Will they ever go back to carts?

[leatherrebel5150]

DO you think any company will ever go back to using carts? I know that carts have many short falls in what can be done on them, but I think that forces the game designers to come up with better quality games.

It seems like alot of games put out today focus on graphics and other things other than a really deep storyline combined with quality gameplay. I know there are exceptions out there but it really seems to me that the industry focuses on how real they can make your enemy look in their next first person shooter installment.

I just think that a company were willing to take the risk of using carts again they could end up producing some really good games.

Another note, I would like to see carts come back just so I know my collection will be around for awhile, and I wouldn't have to worry about cd rot.

[joshnickerson]

The industry appears to be slowly moving towards digital distribution (sadly), in another ten years they won't be even using discs anymore, much less carts.

But yeah, I understand your analogy. The most creative ideas can come from having limited resources and learning to work within those restrictions. I could care less about being able to see the pores on some shmuchk's skin in a FPS...

[Emperor Megas]

There's practically nothing you can do on a more expensive cart that you can't do on a modern console that uses disc media. Any benefits over discs that carts offered yesterday (no loading time, extra RAM) are non-issues today, and discs will always be cheaper to manufacture than cartridges.

The only new systems I can see still using carts will be niche media players like those little key chain ones that use to play music videos a few years ago that used DS style chip carts.

Other than that, carts will probably only be utilized by retro revival home brew projects for vintage game systems.

[kedawa]

I wouldn't call load times a non-issue. They're still pretty awful, and so are mandatory installs.

Although it's not exactly the same as the old mask ROM carts, flash memory will be used increasingly, at least on handheld systems.

Personally, I'd love to see a really high end console with a PCIe based cartridge slot that could accommodate cartridges with a wide range of functions. Everything from SSD storage to GPU upgrades would be possible.

[Tupin]

Keep in mind, there are many people who don't have the absolute fastest Internet connection available, and that alone will hold off digital distribution for a while.

Flash memory will get even cheaper, and it seems like an alternative to disc based media.

[Emperor Megas]

I wouldn't call load times a non-issue. They're still pretty awful, and so are mandatory installs.

I'm talking about games comparable to anything that they would produce on cart. I took the original post to mean that he preferred more 'scaled down' productions that focus more on game play and less on superficial things like high end visuals and superfluous CGI cut scenes. I'm saying that you can scale down the production of a game on a disc all the same. That you don't need artificial restrictions like a more limited form of media (carts) to scale down the production of your games.

[Edmond Dantes]

I'd say the closest will get to a cart revival is if games start being sold on USB drives.

Otherwise:

Short answer: No. Long answer: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....

[MASTERWEEDO]

disc based games make you buy a new game once the disc gets a lil messed up....which the console can do, carts are damn near indestructible.

[Parodius Duh!]

pirates in hong kong are still using carts....

[Emperor Megas]

disc based games make you buy a new game once the disc gets a lil messed up....which the console can do, carts are damn near indestructible.

While it's a given that cartridges are studier than discs, I can't think of any games I've personally messed up, save a few SEGA CD games that we practically used as coasters because I didn't care about them back in the day (and still don't).

I can't see any console manufacturers going back to carts for the sake of sturdier media anymore than going back to analog tape and 8 tracks encased in hard plastic shells instead of audio CDs.

The only future for cartridges is in early childhood consoles like Leapster, and even that's going to be phased out in time.

[jrokshady]

Handheld systems might go for it.

[drmay]

The NPG (PSP2) has no UMD drive but slots for cartridge based games.

[SegaAges]

Keep in mind, there are many people who don't have the absolute fastest Internet connection available, and that alone will hold off digital distribution for a while.

Flash memory will get even cheaper, and it seems like an alternative to disc based media.

I am going to have to agree with this one. I can easily see it turning into flash based and digital distro only

Shit, the N-Gage used MMC's for their games, so why not use some type of media in that respect to push games out?

[The 1 2 P]

Like cassette tapes and vhs movies, carts are not coming back. They will remain a relic of our youth and something that the children of tomorrow will think are some outdated form of legos.

[Enigmus]

One on hand: the dropping price and reliability of flash memory may make this possible, with the first one to use it for a home system either being Nintendo or Microsoft.

On the other: Blu-Ray discs have higher memory storage than flash-based media right now and have better scratch-proofing, meaning that they would be an ideal media for the next generation. After the next, we may see a major usage of flash-based, with digital distribution secondary to it.

[skaar]

I'm waiting for retailers to get kiosks to sell DLC on removable drives... only way to get massive games to people without the downloads.

Think about it - if you can bring the HD from your XBOX into the store and just copy over 5-6 games at once?

Not so bad.

They'll never do it anytime soon - they'd have to dumb it down way further.

[The 1 2 P]

I'm waiting for retailers to get kiosks to sell DLC on removable drives... only way to get massive games to people without the downloads.

Think about it - if you can bring the HD from your XBOX into the store and just copy over 5-6 games at once?

Not so bad.

They'll never do it anytime soon - they'd have to dumb it down way further.

Both Microsoft and Nintendo have already experimented with this. During the first few years of the 360 you could take a memory card up to retail kiosks to download demos and a few in-game items. And Nintendo use to let you(not sure if they still do) wirelessly download demos and in-game items for the different versions of the Ds. While this is a few steps down from a full game download it's atleast a step in the right direction for what they might be able to do in the future.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

Yes, cartridges will make a comeback when solid state memory becomes more afforable. It'll make discs look primitive in terms of storage capacity.

The move toward all digital may never happen, since it didn't work on the PSPGo.

[Edmond Dantes]

I really doubt "all digital" is going to happen. There's just too many things wrong with it--not the least of which is that most people like feelies.

[jordandavid]

Right now I'm gonna say No. Cartridges are a thing of the past.