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Before the 90's, gaming used to be on cartridges. The NES, the SNES, the Mega Drive all had games based on cartridges. They weren't on read-only discs, but big chunky things which came in boxes. Before that, they were on tapes similar to audio tapes, which would take so very long to load. What I'm saying is that games are traditionally on hardware items which 'plug into' a console - and not CDs.
Then the advent of the Sega Saturn and PlayStation turned to CDs. In an age where gaming was on the brink of innovation, between two and three dimensions, the need for extra storage escalated beyond the space cartridges could offer. After all, the biggest cartridge size on the Nintendo 64 was only 64 MB - miniscule in comparison to CDs and DVDs. As well as that, CDs allowed developers to include lavish, detailed FMVs - a first in gaming, since all which had gone before were either in game cutscenes or static images.
But what I found aweful about this transition was what CDs offered. They weren't writable, they were small yes, but possibly the most inconvenient medium available. They'd scratch easy, so I had to take care when handling them, keeping them in their cases and every once in a while giving my games the old spit and t-shirt treatment. It's not convenient. And it's also not convenient requiring memory cards. Memory cards are the solution to CDs inability to have more data saved on them, and I hate them. They're annoying, prone to deleting themselves and never have the right capactiy.
All you N64 owners out there will agree with me that game quality on the N64 was overall much higher than on the PlayStation. Some people may say that it's only because 'casual' developers, making mainstream tie-in games would go to PlayStation. In my opinion, it isn't. I think it's because of the format - the N64 retaining cartridges was a great idea, in my opinion. They can have games saved on them, they can be strewn about the floor without fear of breakage and, they're overall just nicer than CDs.
But versatile discs are the only way forward. Squaresoft could have never managed Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 9 on the N64, because of the cartridge form of games rather than CDs. And this is the main reason why they then developed for the PlayStation. But having limited space meant that developers had to strive to reduce space of games, in my opinion meaning they have much more quality. On CDs, developers can churn out their game and plop it onto a CD. With cartridges, much more care has to be taken about what goes on, so there is more attention to detail when it comes to the crunch.
Piracy. The deciding factor for what games come on. The N64 avoided game piracy altogether using cartridges - they were so expensive to 'pirate' that it would be cheaper to buy the real thing. No no, pirates avoided this by using ROMs. Being limited in space, N64 games were so easy to rip off the cartridge and distribute on the internet that some extremely successful emulators were released almost immediately after the console's release. The best, and first emulator, UltraHLE, emulated the N64 so well that Nintendo had to actually shut them down.
And this is the compromise. If a developer wants to use cartridges, then there will be illegal internet distribution. If they want to use CDs or DVDs, then copied games will run riot. Pirates can always get around security measures, which is where again, Nintendo's ingenuity came in. I'm not trying to be a fanboy, but when it comes to stopping piracy the GameCube is the most successful console. The smaller discs are a hassle to manufacture, and there is (apparently) a mass of small holes in the disc creating unique piracy protection. While mod chips will probably bypass this, it means that copying games will be extremely hard.
So what does the future lie? I'm looking forward to a day when 'collection' is used instead of 'library' when it comes to talking about your games. There was nothing more fun than lining up all my 64 cartridges and admiring them. CDs and DVDs are ugly, fragile and easy to pirate. And in the near future, a new type of medium will have to be developed. We can't go on using discs forever - already Resident Evil on the GameCube is on two CDs. No no, what I hope will happen in the future is that games return to a hardware type. Not necessarily cartridges, but possibly double-CDs which protect themselves, which are the size of your thumbnail. Or minidisks. Whatever the case, I like collecting my games strewn across my bedroom floor, and CDs make this a much more haphazard and dangerous approach. Oh well :-).
Then the advent of the Sega Saturn and PlayStation turned to CDs. In an age where gaming was on the brink of innovation, between two and three dimensions, the need for extra storage escalated beyond the space cartridges could offer. After all, the biggest cartridge size on the Nintendo 64 was only 64 MB - miniscule in comparison to CDs and DVDs. As well as that, CDs allowed developers to include lavish, detailed FMVs - a first in gaming, since all which had gone before were either in game cutscenes or static images.
But what I found aweful about this transition was what CDs offered. They weren't writable, they were small yes, but possibly the most inconvenient medium available. They'd scratch easy, so I had to take care when handling them, keeping them in their cases and every once in a while giving my games the old spit and t-shirt treatment. It's not convenient. And it's also not convenient requiring memory cards. Memory cards are the solution to CDs inability to have more data saved on them, and I hate them. They're annoying, prone to deleting themselves and never have the right capactiy.
All you N64 owners out there will agree with me that game quality on the N64 was overall much higher than on the PlayStation. Some people may say that it's only because 'casual' developers, making mainstream tie-in games would go to PlayStation. In my opinion, it isn't. I think it's because of the format - the N64 retaining cartridges was a great idea, in my opinion. They can have games saved on them, they can be strewn about the floor without fear of breakage and, they're overall just nicer than CDs.
