I sort of find making "physical media" of your drm-free digital software to be a bit distasteful. Like, we're going to buy a large amount of small-medium storage and plastic to "store" software...
I sort of find making "physical media" of your drm-free digital software to be a bit distasteful. Like, we're going to buy a large amount of small-medium storage and plastic to "store" software that we could just keep on actual PC storage media like much larger HDDs and SSDs, and we're also going to go ahead and make it so that we have to swap these little carts in and out to switch games?
I largely consider cart/disc swapping to be part of the necessity of benefiting from physical media in closed, walled garden platforms like consoles where future service shutdowns leave digital copies endangered on those platforms. Actually swapping carts is not beneficial outside of "vibes" and maybe lending - in a handheld situation like Switch I even found it burdensome while actually commuting with the device, though that's slightly out of scope for this. (unless this has a future on PC handhelds?)
Also, the statement "Preserve your games as permanent, playable artifacts" is really odd language. This isn't any more permanent than a HDD or SSD. Those carts are just as bound by the laws of physics, thus susceptible to wear and tear. If they're as much repurposed SD cards as they appear to be, they're possibly less robust and lasting than most PC storage. If your DRM free game software collection matters to the degree of preservation, you should have a robust backup system in place following the conventional wisdom of multiple physical locations, redundancy, blah blah. Adding these little carts to the mix doesn't take anything away, but I feel like the marketing language of this is instead reading as "this is all you really need!"
I believe the 'preservation' has less to do with data degradation and more to do with automatic software updates changing or even breaking old games. Either way, you're right in that putting it on...
I believe the 'preservation' has less to do with data degradation and more to do with automatic software updates changing or even breaking old games. Either way, you're right in that putting it on distinct physical media doesn't really change that, it just slows the process down.
I do think there is value in physical media though, when you have to do more than just click a button to change the media it means there is a cost in the time you allot to the choice you made. This can change how you value the time spent enjoying it and perhaps make you more likely to stick with that choice through more challenging parts instead of just closing it and opening something easier.
A simple vote would suffice, but yeah, people are weird about physical media. I mean, I get it, I absolutely do. But my large HDD with an intermittent backup meets my needs perfectly and I have...
A simple vote would suffice, but yeah, people are weird about physical media.
I mean, I get it, I absolutely do. But my large HDD with an intermittent backup meets my needs perfectly and I have nothing to lose track of or carry with me or insert to play a game, etc, etc. Hell, if I were so inclined, if my house was burning down, it would be way easier to grab my backup drive than my (small) collection of physical games I never actually use.
Nevermind, I think you mean to say that since you were in agreement you could have voted instead of replied. I'm OK with the reply though, I appreciate it. I was confused because I thought you...
A simple vote would suffice
What does this part of your reply mean? Nevermind, I think you mean to say that since you were in agreement you could have voted instead of replied. I'm OK with the reply though, I appreciate it. I was confused because I thought you were telling me I could've just voted instead of replied, like on the thread, and was SO confused. My bad!
I agree with the rest of it though, matches my feelings exactly.
I sort of find making "physical media" of your drm-free digital software to be a bit distasteful. Like, we're going to buy a large amount of small-medium storage and plastic to "store" software that we could just keep on actual PC storage media like much larger HDDs and SSDs, and we're also going to go ahead and make it so that we have to swap these little carts in and out to switch games?
I largely consider cart/disc swapping to be part of the necessity of benefiting from physical media in closed, walled garden platforms like consoles where future service shutdowns leave digital copies endangered on those platforms. Actually swapping carts is not beneficial outside of "vibes" and maybe lending - in a handheld situation like Switch I even found it burdensome while actually commuting with the device, though that's slightly out of scope for this. (unless this has a future on PC handhelds?)
Also, the statement "Preserve your games as permanent, playable artifacts" is really odd language. This isn't any more permanent than a HDD or SSD. Those carts are just as bound by the laws of physics, thus susceptible to wear and tear. If they're as much repurposed SD cards as they appear to be, they're possibly less robust and lasting than most PC storage. If your DRM free game software collection matters to the degree of preservation, you should have a robust backup system in place following the conventional wisdom of multiple physical locations, redundancy, blah blah. Adding these little carts to the mix doesn't take anything away, but I feel like the marketing language of this is instead reading as "this is all you really need!"
I believe the 'preservation' has less to do with data degradation and more to do with automatic software updates changing or even breaking old games. Either way, you're right in that putting it on distinct physical media doesn't really change that, it just slows the process down.
I do think there is value in physical media though, when you have to do more than just click a button to change the media it means there is a cost in the time you allot to the choice you made. This can change how you value the time spent enjoying it and perhaps make you more likely to stick with that choice through more challenging parts instead of just closing it and opening something easier.
A simple vote would suffice, but yeah, people are weird about physical media.
I mean, I get it, I absolutely do. But my large HDD with an intermittent backup meets my needs perfectly and I have nothing to lose track of or carry with me or insert to play a game, etc, etc. Hell, if I were so inclined, if my house was burning down, it would be way easier to grab my backup drive than my (small) collection of physical games I never actually use.
What does this part of your reply mean?Nevermind, I think you mean to say that since you were in agreement you could have voted instead of replied. I'm OK with the reply though, I appreciate it. I was confused because I thought you were telling me I could've just voted instead of replied, like on the thread, and was SO confused. My bad!I agree with the rest of it though, matches my feelings exactly.
Interview with developer: https://gardinerbryant.com/kazeta-the-linux-os-that-makes-modern-games-feel-like-90s-consoles/