart, I think Kirby's adventure is the only battery backup game I did not sell, but I think I got Super Mario Land 2 before that in 1992.

As far as PC games go, I probably have a save from Master of Magic or Test Drive 3 from the mid 90s somewhere. I suppose I could count Where in Time is Carmen San Diego from 1989, since the computer I played it on did not have a hard drive, so I had to save to a diskette, but I don't have any 5 1/4 floppy drives anymore, so I can't access it anyway.

 

[Run_64bit]

Well, the two oldest that I know for sure still exist are my Donkey Kong Country 100% completion file and my Super Mario RPG file.

 

[rataven]

My original FFVII save from '97 is my oldest (and favorite). A lot of time and work went into that save!

I also have my NES carts of Zelda I and II, though I'm sure the batteries have long since died.

 

[Hyunkel6]

Probably "Donkey Kong Country" for the SNES from about 11-12 years ago. That game was so awesome. I played it so much that I memorized nearly all the levels. :lol

 

[Quixzlizx]

If the battery backups aren't dead, probably my Final Fantasy or Legend of Zelda saves.

 

[MidnightRider]

March 5th, 1984

(Me.... my life is a game)

 

[wolfmat]

March 5th, 1984

(Me.... my life is a game)

Just sucks that you can't load the savegame when you're stuck, eh?

 

[DemiMatt]

def FF7 seeing how I bought a ps1 just for the game.

Actually scratch that, Super Mario World for SNES.

Spoiler

do mega man cheat codes count?

 

[phisheep]

I have older Apple IIe save diskettes dating back to the early 80s too

Me too - somewhere in the loft.

 

[Drkirby]

Still have my original playthrough. I guess that puts this one at about 21 years old. I'm not counting the years it took playing through it to finally beat it.

Are you sure you REALLY have it? My carts battery died a few years ago and I had to replace it.

My oldest save that I has never deleted has to be the save on my Gameboy copy of Tetris Plus, from 1996 or 97.

Kirby's Adventure is the oldest game that I have with the save still hasn't ever died, but I have deleted every save file on it so many times, there is not even a very old save on it anymore.