History Main / LoadingScreen

* ''VideoGame/{{Mass Effect|1}}'' has elevators. Anybody who's played the game can tell you that there are a lot of elevators. Shepard goes through more elevators in a day than most people do in a month in the first game. The decontamination sequence upon boarding the ''Normandy'' also qualifies.

* Every ''Franchise/MegaMan'' game has a [[BossCorridor hallway just before the boss room]] of each stage. In cartridge-based or downloadable games, which can load boss data more or less instantaneously, this room is unnecessary and does nothing except build suspense. [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 The first game]] is unique in that its boss hallways are multiple screens long and full of enemies; it was originally envisioned as a Disk System title, so the purpose of this was to keep the player busy while the boss loaded. Although these hallways could have regained their original purpose once the games switched to disk-based media, for whatever reason they weren't - an animated "WARNING" sign hides the loading instead.

* ''VideoGame/JediKnightDarkForcesII'' had the mission's overall objective appear on the loading screen. On new computers reading these are impossible as loading is very quick.

* ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}''[='=]s loading screens included a combination of ominous/interesting excerpts from the game's audio-diaries and gameplay tips.
** In ''VideoGame/{{BioShock 2}}'' it's even better, as during loading you can hear golden oldies being played.

* ''VideoGame/{{Tomb Raider|2013}}'''s loading screens have gameplay tips. Which are randomized, and sometimes spoil later weapon upgrades.

* It's worth noting that Namco had a patent on loading screen minigames until November 27th 2015.

** The OUYA game console does this while installing patches.

* "Prepare for VideoGame/{{Descent}}"

* A rare non-video game example is the music video for Alexia's "The Music I Like". A blinking [[TheNineties nineties]] "Loading..." appears on screen for a few seconds at the start of the song before cutting to the video proper, which consists holograms of musicians being played from a computer.

-->-- '''[[http://www.homestarrunner.com/loadingscreens.html Coach Z]]''', '''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'''

* ''VideoGame/ForzaMotorsport 3'' does this for most loading screens, displaying facts about cars and things relating to cars (Like "[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments In 1898, the New York Police Department used bicycles to pursue speeding motorists]]") or in-game tips.

** this is also seen in VideoGame/DontStarve, where the loading screen is a diorama of the Constant with two hands reaching over it and messages like, "reticulating pines", "generating trees", "inserting Wilson's beard", and "framing a keen sense of despair"

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' and its sequels used this. Run into a long stretch of land, a lengthy staircase, or a wall that has to be climbed? The next section loads as you cross the area. It is possible to hit a "Now Loading" message, but you have to be really fast, or have a defective [=PS2=].

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' features a few {{Retraux}}-style minigames that you can play on the UsefulNotes/WiiU gamepad while waiting for the servers to find you a group of players.

* ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'', in addition to humorously-written tips ("Shoot skags in the mouth when they roar! It'll do extra damage and make the skag feel stupid."), has images of the game's various [[ColorCodedItemTiers legendary guns]].

* Every ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' game has a [[BossCorridor hallway just before the boss room]] of each stage. In cartridge-based or downloadable games, which can load boss data more or less instantaneously, this room is unnecessary and does nothing except build suspense. The first game is unique in that its boss hallways are multiple screens long and full of enemies; it was originally envisioned as a Disk System title, so the purpose of this was to keep the player busy while the boss loaded. Although these hallways could have regained their original purpose once the games switched to disk-based media, for whatever reason they weren't - an animated "WARNING" sign hides the loading instead.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'', the character Zelda can transform into her disguised form, Sheik. The game does not stop while loading Sheik's or Zelda's model, but the loading is actually hidden by her transforming animation. During the animation, one can audibly hear the Wii loading data.

* Multiplayer across the entire series would show the name of the map loading and the game-type being run. ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'' and later also show hints on how to use the various tools given to you, variously switching between [[CaptainObvious obvious to anyone]] and truly helpful.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 4: VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' and later have a rather elegant way of disguising load screens by playing the mission briefing cutscene during said loads, though there is a small bar that fills up and the cutscene can be skipped once the load is complete.

* After hitting the X button to start loading a level in ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'' (Story, Create Mode or otherwise), the screen shows information about the level on the "Pod Computer" screen. You can move the left stick to change windows between level information, items collected in the level, and popularity and tags (if an online level), with your Sackperson moving the Pod Computer (which is pretty much a [=PS3=] controller) controls the same way. Also part of the loading is the word "Loading..." slowly rotating around the level icon on the planet or moon, and a running, monochromatic Sackboy with two arrows circling him in the lower left-hand corner. Unlike in most games, the loading can be cancelled mid-load by pressing the Circle button. (Sackboy only touches the buttons to load a level or cancel a load. But he always moves the analog sticks in response to the player's controller.) When the loading is done, the level icon literally "unzips" around the edge and the camera goes into it, with a white light followed by Sackboy popping out of the Entrance in said level. Returning to the Pod from a level doesn't take as long to load, but the camera still does the white-light thing.

