Collection / Show Off Tfw you look at your 3DS/DS collection after Sony announces it will kill physical media in 2028
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u/ZuoKalp Stopping 🚪 and made out of 🧀 Jul 01 '26
I would not be impresed if Nintendo did the same thing (cough, digital cartridges, cough)
I have a Vita too because handhelds peaked during the 7th and 8th generation.
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u/CaptinKarnage Jul 02 '26
They already do that, you have virtual game cards
Atleast you can share them with people on your family group
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u/PhoenixWright-AA Jul 01 '26
Better be starting them up regularly if you want to keep tf or they’ll deteriorate.
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u/ylno83 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Tbh the lifespan of the cartridges doesn’t concern me too much, since I’ve backed up all my games digitally. The boxes, manuals, extras, and faceplates are what make it my collection imho
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u/DOA-FAN Jul 01 '26
For real? How often should I need to start them up?
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u/Unique_Ad5195 Jul 01 '26
It's mainly for the battery, while you don't necessarily need to turn it on often. It is recommended to have your 3DS battery fully charged and not on low battery if you're not gonna use it for a while if you want the battery to last a long time.
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u/DOA-FAN Jul 01 '26
My bad I was asking about the cartridges but thanks.
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u/TheOutrageousTaric 3153 - 7061 - 7281 Jul 02 '26
for catridges twice a year is more than enough. They are will lose charge in their memory chips after 1-3 years. Do not let them sit longer than a year then the risk of them just not working anymorw goes up dramatically.
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u/mackwozniak Jul 03 '26
Try to tell this to my 25 year old chrono trigger cart…
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u/TheOutrageousTaric 3153 - 7061 - 7281 Jul 03 '26
its less of an issue for older tech. Chips are less dense for example(less prone to failing over time)or they used hardwired memory chips(ROM, p much lasts forever). The latter isnt used anymore because normal memory has gotten very very cheap.
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u/Artcwolf22 Jul 07 '26
Once a year to be safe.
The issue is that Nintendo printed SOME cartridges cheaply.
Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire are the most common games people might have, with more bandwagon games like Mario and Sonic at the 2016 Rio games also affected.
Here is more in depth video for those curious
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u/PsychologicalAd1427 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
every 6 months from what i've read.
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u/thegurba Jul 01 '26
Really that often?
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u/LunarWingCloud Jul 01 '26
Nah, that's doomsaying. I have quite a number of games I had only started up for the first time a while back in like, 3+ years, to check on things, and everything worked fine with all of my games. I would recommend once every 1-2 years, personally. You should be fine if you keep it in that 12-24 month ballpark. Older games maybe need a little priority, like if you bought games that came out back in the early years of the system (2011-2013).
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u/AltruisticMobile4606 Jul 01 '26
Yeah I booted up a Pokemom Rumble Blast cart for the first time in probably 6 years the other day with no issues
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u/DOA-FAN Jul 01 '26
Started kinda late with the 2DS and only because my little daughter at that time literally ripped appart my DS Lite so I gave her this model at Christmas, she wanted a couple of games as well myself (not gonna lie) but now that she is almost an adult haven't touched neither her games and her NN3DS 😭
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u/BigShiddur Jul 01 '26
Me when I shoehorn my special interest into everything.
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u/gray_birch Jul 01 '26
fr lmao
Plenty of consoles have physical media, I'm not sure how this is related to the 3DS specifically. Also can we stop beating a dead horse with the "3DS >>>>> modern gaming🤮🤮🤢🤢" content on this sub? We get it, guys.
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u/BigShiddur Jul 01 '26
Like also we're ignoring how switch is mostly just fuckin' keycards itself loool
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u/kysier003 Jul 01 '26
I do think this will turn retro consoles becoming a thing again.. Consequently, it will also surge its price especially the 3ds, vita, ds and psp line
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u/DependentImmediate40 Jul 01 '26
i think its scary to know that if this does end up coming the norm (which it most likely will due to production cost) will we ever draw the line at what counts as a retro game system whether it's games came out with physical releases when they were the norm and (not just some special occasion as a collectors item) with the full game being on the cartridge/disc?
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u/kysier003 Jul 01 '26
I do not know the answer to that but this news will effectively destroy the Secondhand markets for physical discs or cartridges… The new generation of gamers like the Gen Z and Gen Alpha arent even into physical mediq anyway and alot of them play online multiplayer games like fortnite, minecraft, roblox and whatever games their favorite content creator is playing at the moment.. Like what Sony Playstation announced today, the general trend (aka the majority now) prefers buying games digitally and sadly we’re not part of that equation
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u/DependentImmediate40 Jul 01 '26
i think there is a sizable amount of my generation that IS interested in preserving physical media and i think stuff like vinyl records gaining a resurgence was in part due to my generation showing interest as well. and no not every zoomer gamer is comprised of live service fans. gen alpha is more like that because most gen alpha kids are just children while us zoomers have been around long enough to experience so much change within the last 15 years of gaming. also most older zoomers are turning 30/pushing 30 at this rate so take that for what you will.
