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[Hellraizah]

With technology evolving, it's seems that flash memory and things like that are becoming bigger and cheaper by the day. I'm wondering if someday, we could see the uprising of cartridge format again. If Nintendo DS games can reach 1 GB for a low price, I think it's a pretty big step in the right direction. Disc based media is cool and all, but I miss consoles with no mechanical parts that still works after 3 years of use. I also miss games with no loading time. Although I got my Neo Geo for my cartridges needs, I would still love seeing a new console working with cartridges. Even if the games would not be as technologically advanced as the disc based consoles at the same time, I think it could reach another market.

 

[neptunes]

Nintendo DS games have a maximum of 1 gigabit (which equals 128 megabytes).

though solid state media will always be more expensive than optical media. (for now that is)

 

[luxsol]

Nice thought, but no thanks. Games are a lot more cheaper now.

I'd rather have them on UMDs, because at least then rentals and used games wouldn't be scratched up like Edward Scissorhands used them

 

[Naked Snake]

Many people will tell you that it's inevitalble that "solid state" memory will make a comeback, I think even Miyamoto said it once.

And I think it's 1Gb not 1GB for DS media.

Edit: Beaten.

 

[Kiriku]

Highly doubt it. Developers would have to optimize code to make their games fit (unneccessary work), and the sizes needed won't be available for a reasonable price. Besides, I think THEY think that we have accepted loading times by now.

Sure, we got memory sticks for up to 4 gb, but they're very, very expensive. And next gen, what sizes are we looking at for disc-based storage media? 20 gb? 30?

 

[luxsol]

Doesn't the holographic data storage cubes that IBM is developing use a non-moving optical reader?

 

[thorns]

8gb DVD's cost how much to produce? probably a couple of cents. soon we'll be looking at blue ray or hd dvd with 20gb+ , there's no way cartridges will be able to match that cost anytime soon.

I don't want my games to cost $60+ either, so no thanks.

 

[LowTecky]

You people are blind to what the future may hold!! You never know. A 128 meg stick used to cost several hundred dollars just a few years ago. Now they're dirt cheap to produce. 15-20 years from now, developers might opt to use carts again. They do have certain advantages that discs will probably never match.

 

[Do The Mario]

Negative ghostrider

 

[cvxfreak]

I highly doubt it. =/

 

[lexi]

Just thought I'd add that the DS carts have a current maximum of 1Gb, but that will easily expand as is needed. Remember the 64 only started with 128Mb carts, and ended with 512Mb (I even think Conker's Bad Fur Day was 1Gb, could be wrong, though.)

 

[Elios83]

Too low capacity for a too high price.Not a chance to see a cartridge comeback in future IMO.

 

[callous]

I think it's highly likely that we will eventually move on to some sort of media without moving parts.

 

[djtiesto]

Hmm, I don't see how 40GB of space will be used up on a game, even for the new consoles... but then again, there are several PS2 games on 2 CDs, so I may eat crow. Going back to solid state would be interesting, but solid state access still seems to be fairly slow. We'll see, I think it'd be a better solution for portables... But solid state stuff will be a lot less prone to scratching and errors, which I think is good.

 

[Kon Tiki]

I think it's highly likely that we will eventually move on to some sort of media without moving parts.

huh? What media has moving parts? UMD?

Oh I see, the cd spinning = moving. :/

 

[Arcticfox]

By the time cartridges catch up to disks in price per byte I doubt we will be using any media at all, you will just stream/download games off the net.

 

[AniHawk]

I don't think so, if companies wish to keep producing backward-compatable systems. I think it's possible from a technological standpoint, but not from a business standpoint.

 

[Sriram]

nm

 

[Docpan]

LOL

Wait, you were serious?

 

[Hellraizah]

Why not ? The guy from Nintendo (I think it was Satoru Iwata) already said they wanted to go back to basics with gaming. Simple, fun and addictive games. If they don't need so much memory to make complicated games, they could also get back to cartridge.

I guess it holds up better for portable gaming, since the "no mechanical parts" means better for battery life.

 

[xexex]

yes. I would love cartriges back. more durable. faster (almost instant) loading times. make it more like arcades. i hate loading time. even on the Gamecube.

 

[aku:jiki]

Hmm, I don't see how 40GB of space will be used up on a game, even for the new consoles... but then again, there are several PS2 games on 2 CDs, so I may eat crow.

May?

You just said "Nobody will ever need more than 640 kilobytes of memory" in different words.

 

[Rocket Punch]

yes. I would love cartriges back. more durable. faster (almost instant) loading times. make it more like arcades. i hate loading time. even on the Gamecube.

Guh? There's not that many games that have but a few seconds of loading. I think the worst offender was Turok Evolution by far with 30 seconds or so.

 

[bahndotcom]

Man, I don't even WANT to think about going back to cartridges. They're too expensive for companies to mass-produce and it definitely would be a step in the wrong direction.

*thinks of the ol' days blowing NES carts*

 

[DDayton]

I think folks are stuck with the concept that cartridges necessarily implies silicon chips. Imagine solid state media "printed" on cheap plastic, much in the same was as we produce discs now. If it were done cheaply, it would be a high capacity storage device without any moving parts... much superior to anything we have now. The only flaws with solid state devices are size, cost, and capacity. If you were to remove those flaws, a "cartridge" of stored data would be much superior to a disc.

(As a side note, if we HAVE to be saddled with discs for the rest of time, can we start using JACKETS for them again? CDs and DVDs would be nearly eternal if they had a 2 cent plastic sleeve protecting them from scratches...)

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

I hope we never go back to that. I mean, I really don't miss putting games in the freezer to get the battery pack to work again.

