3D printing and retro gaming

[Menegrothx]

When/if 3D printers become cheaper, more efficient and versatile during the next decades, what kind of effect will that have on retro gaming? If people can print reliable, high quality spare parts at their homes, it will mean that old systems will live longer and that there will no longer be a need to salvage broken systems for parts (and you can turn old nonfunctional systems functional again). But the possibility that people will start manufacturing new copies of old consoles that look 100% like the real deal also exists. And it should become easier and cheaper to manufacture new retro consoles like 4in1 2600/NES/SNES/Genesis and make them more high quality than the ones that currently exist.

If mods want to move this to offtopic it's fine, I think general 3D printer topic allows for more intresting discussion.

Will economy collapse? Atleast large portions of manufacturing, resale and transport related industries will become obsolete. Most societies/economies are built on the assumption that economy will always continue to grow.

Will gun control become useless?

[Ack]

When/if 3D printers become cheaper, more efficient and versatile during the next decades, what kind of effect will that have on retro gaming? If people can print reliable, high quality spare parts at their homes, it will mean that old systems will live longer and that there will no longer be a need to salvage broken systems for parts (and you can turn old nonfunctional systems functional again). But the possibility that people will start manufacturing new copies of old consoles that look 100% like the real deal also exists. And it should become easier and cheaper to manufacture new retro consoles like 4in1 2600/NES/SNES/Genesis and make them more high quality than the ones that currently exist.

If mods want to move this to offtopic it's fine, I think general 3D printer topic allows for more intresting discussion.

Will economy collapse? Atleast large portions of manufacturing, resale and transport related industries will become obsolete. Most societies/economies are built on the assumption that economy will always continue to grow.

Will gun control become useless?

So this seems like a lot of diffuse questions about 3D printing.

First, 3D printed objects don't necessarily have the reliability necessary to fully replace quality manufactured products. It's plastic, so it can't replace components that need to be made of other materials. It also can't withstand certain sustained temperatures, etc. Now using a 3D printer to produce a new shell for something like a SNES...that is an interesting idea. I wonder if we could manufacture game cartridges for repro purposes, so the repurposing of other cartridges would be limited.

Also, the only example I know of for creating firearms using 3D printers have not been durable enough to last longer than a couple of rounds being put through them, and the federal government swiftly moved in to control the data required for it to be produced. The 3D printed firearm is effectively a modern version of the Liberator. In other words, it's a joke.

[Menegrothx]

First, 3D printed objects don't necessarily have the reliability necessary to fully replace quality manufactured products. It's plastic, so it can't replace components that need to be made of other materials.

Because homemade (*) 3D printed items are junk now does not mean they would be junk in 2030 or 2050. It's also noteworthy that new materials can be used for 3D printing in the future. For example I've read about creating wooden objects by using thread made out of wood or just plain saw dust. It's the same with metal object at the moment (I think the printers use some sort of "metal powder" rather than big hunks of metal, though I'm not an expert on the subject so I might be wrong).

(*) Industrial, super expensive printers can obviously produce much higher quality items.

So in other words, the printers people use today are limited as far as what materials can be used, how fast they are and how big, intricate or reliable parts they can manufacture, because development has just barely started. 1977: Atari 2600 2007: PS3

I wonder if we could manufacture game cartridges for repro purposes, so the repurposing of other cartridges would be limited.

That would be great. Save the Shaq-Fu/NHL/NBA/NFL 9x cartridges!

[Ack]

First, 3D printed objects don't necessarily have the reliability necessary to fully replace quality manufactured products. It's plastic, so it can't replace components that need to be made of other materials.

Because homemade (*) 3D printed items are junk now does not mean they would be junk in 2030 or 2050. It's also noteworthy that new materials can be used for 3D printing in the future. For example I've read about creating wooden objects by using thread made out of wood or just plain saw dust. It's the same with metal object at the moment (I think the printers use some sort of "metal powder" rather than big hunks of metal, though I'm not an expert on the subject so I might be wrong).

(*) Industrial, super expensive printers can obviously produce much higher quality items.

So in other words, the printers people use today are limited as far as what materials can be used, how fast they are and how big, intricate or reliable parts they can manufacture, because development has just barely started. 1977: Atari 2600 2007: PS3

I wonder if we could manufacture game cartridges for repro purposes, so the repurposing of other cartridges would be limited.

That would be great. Save the Shaq-Fu/NHL/NBA/NFL 9x cartridges!

When people have the ability to use a 3D printer to create something as developed as a circuit board or a computer chip, then perhaps. But I think that is a good ways off.

[isiolia]

When people have the ability to use a 3D printer to create something as developed as a circuit board or a computer chip, then perhaps. But I think that is a good ways off.

Circuit boards are already possible.

[Cronozilla]

Circuit boards aren't that hard to make.

People would still need the understanding of the circuits themselves, though. Currently if you had that knowledge and persistence, you could already replicate them and people do.

[Ack]

When people have the ability to use a 3D printer to create something as developed as a circuit board or a computer chip, then perhaps. But I think that is a good ways off.

Circuit boards are already possible.

I mean complete circuit boards with all attached components.

[Menegrothx]

Circuit boards aren't that hard to make.

People would still need the understanding of the circuits themselves, though. Currently if you had that knowledge and persistence, you could already replicate them and people do.

I think that when 3D printing becomes more widespread, service providers and entrepreneurs will focus on assembling printed parts for people who don't have the know how for creating complex&electronical devices from scratch, even if they had a schematic/manual

[Erik_Twice]

By then everyone will have killed each other by printing submachine guns so I wouldn't think too much about it.

[Cronozilla]

Yeah, that's people's primary concern, outright fabrication machines.

I don't think this technology is really going to get to that point. The amount of materials requires to build these kinds of items is ridiculous. And even in the manufacturing field they are multi-step processes.

I also think the primary benefit of 3D printing is not actually fabrication it's prototyping. Actual fabrication makes more sense being done with a casting and molding process.

Not to mention, most shapes are too complex to be printed in this manner, you'd have to print pieces then attach them together. What you normally do after that point is cast that blank so you have something more final.

The idea of actually printing the items in the exact material you need sounds silly. It's a huge waste and a bizarre constraint to have on the technology.