system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why did older video games use checkpoints or locations to have to save your game instead of an options menu button like is most common now?

more like why technically, was it limited by the systems or etc...
gpt
I did some reading on this and it seems that the method of saving really depends on the developer, and less about technology. Not to say there were technological constraints, of course.

Games use to be cartridge based, so saves had to be as predetermined points because all of the information was on the cartridge itself, done with either direct savepoints and sometimes with passwords. 

When games converted to disc, the save information was stored on memory cards in earlier consoles because CD-ROMs are Read Only Memory and can not personally store the save.

But now all console saves are done on hard drives, and some games like *Destiny* and *Tom Clancy's The Division* require to be always connected to the internet and use the cloud to store information.

But it really depends on the developer, but almost all games have gone the way of autosaving so the player isn't too far behind after dying.