/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.2482313]

Nobody ever talks about the sega card. This media format was ahead of it's time conceptually. Ever since I got my SMS as a kid, i've imagined this format making a comeback, mainly when the popularity of trading/collecting cards were at their peak.

What I want to know is why couldn't this format be revived today, using flash memory to store the data? It would be cost effective (you could essentially just integrate an sd card into a larger piece of plastic with artwork labels on the front and back. Any number of devices could accept the format with a simple modified USB drive. PC, Android devices, etc. and they could re-release classic games or release indie games in this format. The key would be keeping the cost low, so you could sell the cards for less than seven or eight bucks and give an incentive to start a collecting and trading community.

Care to add any ideas? Thoughts/opinions?

[Anonymous No.2482317]

>>2482313
I think it would be a nice replacement to discs, but not Blu-rays(PS4 disc format?), but even then it reads faster than a disc right.

I think it should make a comeback, in a pcengine hu card like fashion.

[Anonymous No.2482318]

>>2482313
Isn't your idea basically just a DS game card?

[Anonymous No.2482319]

>>2482317
also whats the game in pic?

[Anonymous No.2482320]

>>2482319
Transbot

[Anonymous No.2482321]

>>2482319
Transbot

[Anonymous No.2482324]

the TG16's HuCard format was similar but a good bit thicker. I think you'd want to aim for something with the same thickness as an sd card, which is a little thinner than the sega card.

[Anonymous No.2482332]

>>2482318

No, the DS game card is too small to give any collector aesthetic quality. The sega card had plenty of space on the front and back for artwork. The back label was only used for the precaution shit, but you could use the back label for the same type of artwork you'd put on the back of a case and just use slip covers like the sega cards had.

[Anonymous No.2482345]

>>2482320
>>2482321
thanks.

[Anonymous No.2482347]

There really weren't any good Sega card games.

The only close-to-good one that exists is a game called Ghost House, which many people (myself included) only buy to have at least one master system card game.

[Anonymous No.2482369]

>>2482347
Well, I think there were quite a few good Sega card games, like Hang-On, but almost every one got re-released on cart and the cards are expensive now so there's no reason to own them.

[Anonymous No.2482452]

>>2482347
Teddy Boy is fun as fuck too, breh.

[Anonymous No.2482473]

you just need to find a way to pack tiny games into trading cards. And a tiny handheld about as powerful as a gameboy to play them on. That would be a hot seller toy and opportunity for tons of licensed shit.

[Tdvycaza No.2482480]

Como hubiera querido tener un sega yo era pobre. Bueno todavía lo soy

[Anonymous No.2482568]

>>2482473

If they used flash memory you could utilize up to 32GB or more of space to store the data and still be cost effective. This would be an especially good physical format for PC games to replace discs. You could even sell blank ones with printable label sheets and they could store backups of your steam games etc. I know what you're thinking, why not just use sd cards? Well, then it's just files on a storage medium. With the game card format you'd get an actual commercial product that could be collected and resold so investing in games is better for the consumer. You could make them in different color plastics and with different artwork styles. There could be different sub-collections for example a collection of re-released PC Engine games, greatest shmups of all time collection, arcade games with cabinet artwork on the label(s). And of course, the possibilities are endless if we're talking about releasing modern content as well, since the read/write speed and capacity of flash memory will be relevant for quite some time.

Does anyone think an idea like this could get any attention from a crowdfunding project? Just imagine if something like this got big enough, they could be mass produced and so cheap to make, you could sell them in mystery packs like baseball cards were sold. The biggest cost I suppose would be obtaining licensing for content, but if you started with newer indie content i think a project like this could get off the ground with under 100k

[Anonymous No.2482957]

>>2482317
Blu Ray maxes out at 50GB though.

Flash drives meanwhile just keep getting bigger and cheaper.

