statistics/abilities and progress. Non-alphanumeric Non-alphanumeric password systems are possible. Instead of a string of letters and numbers, grid-based systems achieved some popularity in 1980s, which often took the form of a table of colored dots or other icons. These tables were generally much smaller than the virtual keyboard required for alphanumeric passwords, making password entry more efficient. Additionally, grid-based systems avoided the potential for the player confusing similar-looking alphanumeric symbols (e.g. lowercase "L", uppercase "I", and the numeral "1" appear identical or nearly identical on many displays). Password length If player progress consists only of one variable, such as the stage number, then a short password such as a single word suffices. Algorithms can compress, encrypt, and otherwise manipulate save data containing many large variables. The less the algorithm encrypts, the more easily players may notice patterns, such as an increment by one every level. They can then exploit these patterns to cheat or even beat the game. With a little luck, even a long password can be discovered by chance, as was the case for the infamous JUSTIN BAILEY code from Metroid. While any save information is convertible into password form, it is practical only for game progress consisting of fewer or smaller variables. Overlong passwords needed by games such as RPGs with many large variables eventually cancels out the usability benefits from generating a password. Combinatorial linguistics Since a player works with a password one character unit at a time, one way to simplify a password for a player's use would be to shorten it, to minimize the password length and maximize the pool of available symbols, making it informationally denser. Languages with more graphemes can more readily exploit this. Enix's 1986 and 1987 Japanese Famicom releases of its highly successful first two Dragon Quest RPGs used passwords composed from a set of 64 hiragana. However, the 1988 third game in the series and Nintendo's international releases of the first two for the NES in 1989 and 1990 used battery-backed saves. This may be partly explained using Anglo-Japanese comparative symbology: English • 62 symbols if using all of (not including punctuation): numerals • 10 digits alphabet • 26 letters (or 52 with both cases) Japanese • 228 symbols if using all of (not including punctuation or kanji): numerals • 10 digits hiragana and katakana • 46 to 83 each (92 to 166 combined) 46 basic kana (or 48