Carts or Discs?

[KDub]

Carts without a doubt.

They are just way more durable. In the distant future most games on CD or DVD will be lost forever but a lot of cart based games will still be around in comparison. I mean Disc based games can get scratched just from normal use and older discs can get "disc rot".

I don't think we will ever go back to traditional carts sadly. But I am in the minority that believes we will move (at least partly) to flash based media in the near future. It is getting cheaper all the time and like classic carts its way more durable than disc based media.

It will certainly happen before we move to all streaming/downloading!

Despite what the "analysts" say it just won't happen soon. Tons of people in the US don't have the internet speeds (or bandwidth) capable to buy enough games to keep the industry going. They aren't going to gamble with losing a decent percent of their buyers that still buy games new regularly.

[Inazuma]

Carts are better.

Back in the day when game systems switched from carts to CDs, it made sense due to the technology and costs at the time. Nowadays, it's much different. Just look at the physical games on the DS, 3DS and Vita. Consoles should use the same type of cartridges.

Oh well, it could be worse. At least CDs are superior to downloads. Like others have said, when everything goes DRM download, I will stop buying new games.

[alienjesus]

Carts are better.

Back in the day when game systems switched from carts to CDs, it made sense due to the technology and costs at the time. Nowadays, it's much different. Just look at the physical games on the DS, 3DS and Vita. Consoles should use the same type of cartridges.

Oh well, it could be worse. At least CDs are superior to downloads. Like others have said, when everything goes DRM download, I will stop buying new games.

Considering that those cartridges go up to a couple of GB at most, and there are plenty games now that dont even fit on one HD DVD disc on 360, I don't think its very viable, as cool as it would be.

[KDub]

I believe 3DS cards go up to 8GB. I don't think it is that far off to see console games on carts like this in the next few years.

[k.vlaros]

Carts aren't dead. The 3DS and PS Vita both use carts, and both are brand new systems. Just adding that for perspective.

Optical media makes the most sense. PS3 discs are supposed to be super-durable. Don't know if that is true. Instead of pining for a return to home-console carts, I hope for bullet-proof media in terms of plastic scratching and data layer "rotting". That would be cool!

[Betamax001]

UMDs! No wait...