Will Cartridges Make a Comeback?
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on May 15, 2016, 11:10 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
Video game consoles originally used ROM cartridges to store their data, and that technology worked well for several decades, but then consoles switched to using optical discs, due to the discs' greater storage capacity and lower manufacturing costs, and that has been the standard up to the present day.
However, optical discs load data much more slowly than do cartridges, are not as physically durable, and have greater physical size, so I find it odd that players would willing accept slower load times and larger media in exchange for greater data storage.
However, in the past several years, solid-state storage has become far less expensive and more commonplace in computers and other electronic devices, so I wonder if it is possible that video game consoles may once again use cartridges; currently, only the Nintendo DS and Playsation Vita use cartridges among the current generation of video game consoles, but I hope that the decreasing price and physical size of solid-state storage shall lead to cartridges once again becoming the standard storage medium for video games.
What does everyone else here have to say about this? Will cartridges become popular again?
DemonDragonJ says... #3
PistonGolem, that is very good; given Nintendo's immense and unquestionable influence in the realm of video games, they may lead the industry into a new era of cartridge-based gaming.
May 15, 2016 11:16 p.m.
ducttapedeckbox says... #4
I haven't played on consoles lately, but I'd guess that most games (and gaming systems) want to move to solely electronic copies. You buy the game online, download it, and store it directly in the console. With better processors and, as you mentioned, solid-state storage becoming cheaper and smaller, there is increasingly less reason to have another part to a console.
This isn't entirely relevant, but look at Steam. You can buy nearly any game electronically and not have to worry about damaging (or even losing) a disc. I can't remember the last time I bought a disc for a game (although I almost exclusively game on my PC).
May 15, 2016 11:25 p.m. Edited.
For the most part, I agree with ducttapedeckbox. The idea of having individual cartidges seems kind of pointless. More and more, Wifi is being built into everything and flash memory is quite cheap. It also means that games can have updates and patches easily distributed as opposed to a cartidge based system.
The biggest benefit behind cartridge based systems is that console designers can upgrade the console, forcing people to buy the new device before being able to play the new game.
May 15, 2016 11:42 p.m.
I can't foresee anything happening but a total shift to digital-only copies of video games. Hell, we're halfway there. You can download whole, new, full-size games on consoles and PC and play them endlessly without owning leaving your chair.
And of course people are willing to sit through loadin screens. Have you seen how good games are today compared to 20 years ago?
May 16, 2016 midnight
PepsiAddicted says... #7
Yeah i like this. Id also like to have 64gb floppies
May 16, 2016 3:54 a.m.
I buy exclusively electronic copies of games for my PS Vita.
I still buy carts for my 3DS, but that's due to wanting to keep my memory card relatively empty so I don't have to delete any of my saves. I know I could upload them to my computer, but I can't be bothered. I also think it's just habit - I've been playing handhelds since the Game and Watch days, so I've been buying carts since GameBoy was released.
May 16, 2016 5:35 a.m.
Cartridges are too expensive, at least for cutting edge games. Handhelds can get away with them because they lag about a generation behind actual consoles and need a stout, reliable storage medium, but consoles need gigabytes of data. A disk is just a sheet of plastic with a metal skiff inside, but a cartridge is actual flash memory.
I'm not entirely sold on digital distribution. There's no doubt publishers want it to take over because physical inventory is expensive, but it requires a solid internet connection and, more to the point, offloads the job of buying space for the game to me, the customer. While I do generally install my games when I have the option (and it's increasingly less option and more required these days) I'm not a fan of needing to buy bigger, more expensive hardware to do the same job.
May 16, 2016 7:36 a.m.
See I'm the opposite.
I'd rather take up space on my machines, rather than physical space in my house with carts.
May 16, 2016 8:14 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #11
I dislike the idea of digital downloads, because a single purchase may potentially allow for a game to be played on only a single specific device, while, with a cartridge, a game can be played on any compatible device, thus eliminating the possibility of needing to pay for each device on which a player wishes to play the game.
May 16, 2016 11:37 a.m.
I don't think there are any TRUELY cross compatible cartridge systems, though. Sega made their systems backwards compatible but you still had to have the adapters.
If anything, digital download probably gives you more flexibility when it comes to playing the same game on multiple devices. Thanks to Steam I can boot up Fallout on just about any PC - if I want to play Mario Kart 64 (another game from the same year) I'm going to have to find my 64.
Pending some strange destruction of the interwebs I doubt we'll be going back to cartridges outside of gimmick territory.
PistonGolem says... #2
Ive heard that the Nintendo NX might use cartridges...
May 15, 2016 11:13 p.m.