Which game medium do you prefer?

[BoneSnapDeez]

Cartridges are king. They last forever and can take a beating. And no load times!

Cards (DS, Vita) are #2. They seem pretty sturdy and easy to clean. They're so new that I don't know much about them or their longevity though. But in a few years it wouldn't surprise me if I ranked these over cartridges.

Optical media... sucks. Discs are slow and get damaged incredibly easy. I suppose the best discs are PSP UMDs. Why can't they all have a plastic covering like this?

I guess I could rank digital next. I only download games if it's the only option. That is, if the game isn't available on any other type of media. I do enjoy the occasional RPG Maker type game too.

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet... but the absolute worse are floppy disks! So very fragile and easily corruptible. I tend to avoid buying games on floppies as there's no guarantee they'll actually work.

This thread reminded me this videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmfVbzUmhNw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCLOxK6F ... ure=relmfu

Now do that stuff to your cd.

omg I love Rinry so much.

[k.vlaros]

I've heard that CD wallets can scratch discs. I've heard that for about as long as I've been using CD wallets (20 years?), but it hasn't happened to me yet to me. I'm sure it happened to someone, somewhere, though. Maybe all sleeves are not created equal- I don't know. I do keep my wallet zipped up to keep out dust. And I dust my console and surroundings.

One disadvantage to disc systems is the inevitable wear of the motor to spin the disc and to a lesser extent the lifespan of the "laser". But I took the question to be more about game media than the total system. And, I personally feel it's easier to buy a couple spare systems than to buy multiple mint, CIB copies of rare-ish games.

And I thought of another aspect of CD-based games that may or may not be an advantage. The save file is stored separately from the game. So if you replace your copy, trade it in, loan your copy of the game, you do not have to forfeit your progress. And those files can be backed up and transfered to other devices on the major fifth and sixth generation systems.

[Key-Glyph]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet... but the absolute worse are floppy disks! So very fragile and easily corruptible. I tend to avoid buying games on floppies as there's no guarantee they'll actually work.

I have to say, I absolutely love floppies. This is mostly for nostalgic and aesthetic reasons, but I've actually never had a 5 1/4" floppy disk stop working on me. I'm always told the magnetic data will disappear any day, but my Apple II games have been in my possession for almost two decades now without an issue (and they were even used when I initially acquired them).

I just bought one off eBay last week too and it's in perfect condition. Maybe this will give you some confidence in bidding on items? Except don't bid on anything I myself am also bidding on. Thanks in advance.

[FerretGamer]

How about just physical media in general? Just the thought of a digital only future upsets me.

[GameMasterGuy]

Agreed. Collecting, store-specific sales, buying used games, and selling old ones are all out the window.