Topic title pretty much says it all. I'm interested in knowing about games that, for whatever reason, check, read or even write to saved data from other games, like how Metal Gear Solid on the PS1 would check the existence of saves for certain other games on the user's memory card. My main interest would be on N64, PS1, SAT, DC, PS2, and GC (XB1 not really), but I'm not oposed in making it a universal list if there's interest, including older systems and even newer ones up to the current generation, although I'm not really into that generation. Also included would be games that interact with games for other systems in some special way, such as using a Transfer Pak on the N64, GBA link cable on the GC, or, I think, DC-NGP link cable(?), but the focus would be in hidden or secondary features (like the how Perfect Dark on the N64 unlocks cheats if you insert a Transfer Pak with GB version of PD), and not in primary functionality, like Pokemon Stadium games communicating with the portable versions, or GC games based arround the GC-GBA link. The later could also be included in such a list, but it's not as interesting, since they are already stated in the manual or on-screen. PS1-PocketStation and DC-VMU stuff would also be pertinent in such a list I guess, though that may be stretching too far and probably already listed somewhere else. Finally, personally, I'm particularly interested in knowing about cases of N64 games that check the Controller Pak in search of save data from other games. Is anyone aware of there being any? For now I'm just interested in the subject, and my main interest is N64 (which, I reckon, is unlikely to have many such cases), but if there's interest and an abundance of information, I'm open to suggestions on how to turn this into a more or less useful/comprehensive resource.
Suikoden immediately comes to mind. It even goes a generation with the save reading from Suikoden 2 (PS1) to Suikoden 3 (PS2)
Sega Saturn: Duke Nukem 3D checks for a save of Quake and if present unlocks Death Tank Zwei Shining Force 3 - all three parts are obviously linked by save but as it is designed like that maybe that doesn't count? Dreamcast: ShenMue and ShenMue 2 - save carries over. In terms of the NGPC-DC link cable there are a stack of things that interact. You can link Card Fighters Clash or Match of the Millenium to King of Fighters or Capcom vs SNK on Dreamcast. It unlocks the extra characters on MOTM and art/characters I think on DC. There is an FAQ somewhere which I will dig the link out to. GameBoy: Space Invaders - if you play this via Super GameBoy you get a SNES version (as opposed to the GameBoy version with a border) Not sure if that is what you are after?
Having a save file for Panzer Dragoon Saga on your Saturn's internal memory (or backup card?) opens up an extras menu in Panzer Dragoon Zwei with all of the options available, meaning you don't need to meet certain criteria to unlock these first... I always thought this was a great piece of backwards compatibility support, even though both games went into development at the same time, suggesting this was always a planned feature.
Need for Speed Most Wanted would give you an extra 10k cash in the beginning of the career if you have a save of NFS Underground 2 on your memory card/hard disk, same goes for NFS Carbon with a NFS Most Wanted save IIRC
Many EA Sports games from the early 2000s do this. Having saves from multiple games from the same "franchise year" would unlock extras. I can't find a good write-up on it, but I remember from playing those games. Dragonball Z Budokai 3 on PS2 will also read for a save from Budokai 2 and unlock extra items and a character.
Not a console series, but iirc the first three Realms of Arkania allowed you to keep your party members across games. I think the Mass Effect series does too. Quite a few DS titles unlocked extra stuff when specific GBA titles where found in the other slot; I bet there's a list of all of those somewhere on Wikipedia or GameFAQs. But I believe in most cases they only looked for the game without caring about the actual save data. edit: here's a list
Certain capcom fighting games on the naomi platform had VMU slots on the arcade machine - I believe MVC2 Japanese edition on the DC needed a save file from the arcade version of MVC2 in order to unlock some characters.
MGS: the Twin Snakes has a feature just like the original MGS where Psycho Mantis will read your mind (memory card).
OK OK, as the rate things are going, there seems to be more cases of this than I expected, even in arcades, lol. and yet nothing on N64 xD oh well. So, is there interest in making some kind of recopilatory of this, and, more importantly, ideas on how to efficiently deal with it? I recognize myself rather unprepared for this, other than manually compiling a plain text list.
The only thing I can think of is the Blockbuster printers for Pokemon Snap pictures. You would take in your cart or controller pak (I forget which it saved to), and it would print out some of the pictures you'd saved in your album. For a fee, of course.
I read about that one, they say it used a modified version of the game and the printouts were actually screen captures from the video out, I think. EDIT: here it is http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/Pokémon_Snap_Station you would bring your actual gamepak and I guess the console was wired to read the ROM from the STATION version and the FlashRAM from the user's cart in order to get the pictures. not too interesting, actually, especially since there's no way to do this without the actual kiosk.
Gran Turismo 4 could access Gran Turismo 3 and Gran Turismo 4 Prologue saves. If you have any of those, it would give you 110.000 credits ingame (Not sure if that's the right ammount) plus both A and B licenses are cleared as well.
Well, you can't access the SRAM on other carts with the N64's single slot, and from my experience the memory pak wasn't used too often (I only ever owned two games that I noticed supporting it: Turok - which used it for normal saving - and Bomberman 64 - which saved progress to its SRAM and used the MP only for custom player outfits). So there's very little chance of cross-game stuff there. edit: going through a save type list, there seems to be much more mempak support than I though. However, few are sequels/related titles where cross-cart saving would make sense. (Well, with the claring exception of Banjo-Kazooie/-Tooie. Stop-n-Swop my ass, thinking about that now, they could've just used the damn pak!) edit2: btw, Wikipedia mentions that Animal Forest used the mempak for "travelling" to another town. Well, technically it's the same game on both carts, but maybe you want to count that one anyways?
Vice versa, if you have a Panzer Dragoon Zwei save, you can get a special item from a girl in the holy district of Zora in Panzer Dragoon Saga. It was some sort of music box if I remember correctly.
What about Doubutsu no mori (Animal Forest (Animal Crossing)) for the N64? Pretty sure you use memory cards to visit other peoples towns. Not sure if that was on the N64 version or not though. EDIT: Here we go Source: http://animalcrossing.wikia.com/wiki/Dōbutsu_no_Mori_(game)
I know you said you were not really interested in Xbox games but I can think of the Mass Effect and Fable series, both check for saves of previous games and give you more starting cash and in the case of Mass Effect it affects the story.
