Can saved games be transfered from cartridges or memory cards?

[SyncroScales]

Not too sure if this is the right place to ask.

I was wondering if it is possible to somehow transfer saved games/saved info from old cartridges, older/newer consoles and handheld devices. This could relate to emulating. I am not a programmer if that is needed and don't understand the process. But as a computer user, I can think of an idea that could work.

But say someone has a cartridge or memory card, could it be put into a computer and put onto another piece of physical media that is the same cartridge or another memory card? Would it be recognized, or is something changed?

I remember before that consoles sucked when you couldn't transfer saved games or put them onto a floppy a disk or a usb stick. You couldn't save more or bring them to someones house and show them or keep playing (maybe let them use your progress or you use theirs).

Just wondering.

 

[cl-scott]

It is possible, but you'd need a fair amount of rather expensive custom hardware to be able to read the carts and dump their contents. There would also be potential legal issues. Even if you made that work, then you'd need an emulator that can read the "official" game saves, and most of them just use their own format from what I have seen. At least on the older consoles.

On newer consoles like the 360 and PS3, you could probably extract the save files from the HDD, but as yet there's no viable emulation for those systems.

My advice would be to just write it off as a cool, but ultimately impractical, idea.

 

[SyncroScales]

Thanks for the reply. Any other info is always appriciated.

I am always interested in learning and that's why I ask the questions I do.

Just have curiosity about the processes and how-to's.

The idea is something I often wondered years ago. I'm sure with the advancements in programming and emulation or virtual systems that even companies are using, some of these cool ideas people have will become common or normal. I just laugh at the idea of being able to pick up where you left off on some old dusty item that you use to play 20+ years ago. Or finally, your friend can see where you were in the game and play too from that part or how you were. I think with emulating and how some can save at points in the games, like computer game save files: This second situation has been done.

 

[rpg_poser]

Most of the handhelds and consoles have weaknesses which have been exploited. These exploits allow the end user to execute code (homebrew) on them. For instance, you can easily hack a Wii by using the letterbomb exploit which is simply copied onto an SD card. Once the exploit is used, the homebrew channel can be installed, gamesaves can be copied from the internal memory of gamecube memory cards to the SD card, then transferred to a PC via the same SD card. The PSP is hacked in a similar manner. Some consoles require more effort. The xbox360 requires disassembly, then flashing a custom bios, which is much harder and can "brick" your hardware. All of this information is easily found on the internet.
Do some googling it's out there.

 

[rpg_poser]

I am suprised a moderator hasn't locked this thread. I posted an answer in a similar thread - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/121002-13-tomshardware answering a question about modding a PS2 and my answer in that thread supplied much less detail than my answer in this thread right above.
Could I get a moderator to lock this thread and ban my account? If you are going to moderate, at least be consistent.

 

[SyncroScales]

I am here to learn and am happy with as much info I can get. I am cautious about where I go and there are things I do not do.

The info is interesting and it's great for a few confirmations. But it seems a but much sometimes. I will keep learning and asking questions.

Thanks for the info.

 

[SyncroScales]

Best answer selected by SyncroScales.