[Anonymous No.2482982]

>>2482568
The problem with an idea like this is that the scope is severely limited when compared to bluray, or any other optical disc. Bluray applications are backed by some of the largest and most powerful corporations in today's tech market. The idea of suddenly replacing this multi-billion dollar product with something like that could and will only ever be done from the inside. Sony or Toshiba, or whomever else steps up to the plate will be the only one to succeed the bluray. As an independent startup, you would have no chance at a large replacement and your product will likely become a short-lived gimmick.

The idea behind it is sound, and it's doable at a reasonable cost. However, it is not doable on a grand scale, nor is it cheaper than producing discs. Nothing will ever be cheaper than producing discs except cloud-storage. But with cloud storage there's a bandwidth and transfer speed issue.

Don't get me wrong; I love the idea of a new flash cartridge format. However, the likelihood of it ever being backed by anyone other and low level indie developers makes it petty by anyone's standards.

[Anonymous No.2482989]

>>2482982
Also, the general public would hate the idea of a new storage medium. Especially one that isn't compatible with their current hardware. Anything that would require an adapter would be even more difficult to sell. All in all the entire thing would be a blunder, and be meaningful to just about nobody, except the ones involved in it's construction and concept.

[Anonymous No.2483124]

The slot was to be backwards compatible mark 1 and 2 games

(I loved them too anon, and I only got to play transbot once, then someone stole it from the rental store, I looked for it for years.

[Anonymous No.2483330]

So, I've seen several entries on RomHacking.net where some guy's been converting several mappers in & out on some NES games, (UNROM to MMC3, MMC1 to MMC3, Etc.) Do the games benefit in any way from these swapped mappers?

[Anonymous No.2483472]

>>2482480
Jaja adonde vives? Estoy pobre tambien pero todavía tengo dinero para comprar videojuegos en mi piases y de Japón. (Vivo en E.E.U.U) esto es casi el último en mi listo de consolas que tengo que comprar.

[Anonymous No.2483490]

>>2482313
Cheap, low-capacity data storage devices for game consoles sold more for their aesthetics and collectability than their game effects?

I think you've just invented Amiibos

[Anonymous No.2483512]

>>2483124
SG-1000 games came out in both media formats too.

[Anonymous No.2483721]

>>2482473

[Anonymous No.2483923]

>>2483490

I'm talking about real data storage here, not some bullshit barcode that activates data already stored somewhere. Also, they wouldn't be low capacity, SD cards are already up to over half a terabyte and in five years those cards will be as cheap as the ones that can match blu-ray's capacity now.

If you got the flash memory from china in huge shipments, i guarantee they would be almost as cheap to produce as discs.

[Anonymous No.2483927]

>>2483923

I also want to add that discs require a case which costs just as much if not more than the disc itself. With the game card, you wouldn't need anything but a small slipcover, could be cardboard even.

[Anonymous No.2483984]

sega should use nintendo's current foibles to their advantage and get back into the console biz. i'd be up for even an android console, so long as there was a physical media to buy the games on. it would have to be powerful enough to emulate every sega system up to the dreamcast though. maybe the shenmue trilogy could be a launch release..

[Anonymous No.2484005]

>>2483984

Or even better, a surprise like

Vectorman 3, Comix Zone 2, Panzer Dragoon Saga II

Any of these would be console sellers.

[Anonymous No.2484056]

>>2483721
Ahead of it's time right there
Now you could do this for much cheap and more effectively
hardware is obviously the problem since if it's not integrated no one is going to want to touch it

[Anonymous No.2484089]

>>2482982
>>2484056

Alibaba: product-detail/factory-memory-card-shenzhen_60091395250.html

cost per piece: >.50
approx. cost of added PVC per piece: >.10
approx. cost of printed labels per piece: >.10

the easiest solution to get around having an adapter would just be to put an extender on the bottom of the card the same width of an sd card and you would use these in any sd card reader.

It would be the perfect format for releasing content on flash memory, i honestly think it could give steam and cloud storage a run for it's money. You could actually own and resell your games again, i mean who wouldn't be on board with that?

