In this day and era, it's pretty much known that DVDs and Blu-Rays are what games are put on and shipped. With the next gen coming, do you guys see the game scene changing up a bit? Games are getting bigger and bigger while the discs aren't keeping up in technology. It's doubtful that we'll see a new form of media disc with the advent of the next generation, much like we did when the Blu-Ray came out with the PS3. That having been said, I think it's time the gaming world evolved from the whole idea of discs on consoles. Here's why I think games should be moved from discs to cartridge based units;
Disc Capacity:
The largest disc capacity on the market right now is the standard dual layer 50GB Blu-Ray. I'd include the 100 gigs for the triple layer, but they're far too expensive to even consider for use on the gaming market - they'd push games to the 80s and 90s cost range, I'd wager. Games are getting HUGE. Especially PS3 games from renowned developers Naughty Dog, Konami and the likes. Uncharted 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4 barely fit on a 50GB disc and they're both prime examples of excellent software on this generation. They push the boundaries of capacity. You guys all (mostly) saw the insane install times on MGS4. The highly compressed data on the CD had to installed for a whoopin' 10 gigs just to get the game to run! Don't even get me started on Gran Turismo 5. Its install data is an operating system in its own. As you can imagine, this makes discs impractical for the coming generation. Especially when you can have cartridges that can store up to 128 gigs!
Load Times in games:
For those of you that have a hacked PSP and have used ISOs to play games, you know what I'm talking about. Load times are so much faster when you have solid state memory. Games like BBS and FFVII:CC that take AGES to load on the PSP dont even have load screens when loaded from a memory card. The ability of the system to read instantly from the card rather than having to read the data from the CD after having found it on a specific sector of said disc makes the whole process much easier.
Hardware production:
Static hardware is always better than moving hardware. With no moving parts when it comes to the game reading aspect of the console, the console is better off and less prone to malfunction. A more efficient console means better sales.
Discs can get damaged:
Exactly what the bold says. Discs get damaged. I remember the old PS2 era when I would have to polish the shit out of my copy of Star Ocean 3 just to get it to load the Ursa Lava Cave. Frustrating times. With cartridges, you dont have this problem.
Size and portability:
Imaging how much easier it would be to store all your games. Instead of having piles of games, you could have a tiny sleeve like case to store them. As well, imagine cross play between a powerful gaming handheld and your console. You need simply pop out the cartridge and switch your system and you're good to game on the go.
And that would be all.
What do you guys think?