Cartridge vs CD

[SlowCoder]

If you had your druthers, disregarding storage, would you build a system that uses carts or CDs?

 

Seems to me the carts will last much longer. I think CD based systems are much more prone to failure. Depending on use, I think you can expect a CD unit to last less than 10 years, whereas cart systems are verified to work more than 30 years. Cart based systems have no mechanical parts, and therefore lack some very major points of failure.

 

I have a ps2 that's about 8-9 years old. It's still running strong, considering that it probably has an avg 10-15 hours play every month since it was first hooked up. But I'm meticulous about keeping dust off it, and keeping the CDs clean. No telling how long it will last. And I've also made sure to buy 2 more units as replacements, considering the size of the games library I have.

 

I have more faith that my cart based systems (old and newer) will still last longer.

 

What do you guys think?

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Back in May I posed the same question, got 6 video responses and many comments.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vt4htVQ82M

[tz101]

My 1980 VCS was going strong until I tried some misguided repair tactics. I have my doubts that any disc-based (CD/DVD/Blu-Ray) system will still be going 30 years from now.

 

Cartridges and Hu cards are the only way to go, and the classic games are much more fun to play.

[+save2600]

Anything worth preserving should be on carts or some form of solid state memory device.

 

But most of today's mediocre, unmemorable and disposable shite? Who cares. And that's exactly how the mainstream treats their stuff today.

Edited November 17, 2010 by save2600

[Rikkarr]

I think carts would be the way to go. Not so much the media itself, but (as OP pointed out), the technology to play them would last longer and would not break as fast. The only thing about carts is that they're typically more expensive to build, therefore games might be more expensive, and less profits might be made. I dunno, just a guess.

[raskar42]

discs are fine so long as you don't mind replacing the media player every few years.

 

i expect my dvd's to outlast my dvd player.

 

Cart based hardware has few moving parts to break down.

[Pixelboy]

Anything worth preserving should be on carts or some form of solid state memory device.

 

But most of today's mediocre, unmemorable and disposable shite? Who cares. And that's exactly how the mainstream treats their stuff today.

That's a very good point. Consider how much more expensive it is to produce cartridges, compared to CDs...

[raskar42]

Anything worth preserving should be on carts or some form of solid state memory device.

 

But most of today's mediocre, unmemorable and disposable shite? Who cares. And that's exactly how the mainstream treats their stuff today.

That's a very good point. Consider how much more expensive it is to produce cartridges, compared to CDs...

 

 

 

 

there's negatives to that too.

 

how many obscure, unmarketable games or movies would not be produced due to the expense of solid state memory?

[Pixelboy]

there's negatives to that too.

 

how many obscure, unmarketable games or movies would not be produced due to the expense of solid state memory?

Do you mean "obscure, unmarketable, but good" games/movies?

[GKC]

I have always been partial to cartridges. However, if I was going to build a system and hope to make a splash today you would have no choice but to use discs. Also, knock on wood, I have had pretty good luck with my disc based systems that do not have '360' marked on them.

[raskar42]

there's negatives to that too.

 

how many obscure, unmarketable games or movies would not be produced due to the expense of solid state memory?

Do you mean "obscure, unmarketable, but good" games/movies?

 

Every game is somebody's favorite game.

[IntellivisionDude]

Back in May I posed the same question, got 6 video responses and many comments.

 

I guess i forgot to add my video as a response, and now Youtube has a glitch that won't let me. You can only choose from your recent 100 vids.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6FgEzdUeKY

Edited November 17, 2010 by rgw825

[+5-11under]

My kids have never broken a cartridge. The same cannot be said about CDs and DVDs.

[+save2600]

Every game is somebody's favorite game.

...and there's a lid for every pot too.

 

Someone brought up the "expense" of producing a game on a solid state memory card. What expense? Have you seen the prices lately? Within the past 5 years? GigaBytes for pennies, so that old argument is obsolete. Great games don't need all that space anyway. Which is why oft times, you end up getting your DVD's or Blu-Ray's littered with fluff nobody ever asked for or even wants

 

Music shouldn't even be on a spinning optical disc either. Should ALL be solid state by now.

 

 

Edited November 17, 2010 by save2600

[BenG76]

I prefer Cartridge for reasons many have already stated here. I also pick up a good bit of disc based games as well but only if they are cheap.

