Will they ever go back to carts?

[Darkman2K5]

I am one of many lifelong gamers that have been a part of the gaming (and physical game collecting) communities since the earliest generations of home gaming who resents being told that digital-download-only gamers are somehow a "different segment/market" of the gaming world.

While there are plenty of gamers that are arbitrarily showing resistance/denying the validity of that segment of the market, there's also plenty of overlap between those who enjoy buying games on physical media and those who enjoy buying digitally.

Prior to the iOS App Store and the Android Marketplace even existing - Steam had several years of wild (and continuing) success as a digital distribution market and not many people ever seemed to complain about the lack of physical media/packaging there.

This is very true to a certain extent. The point that I was trying to make is that people expect different types of games for digital distribution. Smartphone games are nowhere near the quality of Arcade titles for example.... at least right now. Steam makes a killing because they have great sales, like $60 for 3 ubisoft games. When they have those deals, I jump on them without hesitation, however I don't feel that I should pay $59.99 for a digital only game when the retail package is the same price.

[WanganRunner]

NGP will effectively use "carts", basically just a flash card.

[The 1 2 P]

however I don't feel that I should pay $59.99 for a digital only game when the retail package is the same price.

When and if consoles ever go digital only, I would never buy a download only game for that price. I'm sure that the console makers will still try it just to see if they can get away with it but it won't work on me. That said, digital only for consoles most likely won't happen for another few decades(atleast) for all the reasons that others have said. Beyond the segment that prefers physical media, theres still download speeds to take into account. Not everyone has high speed yet and even those that do don't have the most idea setup, so when downloading 5 to 10 gigs it still takes some people atleast half a day.

[EricPlaysGames]

In short, my answer is no.

Right now, I think that companies would really try to push some sort of micro port communication/storage device (Like a small USB drive) or some sort of high-speed card (Like a CF card, SD card, etc.), before they would ever even attempt to go back to using carts on a mainstream level.

Not saying they would/should do any of this - It just seems like something they would do, in my opinion.

I totally agree with the concept of what you're saying though. I think the passion that video game developers and designers have today is either lacking (Milking a popular game just for money) or is focused on something completely different than what really made video games amazing and playable in the first place... But I don't think the fact that a game being put on a cart is what made/makes a game great. Although, having no loading screens was/is pretty great to me!

All my opinions, of course, and I'm sure many will disagree. Anyway, interesting topic and thanks for initiating it!

[EricPlaysGames]

NGP will effectively use "carts", basically just a flash card.

I'm looking forward to NGP! That thing looks amazing!