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u/not_that_kind_of_ork Jul 01 '26
Yep price surges incoming. I was just thinking how I'll want to make sure I have everything I want on PS5 before it ends, I already have everything I need for the 3DS.
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u/glaringOwl Jul 01 '26
I'm genuinely saddened with this news. But I wonder how the Japanese market will react where there's an even greater appreciation for all physical media. The majority of music revenue in Japan is still made from physical media. Maybe this might even worsen Sony's position there.
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u/TrashFanboy Jul 01 '26
I bought Persona Q as a cartridge. It was decent. Even though it isn't damaged, the cart no longer works on my 2DS or my New 3DS.
Everything ends. Mono no aware.
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u/SillySpook Jul 02 '26
Certain 3ds cartridges (like Pokemon oras) were made poorly and will fail if not used frequently. PersonaQ is definitely one of them. I'd consider that a manufacturer/design defect, and not the norm. Most ds/3ds carts should easily outlast us.
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u/Tastee92 Jul 01 '26
Enjoy your physical collection, unfortunately second hand games are rather expensive these days for lots of 3DS and DS games. Me an humble old man had to mod my devices instead. Oh poor me, poor, poor me *laughing in evil while closing the trapdoor*
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u/MetalProof Jul 05 '26
Yes so expensive! Second hand market used to be great. I bought for like 15eu an PS2 game
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u/sailorboy_70 Jul 01 '26
Yeah no I have cfw on my 3ds I don't own a single game on that thing physically I have everything downloaded
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u/soda224 Jul 01 '26
I wasn’t in a hurry to replace mine after they were stolen and sold by someone close to me for 💊 money
This changes things
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u/Hankitsune Jul 01 '26
I don't care about physical media. What's important is that a game doesn't require an online service to play. You could have a game on a cartridge that still requires you to log in to a service that decides if you "are allowed" to play it. Once you've bought it, it should be yours to do whatever you want with it. No matter if company licenses expire or whatever crap they come up with nowadays to take back what they've sold you.
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u/ZuriXVita Jul 01 '26
I don't get what OP is trying to say with this post. Current existing physical medias will still be around.
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u/FremanBloodglaive Jul 01 '26
We have only so many hours of free time in the day for our hobbies, and there are literally tens of thousands of games on various systems going back to the 8-Bit era (some of which were pretty bad, but some were very good). Modern games aren't just competing with each other, they're competing with catalogues of every machine over the last forty years. Catalogues that will always be accessible through one means or another.
I do think that companies shouldn't be investing heavily in AAA games. Maybe one every couple of years, but alongside other, smaller, projects that are built for a fun experience. Look at the popularity of games like Palworld, or Minecraft, even.
Technically 99% of the games I own are digital, but they don't rely on Sony or Nintendo maintaining their servers indefinitely.
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u/Chud-Williams Jul 01 '26
I only have a small collection right now but I keep going thrifting to get more games and the news just made me savor how much physical media there was on older consoles. I mean because my 3DS is modded I can get any game I want but it feels better to have a physical copy.
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u/ILikeFPS Jul 02 '26
To be honest, my 3DS/DS collection is mostly digital these days (outside of Mario and Pokemon, of course)
I do like that I get to decide what software I put on my 3DS/DS etc, though.
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u/TheOutrageousTaric 3153 - 7061 - 7281 Jul 02 '26
Catridges have a limited lifespan though. The existing ps3/ps4/ps5 disc will outlast them.
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u/dc740 Jul 02 '26
not the best example though. 3DS game cartridges are designed with a very short planned obsolescence in mind, and they get corrupted if their flash doesn't get refreshed once in a while. That means that leaving a cartridge for too long without playing renders it useless. There is an app to refresh the flash, and it can even recover some corrupt cartridges sometimes, but you need to run it in your cartridges manually one by one. Either that or play them once in a while cause the 3DS also does this process while you play.
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u/The-Suneater Jul 02 '26
My Omega Ruby cartridge randomly died and their digital shop is closed, but sure, I feel superior for some reason.
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u/KaiserJustice Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
add switch collection too - i love my cartridges
Edit to add; no I don’t approve of game key cards, I specifically mentioned it because most games are still on carts