[Classic Pac]

All I can say is carts are much more durable. In my collection I have Batman Forever Genesis that I actually saw being driven over by a garbage truck and surprisingly it still works. Meanwhile I hate to mention the number of broken game CDs I seen in my neighborhood.

[Lord Helmet]

I prefer giant hard drives full of roms and disk images

[mbd30]

CD's will last for years and years so as long as you treat them right. Unfortunately too many idiots scratch up their discs, which makes used games and rentals a bit of a crap shoot. You might be able to salvage a bad disc with toothpaste or whatever, but it's still annoying having to do that.

 

Usually the only thing that you have to worry about with old cartridges is the battery.

[Seob]

I'm pretty sure that cartridge based systems will outlast cd games, because not only the cd-drive is prow to defects, but the cd-media it self doesn't have the same live expectange as a cartridge has, because of cd-rot. This will affect every cd/dvd media, not only the cd-r and dvd writeables.

[MagitekAngel]

I'm telling you, we should commit all our games to stone tablets before its too late.

[raskar42]

punch cards are the media of the future.

[SlowCoder]

CD's will last for years and years so as long as you treat them right. Unfortunately too many idiots scratch up their discs, which makes used games and rentals a bit of a crap shoot. You might be able to salvage a bad disc with toothpaste or whatever, but it's still annoying having to do that.

Yes, many years. But unless they are the ones with the film sandwiched between the plastic layers, their expectancy is severely shortened. First for wear, then by oxidation, as most burn discs are these days.

[Video]

Cost? What cost? You know the cheapest er..."systems" out now are cart based? I mean, a few years back, GBA, at $20-$30 per game (while all the disc systems were $50+) now the DS is $10-$35 while almost every disc is $60 (+)!

 

Granted, they don't hold nearly the data of a disc, but honestly, the good games don't need all the space anyways. I'll take carts over discs any day of the week.

 

Also, you never have to worry about a cart being damaged, even in fairly abusive environments. Not that I abuse mine, but you never know what the hell other people will do with your stuff, especially if you're not around.

 

And that's just the games themselves....the systems, forget about it. I take great care of my systems, and yet, I've had several disc systems die, and no cart systems die. Everybody's experience will be different, but a lot of us own Atari's and other consoles from 30 years ago. How many PS3, 360's, or even Wii's do you think will be running in 30 years?

 

Anyhow, flash memory is pennies for gigs (that I personally can buy) to heck with some manufacture that would buy probably millions, true roms would be more expensive, but I'd hazard a guess that it's not some insane stratospheric price like people make out (ram was almost always more expensive than roms, the reason ram games cost so damn much) until more recently.

 

Anyhow, what someone would make a killing at, would be to make a console that gives the producers (and gamers) the option. Seriously, is there a real reason not to have a cart port on a system? Or build games into cheap flash drives or something?

[akator]

Currently, I'm a fan of flash media. I love my flash carts, flash based floppy emulators, and flash hard drive replacements. I will take flash over cart or disc any day of the week.

[Eltigro]

I actually worked at Target in the electronics department during the Playstation/Nintendo64/Saturn days. This topic came up a lot when I was suggesting to parents which system to get. My arguments were...

 

Media: Playstation and Saturn are on CD's. Generally much cheaper to manufacture than cartridges, the games are cheaper than the N64 games. They can also hold more data than a cartridge and therefore have "bigger" games. Being on a disc though means it is more prone to scratching so care must be given to the handling. If the system is for a younger child or one who is not careful with his/her things, the games can be ruined quite easily. Leaving a CD on the floor for example is a bad idea, leaving a cartridge on the floor is not so bad, even if someone steps on it.

 

Systems: The Playstation and Saturn are CD based and so have CD players in them. This means they can also play music CD's, but it also means they have motors and gears and belts and such inside. Moving parts are more likely to break than non-moving parts, so the N-64 has the CD based systems beat as far as that goes.

 

I'll put load times in a separate category, because it is really based on both the media and the system. Cartridges don't have them. CD systems have load times that vary based on programming, drive speed, and other factors...

 

But as far as this thread goes, I think both forms of media will last a long time if treated properly, although I feel that the cartridges are a bit more durable. The cartridge based systems themselves however should long out last the disc based systems simply because of the moving parts issue. Then there are newer forms of media we are just beginning to use more such as flash memory and games downloaded directly on to hard drives and even those systems where the user does not have any kind of media such as the just released OnLive system. (Of course, I'm not sure of the specifics of how the OnLive system works...)