But versatile discs are the only way forward. Squaresoft could have never managed Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 9 on the N64, because of the cartridge form of games rather than CDs. And this is the main reason why they then developed for the PlayStation. But having limited space meant that developers had to strive to reduce space of games, in my opinion meaning they have much more quality. On CDs, developers can churn out their game and plop it onto a CD. With cartridges, much more care has to be taken about what goes on, so there is more attention to detail when it comes to the crunch.
Piracy. The deciding factor for what games come on. The N64 avoided game piracy altogether using cartridges - they were so expensive to 'pirate' that it would be cheaper to buy the real thing. No no, pirates avoided this by using ROMs. Being limited in space, N64 games were so easy to rip off the cartridge and distribute on the internet that some extremely successful emulators were released almost immediately after the console's release. The best, and first emulator, UltraHLE, emulated the N64 so well that Nintendo had to actually shut them down.
And this is the compromise. If a developer wants to use cartridges, then there will be illegal internet distribution. If they want to use CDs or DVDs, then copied games will run riot. Pirates can always get around security measures, which is where again, Nintendo's ingenuity came in. I'm not trying to be a fanboy, but when it comes to stopping piracy the GameCube is the most successful console. The smaller discs are a hassle to manufacture, and there is (apparently) a mass of small holes in the disc creating unique piracy protection. While mod chips will probably bypass this, it means that copying games will be extremely hard.
So what does the future lie? I'm looking forward to a day when 'collection' is used instead of 'library' when it comes to talking about your games. There was nothing more fun than lining up all my 64 cartridges and admiring them. CDs and DVDs are ugly, fragile and easy to pirate. And in the near future, a new type of medium will have to be developed. We can't go on using discs forever - already Resident Evil on the GameCube is on two CDs. No no, what I hope will happen in the future is that games return to a hardware type. Not necessarily cartridges, but possibly double-CDs which protect themselves, which are the size of your thumbnail. Or minidisks. Whatever the case, I like collecting my games strewn across my bedroom floor, and CDs make this a much more haphazard and dangerous approach. Oh well :-).
X-Box has better patterns! :P
Great post, and some great points raised. I'm gonna add my two tuppence on the UltraHLE programme. Personally, I thought it stank. I could only "play" one ROM on it and that was Goldeneye, but all the colour was grey (and hardly noticeable at that) and it ran about 10X slower. Also, I hated the saving feature - it sucked! Whenever I bought a second hand game, they had already been completed and the only way to reset them is to rewire them, which I don't want to do incase I muck it up...N64 design sucks, but a great console...
Great post, and some great points raised. I'm gonna add my two tuppence on the UltraHLE programme. Personally, I thought it stank. I could only "play" one ROM on it and that was Goldeneye, but all the colour was grey (and hardly noticeable at that) and it ran about 10X slower. Also, I hated the saving feature - it sucked! Whenever I bought a second hand game, they had already been completed and the only way to reset them is to rewire them, which I don't want to do incase I muck it up...N64 design sucks, but a great console...
Resi being on two discs is more due to Nintendo's stubborness regarding DVDs...and I happen to think the patterns on most of my PS2 discs are quite pretty.
Still, good post.
Still, good post.
Before the 90's, gaming used to be on cartridges. The NES, the SNES, the Mega Drive all had games based on cartridges. They weren't on read-only discs, but big chunky things which came in boxes. Before that, they were on tapes similar to audio tapes, which would take so very long to load. What I'm saying is that games are traditionally on hardware items which 'plug into' a console - and not CDs.
Then the advent of the Sega Saturn and PlayStation turned to CDs. In an age where gaming was on the brink of innovation, between two and three dimensions, the need for extra storage escalated beyond the space cartridges could offer. After all, the biggest cartridge size on the Nintendo 64 was only 64 MB - miniscule in comparison to CDs and DVDs. As well as that, CDs allowed developers to include lavish, detailed FMVs - a first in gaming, since all which had gone before were either in game cutscenes or static images.
But what I found aweful about this transition was what CDs offered. They weren't writable, they were small yes, but possibly the most inconvenient medium available. They'd scratch easy, so I had to take care when handling them, keeping them in their cases and every once in a while giving my games the old spit and t-shirt treatment. It's not convenient. And it's also not convenient requiring memory cards. Memory cards are the solution to CDs inability to have more data saved on them, and I hate them. They're annoying, prone to deleting themselves and never have the right capactiy.
All you N64 owners out there will agree with me that game quality on the N64 was overall much higher than on the PlayStation. Some people may say that it's only because 'casual' developers, making mainstream tie-in games would go to PlayStation. In my opinion, it isn't. I think it's because of the format - the N64 retaining cartridges was a great idea, in my opinion. They can have games saved on them, they can be strewn about the floor without fear of breakage and, they're overall just nicer than CDs.
But versatile discs are the only way forward. Squaresoft could have never managed Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 9 on the N64, because of the cartridge form of games rather than CDs. And this is the main reason why they then developed for the PlayStation. But having limited space meant that developers had to strive to reduce space of games, in my opinion meaning they have much more quality. On CDs, developers can churn out their game and plop it onto a CD. With cartridges, much more care has to be taken about what goes on, so there is more attention to detail when it comes to the crunch.
