Cartridges: Who got it right, who got it wrong.

[darthmunky]

Do you think cartridges will ever make a comeback and replace discs? They're so much more efficient.

[Ack]

Do you think cartridges will ever make a comeback and replace discs? They're so much more efficient.

I highly doubt it. Though they may seem more efficient from a collector's viewpoint in terms of durability, they just don't hold as much space as a disc. Perhaps someday some new technology will bring about a revival, but I don't see it happening any time soon.

[Hobie-wan]

Honestly, I think you just have gotten lucky. I've bought a few that had to be cleaned to work consistently, and the only cartridge I've ever bought that flat out did not work was a cart for the Genesis. Golden Axe, too. Real bummer, that one.

Same here. I have 5 dead carts in my collection, 2 of which are Genesis.

Dolphin for 2600 - this gets a pass for being nearly 30 years old and obviously living in a garage for much of that life.

Pokemon Red for GB - I got this in huge bundle of 'broken' crap that I mostly got fixed. It crashes after you start a new game.

Kickle Cubicle for NES - Gets a pass as it was chewed on by a dog. It runs, but the graphics are scrambled.

Golden Axe II for Gen - The cart looks perfect inside and out. I have no idea why it doesn't work.

Mortal Kombat 3 for Gen - The capacitor inside was partially disconnected. I resoldered it, but its still dead.

As for carts coming back, I don't think they'd come back in the form they were before. I could perhaps see things coming back in vogue like DS carts. Just think about how much space you have on your flash drive compared to a CD/DVD. Something the size of DS carts could easily cram more data than a disc and there's the (re)elimination of moving parts and speed of data transfer.

[SpaceBooger]

Just think about how much space you have on your flash drive compared to a CD/DVD. Something the size of DS carts could easily cram more data than a disc and there's the (re)elimination of moving parts and speed of data transfer.

Yeah, this is why I think carts will be back... well they kind of are. Correct me if I'm wrong, the PSPGo does not have the disc drive anymore its all digitally and saved on some kind of flash card - so technically that is a cart.

[Breetai]

English is not kingmohd84's first language

No worries, of course. It's just that the name threw me off.

[darthmunky]

Yeah, there's supposedly flash drives with terabytes of space being developed. So game companies would have no reason not go back to carts at some point. I assume it would be a lot cheaper to produce, plus no more loading times in games. Not to mention a lot of shelf space would be saved and the more durability they'd have.

[Pulsar_t]

He meant the Famicom.. Which is short for Family Computer

I know what he meant. I own two Family Computers. I've just never heard anyone ever call it "family game" before. For someone with nearly 900 posts, I thought it was pretty strange to call it "family game".

BTW, do you live in Korea? On of the MSX games in your pic is in Hangulmal. Also, the prices are things like 15,-. I take it they didn't feel like writing the three extra zeros in the prices?

That pic was chosen randomly so I wouldn't know! I have a bunch of MSX carts but too lazy to actually take pics.

no more loading times in games

Even if solid state drives are used, there has to be data transfer between external and internal memory. A few DS games even have loading. Big budget games' memory requirements will always remain large compared to available RAM and bus bandwidth so loading is going to persevere with us for a long time yet.

[Breetai]

That pic was chosen randomly so I wouldn't know! I have a bunch of MSX carts but too lazy to actually take pics.

I picked up my MSX for 500yen from Hard-Off (not an MSX2). Unfortunately, I don't have any games. Whenever I come across them, they're usually $20-30 and up. I don't want to pay that much for an MSX game. I'll probably just sell it...

[RCBH928]

He meant the Famicom.. Which is short for Family Computer

I know what he meant. I own two Family Computers. I've just never heard anyone ever call it "family game" before. For someone with nearly 900 posts, I thought it was pretty strange to call it "family game".

Thank you for clearing that out, I did make mistake calling it Japanese SNES, while it was Japanese NES.
But Family game is what we actually call it locally. Try asking for a Famicom and no one will know what you are talking about.

Actually when I was younger and went to other kids homes and saw their NES, I go "WOAAH!!" what is that cool thing!? Little did I know I had the same console but a Japanese version. The Family Game

[Luke]

Yeah, this is why I think carts will be back... well they kind of are. Correct me if I'm wrong, the PSPGo does not have the disc drive anymore its all digitally and saved on some kind of flash card - so technically that is a cart.

I've been saying for years that TV's/DVD players should all have usb ports in them. Movies should be on flash drives, just pop them into the TV, and watch them.

Plus, the marketing/design aspect would really open the doors for creativity. You could easily put the entire Star Wars trilogy with bonuses on one drive, and design it to look like a lightsaber hilt. You could probably fit the entire Sopranos on one flash drive and design it to look like a side arm. Lots of possibilities. Same with games, lots of possibilities.