 

[Hellraizah]

I hope we never go back to that. I mean, I really don't miss putting games in the freezer to get the battery pack to work again.

Flash RAM isn't like this. And, don't ever speak against reliability issues, because disc based consoles aren't what we could really call "reliable".

 

[Rhindle]

There is obviously no way in hell that flash media is a viable option. But to address the reliability issue, what should happen is for consoles to come with replacable optical drives, if they are going to continue to use drives with such high failure rates.

 

[bahndotcom]

Somewhere, there's an hill of unwanted Atari 2600 carts.

 

[DDayton]

what should happen is for consoles to come with replacable optical drives, if they are going to continue to use drives with such high failure rates.

Or just stop using Sony-made parts.

 

[luxsol]

(As a side note, if we HAVE to be saddled with discs for the rest of time, can we start using JACKETS for them again? CDs and DVDs would be nearly eternal if they had a 2 cent plastic sleeve protecting them from scratches...)

UMDs!!!

 

[Ghost]

If only we could go back to carts


God damn you loading times, you forgotten bane of the videogame industry.

 

[impirius]

C'mon guys... it's not going to happen next generation, of course, but a solid-state medium will almost certainly be used once it becomes cheap enough. Optical media is just a stopgap solution.

 

[aoi tsuki]

I think folks are stuck with the concept that cartridges necessarily implies silicon chips. Imagine solid state media "printed" on cheap plastic, much in the same was as we produce discs now. If it were done cheaply, it would be a high capacity storage device without any moving parts... much superior to anything we have now. The only flaws with solid state devices are size, cost, and capacity. If you were to remove those flaws, a "cartridge" of stored data would be much superior to a disc.

(As a side note, if we HAVE to be saddled with discs for the rest of time, can we start using JACKETS for them again? CDs and DVDs would be nearly eternal if they had a 2 cent plastic sleeve protecting them from scratches...)

In the same vein, Sony unveiled a paper disc a few months ago. It can be used as a normal disc, but is cheaper. There's tons of new technology which could be used, but chips and optical media are the best suited to gaming at this point. It's possible that cartridges could make a comeback at some point as a leading format, just as analog made a comeback. But i expect both formats to be in major use for another ten years at least.

 

[hobbitx]

Remember a while back though there was a big article getting passed around about this new break through cartridge technology that was almost as cheap to produce as discs. The rumor was that Nintendo was considering it for the next Gameboy and possibly N5, anyone remember that? It sounded so promising. I really, really hate disc based media period, it's a pain in the ass to take care of and the loading sucks. I miss the good old days of just being able to throw my VHS and game cartidges wherever I wanted without worrying about dust and scratches.

Goddamn you Clinton! You promised us datacubes that would be able to hold the entire library of congress that could fit in the palm of my hand in the next 10 years. The world needs futuristic datacubes, it would be so nice if I could bring home a GTA:6 datacube instead of another damn cd on steroids. Then when I'm bored with the game, just dump it in a little shoebox with all my other old cubes I rarely use.

*sigh*

 

[xexex]

I think folks are stuck with the concept that cartridges necessarily implies silicon chips. Imagine solid state media "printed" on cheap plastic, much in the same was as we produce discs now. If it were done cheaply, it would be a high capacity storage device without any moving parts... much superior to anything we have now. The only flaws with solid state devices are size, cost, and capacity. If you were to remove those flaws, a "cartridge" of stored data would be much superior to a disc.

(As a side note, if we HAVE to be saddled with discs for the rest of time, can we start using JACKETS for them again? CDs and DVDs would be nearly eternal if they had a 2 cent plastic sleeve protecting them from scratches...)

I so awtp

 

[Kiriku]

(As a side note, if we HAVE to be saddled with discs for the rest of time, can we start using JACKETS for them again? CDs and DVDs would be nearly eternal if they had a 2 cent plastic sleeve protecting them from scratches...)

I definitely agree with this. Would be easier to handle the discs, since you don't have to worry about fingerprints or accidentally dropping it (not to the same degree, at least) etc etc. From that point of view UMD is good, especially since it's for a handheld.

 

[goodcow]

By the time cartridges catch up to disks in price per byte I doubt we will be using any media at all, you will just stream/download games off the net.

OR THE WORLD WILL BE OVER

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[Zaptruder]

If blue rays go with caddys/catridges...

I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult to come up with a plastic caddy that you can insert discs into so that you can insert that into the blu-ray slot...

or is that not the issue with compatibility between caddy and non-caddy discs?

 

[Papi]

yes. I would love cartriges back. more durable. faster (almost instant) loading times. make it more like arcades. i hate loading time. even on the Gamecube.

Same here.

 

[Ferrio]

Fuck carts, I'm glad they're gone.

 

[jarrod]

Ask these guys.

...while I doubt solid state ROM media will be replacing optical ROM media for home consoles any time soon, 3DM really does look like a better alternative for handheld and portable game platforms.

 

[fugimax]

For those talking about UMD and it being like a "jacket" for the discs (aka a caddy like cd-roms use to be), I don't think it is like a minidisc or floppy disk. There is a casing around the disc, but there is no protective piece to slide over and cover the hole that is there for the laser to read.

So just remember, when you put your PSP game in your pocket, get a few pieces of lint/dirt in there, then stick it in your psp and it tears the shit out of your optical drive...you're screwed.

Someone prove me wrong with a picture of the back of a UMD disc...I can't find one anywhere. Only the front seems to have been shown..

 

[john tv]

When did Yamauchi get a GAF account?

 

[john2kx]

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/02/0011220&tid=198&tid=126&tid=134&tid=1

jackpot.