technology CD, Cartridge, or Download?

[Tom The Diamond 1,831]

A simple topic right here. What do you prefer your games on? CDs, Cartridges, or as Downloads?

 

For me, Cartridges all the way. Those suckers are seriously extremely durable, and you really don't have to worry about them much.Worst case scenario, if it stops working, just blow into it and pop it back in.

 

CDs are by far my least favorite, and I wish they were never introduced to gaming at all. They're so fragile, and just one small scratch ruins the game. And I take good care of my games, and they still somehow get scratches, from which I assume is simply from playing them forever. Most of my Playstation library, like Monster Rancher 2 and Spyro the Dragon don't work anymore, which is a shame. Of course, I have those odd small gamecube discs with several that I've bought used and they have tons of scratches on them, and work fine. So whatever Nintendo did there was good. Can't say the same for their wii discs though...

 

Oh, and Downloads are great too, they never break, and you can have multiple on the console for easy access at once. The only downsides is that you can't lend them to friends, and you have to manage your data to make sure you have enough room for everything. But those are pretty minor complaints, I enjoy them.

 

So... yeah, what do you think? Which one do you like, and which do you hate?

[FLARE 952]

Downloads are the simplest and generally fastest way for getting something to you, in comparison to say getting in your car, driving to the store getting out the money and getting your CD.

speed makes the world go around....

uhh I dislike CD's as well they get scratched and are out dated. I will expand on this later.

[Legit101 300]

Download would be great if my bandwidth and download wasn't so bad.

Cartridge would be nice if it had bigger storage, they do get dusty though.

CDs get scratched from normal use, don't like them that much.

Edited January 14, 2012 by Legit101

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,894]

I prefer having a hard copy of my games and I prefer them as CDs. I'm not a fan of downloads, I much prefer to physically have it. The only thing I hate about CDs are the crappy cases they are given that cause cracks because they want to make that center press down piece somewhat defective http://mlpforums.com/public/style_emoticons/default/dry.png

[joeyh3 153]

Being more of a computer gamer, cartridges are out of the question for me. Though I absolutely loved them when I had a N64.

 

I do like CDs and DVDs - as long as you're careful, they're easy to take care of. Plus you can install games off of a CD/DVD very quickly, and it's very easy to make a backup of them in case they do get damaged.

 

Downloads, it depends on how they're presented. I do like Steam, but it has some disadvantages, namely how if I want to install a game on both my desktop and laptop, I have to download it from the Internet twice (even if you have a high speed connection, downloads are always slower than installing from physical media).

 

Plus downloads to scare me a little. Without having a physical copy, I'm entirely dependent on the download being available for me to install it. What if two years from now I have to reinstall Windows on my computer, and then when I try to go reinstall Portal, I find out that the download has been removed from Steam for whatever reason - at that point I'm out of a game.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

LRP sums up my opinion. I'll go into more detail though.

 

My most favourite are CDs because they hold more storage space and look sleeker and less bulky. I don't like the scratches and have had to rebuy a few games because of it, but I think for me, CDs are the way to go. Also, they are physical media. I'm okay with cartridges too as well. They're great for handhelds since CDs are kind of a bad idea for that. Also, they are durable and don't get scratched.

 

Least favourite is downloads because i don't trust anything I can't touch. At least, in wasting my money on it. A download is much easier to lose. I'd rather go through the trouble of having a CD/cartridge and going out to get one than quickly downloading something that doesn't exist in reality. I hate downloads because I'm constantly paranoid about them being deleted. I feel more secure with the game in my hand. There's no possibility of that being deleted.

[Fghik 360]

Cartridge... All the way.

Best gaming ever.

 

We've had a Genesis from...As long as I can remember.

The console and it's cartridges all work perfectly.

 

Old systems were beasts. Too bad The new systems are insanely weak...

[Pinkazoid 3,493]

I love cartridges yet at the same time I despice them so I loved and hated it

[Discordian 6,024]

In a perfect world where everyone had speedy internet for really cheap I'd say downloadable is the best way to go. I know many people say "But I want the cases!" but in all honesty downloadable is just better for space.

 

Of course, we also have to consider that if it's downloadable it's easier to pirate so companies tend to lock data so you can't copy it so if the device you have it on craps out, you're screwed.

 

But still, I love DD for many reasons and find it most efficient as long as you have the means to use it properly.

 

CDs can be scratched easily if you don't take care of them which is why I believe all media needs to turn to Bluray like the Playstation 3 does since they are extremely hard to scratch and very durable.

