The problem with closed hardware - Will DS Cartridges Last the Next 10 Years?

[wingzrow]

I've been told that DS cartridges are only rated for 10 years, and that launch titles may lose all their data eventually. Now with old games, you would simply replace a battery, but with flash memory? Who knows.

Does anyone know what might happen to DS games in the future?

[Gameguy]

Several Genesis games used flash memory and most are still going. But I have a feeling it's going to be hard to keep DS hardware working well in the future, I can't see how to clean the connectors in the consoles and there's no cleaning kits made for them. The carts have those ridges which make them a pain to clean, I've already had to clean some games to get them to work right. I've never cleaned a sytem though as I haven't figured out how yet.

[Enmity]

Flash memory is rated for a read/write life span. They say years under the assumption that it used on a fairly regular bases.

"The memory cells used in flash drives do eventually wear out, but this is typically caused by the number of times data is written to the memory — as opposed to the physical age of the drive itself. Depending on the type and manufacturer’s specifications, a flash drive may have 10,000 to a million data-write cycles before it begins give error messages when you try to use it.

The amount of time a flash drive actually works also varies the physical condition of the device. Many suffer a shorted lifespan due to trips through the washing machine, accidents underfoot or unfortunate encounters with household pets. With proper care, a flash drive could last years. But if you start to get a lot of error messages when you try to use it or it seems noticeably slow, it is probably time to move all the data off that drive and back to the computer — or to a new flash drive. "

This is talking about flash drives, but the information is pretty much the same.

[Ryudo]

Not too worried about it unless you play a game thousands of times. I still have SNES games where the batt still works

[jb143]

There's a difference between the guaranteed number of years that the engineering department of the chip manufacturers work out with their legal department. That's where the 10 years or so comes from.

The expected typical data retention is going to be much higher than that. For example, Freescale Semiconductor states 100+ years at normal temperature ranges. It's 10 to 15 years if the operational temperatures are in the 180 degree range. Maybe in some environments but not something likely to happen in a video game system.

In general use, flash memory does wear out over time but that's based on write/erase cycles. Unless you save a game 100,000 times then that's probably not going to be an issue in our lifetimes either.

If anything, I'd say that the reliability of todays chips are better than those of 20-30 years ago. And most of them are still going strong.

[BetaWolf47]

Not too worried about it unless you play a game thousands of times. I still have SNES games where the batt still works
Not the same thing. Battery-backup games use DRAM. Flash memory has a read/write limit.

[importaku]

Several Genesis games used flash memory and most are still going. But I have a feeling it's going to be hard to keep DS hardware working well in the future, I can't see how to clean the connectors in the consoles and there's no cleaning kits made for them. The carts have those ridges which make them a pain to clean, I've already had to clean some games to get them to work right. I've never cleaned a sytem though as I haven't figured out how yet.

Yup there is a cleaning kit & nintendo makes it. The catch is you'll have to import it as they only sell it in Japan. Have one myself & it's pretty great it cleans both the carts the DS cart slot & theres a bit for cleaning the gba slot too.

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-b8-49-en-70-1o5y.html

To be honest im not worrying about ds carts dying, the flash chips used for games last for a crazy amount of saves.

[Sailorneorune]

I wish we didn't have to import the DS cleaning kit -- Nintendo or someone could release one here and in Europe. However, I will also state it is well worth it.

It also works well with the 3DS.

[ncman071]

so this is why i cant get nfl 95 to work anymore on the genesis