Piracy. The deciding factor for what games come on. The N64 avoided game piracy altogether using cartridges - they were so expensive to 'pirate' that it would be cheaper to buy the real thing. No no, pirates avoided this by using ROMs. Being limited in space, N64 games were so easy to rip off the cartridge and distribute on the internet that some extremely successful emulators were released almost immediately after the console's release. The best, and first emulator, UltraHLE, emulated the N64 so well that Nintendo had to actually shut them down.
And this is the compromise. If a developer wants to use cartridges, then there will be illegal internet distribution. If they want to use CDs or DVDs, then copied games will run riot. Pirates can always get around security measures, which is where again, Nintendo's ingenuity came in. I'm not trying to be a fanboy, but when it comes to stopping piracy the GameCube is the most successful console. The smaller discs are a hassle to manufacture, and there is (apparently) a mass of small holes in the disc creating unique piracy protection. While mod chips will probably bypass this, it means that copying games will be extremely hard.
So what does the future lie? I'm looking forward to a day when 'collection' is used instead of 'library' when it comes to talking about your games. There was nothing more fun than lining up all my 64 cartridges and admiring them. CDs and DVDs are ugly, fragile and easy to pirate. And in the near future, a new type of medium will have to be developed. We can't go on using discs forever - already Resident Evil on the GameCube is on two CDs. No no, what I hope will happen in the future is that games return to a hardware type. Not necessarily cartridges, but possibly double-CDs which protect themselves, which are the size of your thumbnail. Or minidisks. Whatever the case, I like collecting my games strewn across my bedroom floor, and CDs make this a much more haphazard and dangerous approach. Oh well :-).
Then the advent of the Sega Saturn and PlayStation turned to CDs. In an age where gaming was on the brink of innovation, between two and three dimensions, the need for extra storage escalated beyond the space cartridges could offer. After all, the biggest cartridge size on the Nintendo 64 was only 64 MB - miniscule in comparison to CDs and DVDs. As well as that, CDs allowed developers to include lavish, detailed FMVs - a first in gaming, since all which had gone before were either in game cutscenes or static images.
But what I found aweful about this transition was what CDs offered. They weren't writable, they were small yes, but possibly the most inconvenient medium available. They'd scratch easy, so I had to take care when handling them, keeping them in their cases and every once in a while giving my games the old spit and t-shirt treatment. It's not convenient. And it's also not convenient requiring memory cards. Memory cards are the solution to CDs inability to have more data saved on them, and I hate them. They're annoying, prone to deleting themselves and never have the right capactiy.
All you N64 owners out there will agree with me that game quality on the N64 was overall much higher than on the PlayStation. Some people may say that it's only because 'casual' developers, making mainstream tie-in games would go to PlayStation. In my opinion, it isn't. I think it's because of the format - the N64 retaining cartridges was a great idea, in my opinion. They can have games saved on them, they can be strewn about the floor without fear of breakage and, they're overall just nicer than CDs.
But versatile discs are the only way forward. Squaresoft could have never managed Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 9 on the N64, because of the cartridge form of games rather than CDs. And this is the main reason why they then developed for the PlayStation. But having limited space meant that developers had to strive to reduce space of games, in my opinion meaning they have much more quality. On CDs, developers can churn out their game and plop it onto a CD. With cartridges, much more care has to be taken about what goes on, so there is more attention to detail when it comes to the crunch.
Piracy. The deciding factor for what games come on. The N64 avoided game piracy altogether using cartridges - they were so expensive to 'pirate' that it would be cheaper to buy the real thing. No no, pirates avoided this by using ROMs. Being limited in space, N64 games were so easy to rip off the cartridge and distribute on the internet that some extremely successful emulators were released almost immediately after the console's release. The best, and first emulator, UltraHLE, emulated the N64 so well that Nintendo had to actually shut them down.
And this is the compromise. If a developer wants to use cartridges, then there will be illegal internet distribution. If they want to use CDs or DVDs, then copied games will run riot. Pirates can always get around security measures, which is where again, Nintendo's ingenuity came in. I'm not trying to be a fanboy, but when it comes to stopping piracy the GameCube is the most successful console. The smaller discs are a hassle to manufacture, and there is (apparently) a mass of small holes in the disc creating unique piracy protection. While mod chips will probably bypass this, it means that copying games will be extremely hard.
So what does the future lie? I'm looking forward to a day when 'collection' is used instead of 'library' when it comes to talking about your games. There was nothing more fun than lining up all my 64 cartridges and admiring them. CDs and DVDs are ugly, fragile and easy to pirate. And in the near future, a new type of medium will have to be developed. We can't go on using discs forever - already Resident Evil on the GameCube is on two CDs. No no, what I hope will happen in the future is that games return to a hardware type. Not necessarily cartridges, but possibly double-CDs which protect themselves, which are the size of your thumbnail. Or minidisks. Whatever the case, I like collecting my games strewn across my bedroom floor, and CDs make this a much more haphazard and dangerous approach. Oh well :-).