 

Cartridges have only one upside: Loading times. Faster than CDs and Blurays. Though downloadable help with that matter too but I've never seen anything save and load as fast as a cartridge game.

 

Of course, this is all from a gamer's point of view so if you wanna talk of other types of media this only partially applies.

[Flutterguy1 204]

I like downloads, as it's nice to have all of your games on the device instead of changing the disc/cartridge every time you want to play a different game.

[SPLinux 381]

Downloads are potentially the best but, there limited by your Internet connectivity and Disk Space, and also DRM which just makes it a pain to play anywhere else. CD's Have Far More Data Then Cartridges, but have Load Times and Less Durability (Very easy to scratch). Cartridges are Far More Durable then CD's and Load Much Faster, but are severely limited by how much data they can hold (N64 Games had max of 64MB while average CD's have 700MB). although what i also like alot are are flash cards, (what DS/3DS Use) they look similar to cartridges and have the fast load times but have much more data, some even more then CD or DVD (3DS games can have up to 8GB in the future!). Although when downloads don't have nasty DRM then i think they are truly superior IMO.

[Ezynell 2,037]

Downloads are potentially the bestsuperior IMO.

 

The truth.

Edited January 14, 2012 by Ice

[Xbox The AWESOMEST Cookies 13]

Catridges are the best thing for media i guess

 

Downloading i say is crap, well maybe a-bit i guess

 

CD's are a good idea but they can get scratched

[Demi 545]

Downloading for the sake of convenience (you don't have to get up, can't beat that)

 

Cartridges for their ability to hold so much and still load/save instantly.

 

CDs... they really are meh, get scratched easily and all but they're the most popular.

[Discordian 6,024]

Why does everyone forget that Bluray's exist whenever they mention how CDs get scratched?

 

Honestly, they aren't that much more expensive than DVDs and in a few years I bet you they take over as the dominant media like the DVD did to VHS. It improves quality, space and they don't scratch unless you deliberately take a knife to them.

[Tom 891]

Tom summarises my opinion on this matter well.

Cartridge is superior in read/write speeds, they were replaced by CD because CDs have greater storage space. But now there are some SD cards with capacity of 64GB, larger than Blu-ray, and there are also flash drives with 1TB of capacity. (But these cost a lot more.)

Downloads have some advantages, but require an internet connection to obtain, and they can take a very long time to download and no sharing with friends etc.

[Killian Jones 2,656]

I find Downloads to be the most convenient and CD's good to store games long term. I don't hate cartridges but wheb they are gigantic I don't like that.

[Embers 14]

For me, downloads are my favourite. On most occasions they are the most convenient (such as having it stored locally and not having to switch media) and so long as you have a fast and stable connection, items can be downloaded quickly. Another great thing is in most cases it's impossible to lose like you can a CD or cartridge due to it being stored on a server far away.

Obviously the major problem is if something were to happen to your line then there's going to be no way to retrieve what you want. So I always like having a CD/DVD available just in case something like that were to happen... even if they do take over your cupboards with boxes and boxes.

 

As for cartridges, it just seems like an outdated technology to me. I couldn't see anything major take advantage of it nowadays. I do still have a megadrive (Genesis to you US peeps) hooked up in my room occasionally though, can't beat the classics.

Edited January 15, 2012 by Ember

[Nah 3,182]

I'm stuck playing flash games, downloading, installing, or simply adding a game to the computer is sadly, strictly forbidden in my house.

[PoisonClaw 8,177]

I have to go with cartridges on this one, if only because I prefer to have a physical copy of the item in question. Downloads would take second if only because CD's seem to scratch to easily and once they do they never work the same again.

[Finesthour 7,289]

I prefer to download my games.

 

I love to make sure I own them, and that they cannot get lost.

[Tom 891]

A fair point, but Mr. Hard Drive failure says hello!

If the game is no longer hosted by distributers, download-only games become unavailable by legit means.

Edited January 15, 2012 by Tom

[Knight Shadrahk 159]

Favorite: CD.

 

Least: Cartridge. Hated having to always blow them, xD. But I liked em, just not as much as others.

[Cynic 337]

For my favourite, I'd either pick cartridge or CD-I picked CD for the sake of the poll. Download is my least favourite due to the fact that if you don't have a really fast internet connection, downloads can take days. Also, the retail value is pretty much non-existent.

[Retro*Derpy 3,833]

Going to say cartridge for this one, as they are pretty strong and not to hard to fix. Though CD is worst, without a doubt. Had a Diablo download disk explode because most CD drive's RPM are way too high. Nearly ruined a thousand dollar computer.