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' occasionally shows info about lore and gameplay on loading screens.
** Or reminders about your current Main Quest, encapsulated in an expository synopsis touching on where you are, why you're there, personalities involved, and your possible objective(s).

* ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament2004'' and onwards would show hints and a picture of the upcoming map during loading screens. ''VideoGame/KillingFloor'', running on the same engine, does the same, though the hints are limited to info on what you're going to be killing for the next half hour or so.

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', Snake smokes for twenty minutes while it installs data onto your hard drive. It also has many messages, including one about how smoking will kill you. when it's done, Snakes acknowledges that he "Kept you waiting?" Egregiously, the "loading" screen states that it's installing the current act (there are five), which makes sense. Until you restart the game, and it ''installs the first act again''. God help you if you have multiple games in multiple acts; it only stores one act at a time on the drive. The installing to the hard disk per act can be blamed on Sony, who at the time had a maximum allowed installation size. They've since lifted this restriction, and with the 2.00 update following the shutdown of this game's online component came the option to install all five acts to the drive, allowing for seamless transitions between them barely any longer than those between different areas of a single act.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' has most loading screens show mock-up blog posts for the different characters, with at least two different posts per world. Most of them are portrayed as Sora's blog, but Donald, Goofy, Riku, Ienzo, Pence, and Kairi all have their own shots as well. The game also starts with (and will occasionally repeat) a post from [[MyNameIsQuestionMarks an unknown blog]] showcasing the series' "[[ThePowerOfFriendship My friends are my power!]]" moments. [[spoiler:The same blog has another post that starts after the first round of events at the Keyblade Graveyard, proclaiming that "[[BackFromTheBrink The game isn't over until it's over.]]"]]

* When Website/YouTube had a circular dot pattern as the video loaded, one could press the arrow keys to begin a snake game. It no longer works with the new HTML5 player.

** ''VideoGame/RidgeRacer'' had a mini-game that was one level in ''VideoGame/{{Galaxian}}''. Shooting down all of the enemy ships unlocked a few bonus cars.

* {{Magicka}} loading screens feature amusing pictures along with helpful tips such as "The loading screen provides gameplay tips" and "If you find yourself dying too much, try to avoid taking damage."

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' and ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has various pre-war advertisements and news headlines on its loading screens.

* In ''Franchise/DevilMayCry 3'', while you were presented with a black screen with a "Loading" in the corner, you could press buttons to attack the word, peppering it with bullet holes, slashing it, and even launching it into the air until you made it ''explode''.

* The ''Franchise/JakAndDaxter'' games had pseudo-airlocks when leaving the city.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' has this too and moreover, many "tips of the day" are deliberately ''false'', in accordance to the "ambiguous history" doctrine that all in-game books follow: no event in Tamrielic lore is described uniformly across different sources.

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' also displays tips and bits of lore while loading, but also displays a relevant 3D model that can be rotated and zoomed with the right stick.

* ''VideoGame/ForzaMotorsport 3'' does this for most loading screens, displaying facts about cars and things relating to cars (Like "[[CrowningMomentOfFunny In 1898, the New York Police Department used bicycles to pursue speeding motorists]]") or in-game tips.

* The ''VideoGame/DragonBallZBudokaiTenkaichi'' series (aka ''Dragon Ball Sparking''), and by association Dragon Ball Z Raging Blast, all have mini-games to play during the load screens. The mini game is even multi-player in VS modes! However, in Budokai Tenkaichi 3, they had removed the mini games (which returned in Raging Blast) to appease a lawsuit regarding the patented use of mini-games on loading screens from aforementioned Namco, replacing them with a much more simple button mashing game both players can participate in.

** In Episode 3 you get to play a little tune and change the background color while waiting (which isn't as fun as the little ball of light).

* When Website/YouTube had a circular dot pattern as the video loaded, one could press the arrow keys to begin a snake game.
* ''Rayman Origins'' features a loading screen with a small landscape, where the player(s) can run around and goof off or practice moves. The player characters simply jog on their own unless a button is pressed.

* Loading a foreign ''Pokémon'' GameBoy game on ''VideoGame/PokemonStadium'' or ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Pokémon Crystal]]'' in ''Pokémon Stadium 2'' showed a pic of the player's party in 3D.

** Gets {{egregious}} when loading ''Tools of Destruction''. You see Ratchet's ship zoom through a wormhole [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading ten to fifteen times.]]

* It's unusual for a webcomic to get a mention on this page, but ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' has certainly earned its place with [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002037 the Sburb loading screen.]] Its Flash updates have loading screens too, but they're nothing special, usually.