[Anonymous No.2484137]

>>2484089

how's this look? Too ugly?

[Anonymous No.2484363]

>>2484137

The contacts are on the wrong side. The majority of card readers have the pins on the bottom so you'd want them on the other so that the art was face up when the card is in the reader.

[Anonymous No.2484414]

>>2484137
You guys are over-thinking it.

[Anonymous No.2484432]

>>2482568
>If they used flash memory you could utilize up to 32GB or more of space to store the data and still be cost effective.

32GB SD Card costs $16, while printing bluray discs costs a few cents.

Games would be crazy prices like on the N64. No one would buy them because there would be tons of cheaper and more efficient alternatives.

[Anonymous No.2484476]

>>2482313
>why couldn't this format be revived today
It has been. SD, memory stick, various verboten handhelds. The idea of a larger size with graphics is interesting but people value a smaller size over some "collectable" images.
The idea of using it with a USB adaptor is completely retarded. It would never succeed unless Nintendo chose it as the media for their next console.

>>2482568
>Does anyone think an idea like this could get any attention from a crowdfunding project?
Sure. Plenty of bad ideas get crowd funded

>>2484089
>>2484137
Ugly, impractical, fragile, shall I go on?

>>2484432
>Comparing the highest retail price to the lowest manufacturing price
Are you retarded or just one of those guys who makes retarded comparisons to try to prove your point? A 32GB SD costs a little over $2 to produce.

[Anonymous No.2484635]

>>2484005
>Any of these would be console sellers.
Why? No one cared about those games before, no one would care now.

[Anonymous No.2484661]

>>2483984
>i'd be up for even an android console
sup

[Anonymous No.2484975]

>>2484432
>more efficient alternatives
if you're referring to blu-ray you're wrong, and if you're referring to digital storage on a hard drive then i guess you're missing the point. Today's industry needs a good physical media and discs are outdated tech even blu-ray. You can read and write to an sd card, the speed is good, capacity is the highest of any storage media so why the fuck aren't games released on these god damn things? The best I can figure is that they are too small to feel tangible, so my idea is add some extra plastic and labels and have an actual commercial media format you can walk into an actual store and buy your PC games on. If people are willing to pay over 20 simoleons for digital downloads on steam and these cards cost less than three dollars to manufacture, well you do the math. Not to mention the smallest size could be used for pretty much all retro games so they would cost next to nothing to make.

>>2484476

>people value smaller size over collectability

i disagree. i think people see something bigger as being more tangible and less fragile, and more appealing.

[Anonymous No.2485007]

>>2484975
Would you mind if games cost $20 more? Manufacturing alone is only part of a long chain of costs.

[Anonymous No.2485015]

>>2485007

Are you retarded? The cost of manufacturing is a couple dollars tops. Why the fuck would you inflate the cost times two just because the production cost is a little bit higher than the alternatives? The price of games is high because of the market demand of the games themselves.

[Anonymous No.2485023]

>>2485015
That's how business works.

[Anonymous No.2485220]

>>2484975
>i think people see something bigger as being more tangible and less fragile, and more appealing
That certainly explains why brick sized cel phones are still very popular.

>>2485023
>That's how business works.
Says the kid who hopes to study business when he grows up.

[Anonymous No.2485669]

I dont think cards were 'ahead of their time', rather the west just couldn't get a feel for them.. eg all the western sms card games were re-released on carts i believe.
pcengine aside, the atari lynx is another card based system, a machine ironically overgrown in size due to the consumer perception of value for money.

as for the look and feel of card swappin', then computers had that with floppies. it kinda went away with the rise of cdrom, it sort of came back with zip disks for a few years and it could have come back for good with smart media and compact flash and friends, but ultimately the popularity of cheap usb sticks and tiny sd cards forced the idea out for good.
big cards are great for classic human-machine interaction, but not practical for our new fangled small devices nowdays.