Carts or Discs?

[Para]

Carts are way more expensive to produce. I would love to see the switch back to carts but it isn't going to happen.

If anything, the gaming industry is going to want to get rid of physical copies altogether, never mind going back to cartridges.

[Bikeage]

Neither, Hu-Cards 4 Life!

[Hobie-wan]

Which reminds me of another negative for carts: Memory battery dying. You'd lose all of your save data, and wouldn't be able to save again until you replace it.

Right, but the batteries can still be changed. If one catches them before the batteries die, it might be possible to swap without losing the data with some slight of hand.

[ExedExes]

From a Dreamcast collector's standpoint, I love to collect for the system, but i'll be damned if a disc scratches on me and I can't play it anymore! It has happened to a copy of Air Force Delta (got replacement off Ebay), Marvel Vs Capcom (got replacement off Ebay) and a rare complete copy of KOF 99 (still looking for replacement on Ebay) -- that is why it is important that they come cased at the very least, and the disc condition is good -- and deal only with REPUTABLE sellers.

I love my NES and my SNES -- if only for (one reason), the cartridges! When they get dirty they at least can get cleaned up and still be able to be played.

[Para]

Batteries dying in a cartridge isn't even a big deal anymore. With the not-so-recent addition of memory cards and build in hard drives, you can store your data elsewhere if need be.

[The Last Horseman]

I'd say carts- but that just can't happen again, because game companies aren't willing to do it. I've already decided that when games go download only, I quit buying them. I have a feeling that Nintendo will hold on to the use of physical media the longest, and probably get better sales because of it. (Of course, bro gamers...)

[Damm64]

Carts... without a doubt.
What happen if you throw a cart on the floor, nothing.
What happen if you throw your disc to the floor, you start praying.

[o.pwuaioc]

Carts... without a doubt.
What happen if you throw a cart on the floor, nothing.
What happen if you throw your disc to the floor, you start praying.

For the love of holy Miyamoto, quit throwing your carts on the floor!

[kebark]

Was brought up on sturdy carts, so I'll side with them...then again I'm older enough to JUST remember games coming on cassettes which should be added to thread.

[Ziggy]

Which reminds me of another negative for carts: Memory battery dying. You'd lose all of your save data, and wouldn't be able to save again until you replace it.

But if carts were made today, they wouldn't use batteries. They would use non volatile memory, like some N64 carts use. And the technology is better now than it was then. Some NVRAM I've looked at have ridiculous longevity. I just looked up one at random, 10 years minimum data retention in the absence of external power. And what that actually means is that you get 10 years shelf life starting from the time you turn the game off. So you could keep that going forever. AND that random chip was rated for unlimited write cycles!

Also, carts costs a lot to produce back then but they wouldn't cost nearly as much today. Granted, the labor would be the same, but the parts are much, much cheaper. Think about it, you can pick up a 4GB USB stick for under $10. That's larger than most Wii games. In parts, a SNES cart would cost a small fraction to make compared to what it cost back then.