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In Hindsight, Shouldn't People Have Been More Bothered About Consoles Not Always Coming With Memory Cards
- Thread starter Deleted member 4034
- Start date
I remember using this argument at the time to defend the Saturn which had internal memory while the PSone didn't.
By the time the Dreamcast came along the battle was lost.
Then Xbox had a HDD and history was corrected. Then 360 had the Core pack and I got annoyed again.
By the time the Dreamcast came along the battle was lost.
Then Xbox had a HDD and history was corrected. Then 360 had the Core pack and I got annoyed again.
You could argue that the memory cards back then added an extra cost which Nintendo, Sony and Sega capitalized by commodifing memory cards to keep the console prices down and get consumers to buy more of their products.
And then Microsoft came in with the Xbox and mainstreamed the idea from the PC market of including hard drives in consoles. The Original Xbox. Ahead of its time in so many ways with ideas and controllers too big for the console gamer at the time to grasp.
-sigh-
And then Microsoft came in with the Xbox and mainstreamed the idea from the PC market of including hard drives in consoles. The Original Xbox. Ahead of its time in so many ways with ideas and controllers too big for the console gamer at the time to grasp.
-sigh-
It was very vocally complained about all the time, as they were basically mandatory for any long game. I remember just not turning the console off before I had one.
I miss Memory Cards, as well as your game data/game progress being saved on cartridges.
They're a good way to keep your data, etc. intact. HDD's can always fail or be corrupted.
They're a good way to keep your data, etc. intact. HDD's can always fail or be corrupted.
I never bought a system that used one without one. I always find it weird hearing about people who did. The boxes all said they were needed.
I was actually sad when they went away. Hard drives can be nice but this along with online gaming pretty much spelled the end of couch multiplayer
I was actually sad when they went away. Hard drives can be nice but this along with online gaming pretty much spelled the end of couch multiplayer
First PS1 game I ever owned was Resident Evil. I didn't have enough money for a memory card, so I was always playing hardcore mode. I think I could regularly get up to the snake. Don't remember if I got beyond that.
Really? I never bought a console that came with one. I dont even revisions like slim PS2 having one included.
One reason of many why the OG Xbox was insane hardware compared to the competition. Racing in Burnout 2 with a custom soundtrack of ripped songs was amazing!
I ran up my parents electric bill since I could never turn off my Dreamcast because I had MVC2 and no VMU
I didn't mind having to buy a single memory card.
But it really sucked when you had to get several of them to keep all of your saves. I didn't have as many games on Gamecube so it wasn't a problem on that system. But on the PS1 and PS2 you really had to manage your saves well or open your pocketbooks to get a ton of memory cards.
Dreamcast was the worst for me in this aspect because I would save to VMUs and you also had to keep replacing the batteries on them at a crazy pace. I think the saves still worked but I was worried about missing that one moment when the VMU would prove itself if the battery was not on.
But it really sucked when you had to get several of them to keep all of your saves. I didn't have as many games on Gamecube so it wasn't a problem on that system. But on the PS1 and PS2 you really had to manage your saves well or open your pocketbooks to get a ton of memory cards.
Dreamcast was the worst for me in this aspect because I would save to VMUs and you also had to keep replacing the batteries on them at a crazy pace. I think the saves still worked but I was worried about missing that one moment when the VMU would prove itself if the battery was not on.
the ps1 mandated quite a few accessories really - the model I got came with an RF cable, you had to buy a separate scart. then the memory card, multitap etc. then they repeated the process for ps2, the clever bastards.
When I was a kid, the entire time I owned a PS1 at my Dad's house, I never had a memory card. N64 was my first home console (and GBC my first system) so I had no idea memory cards were even a thing. Didn't know to ask my dad for one and couldn't figure out why I couldn't save my games.
It was a PITA as a kid sure, I don't think the market gave two shits though because memory cards became a mainstream requirement on PS1 which also dropped the price of games at the same time. The Saturn had some kind of internal storage (plus an expansion option) and N64 only needed it for certain games, with most having on-cart saves. But each game could cost a pretty penny on 64. Someone who owned a PS1 wasn't necessarily more out of pocket than they would have been if the games cost $60 or $70 when PS1 games were $50.
This was very painful for me. Grew up very poor. Convincing my parents to spend hundreds on the console and then needing to spend another $25-40 was not fun.
I didn't say it was included. I said systems that needed them said so on the box. Thus, I bought one with the system or I didn't buy the system. It would be like buying a PC with no monitor.
Ah memory cards, haha, don't miss them at all, but it's quite nostalgic when thinking back. I remember having a black og one for the PS2, but I had so many games, that it was never enough and they were quite expensive, something like €40. So I bought a 16MB Max Memory. I don't remember whether there was something wrong with that one after while, but I did buy a Sony OG double pack, which comes with two memory cards in transparent red and blue.
Memory card struggle was real for me on my early PS2 days. Played FFX-2 (my first FF by the way) with no memory card.
I didn't get my first console that required a memory card until pretty late in the game (PS2 for Christmas 2006) but I didn't actually get one of the damn things until my birthday in 2007, so about six months later, so it wasn't really too bad since I only got like three games with the system.
But what did suck is my first memory card was some third-party one and it was pretty garbage. I remember after about a year or so, it randomly wiped all my damn save data I had on it and then after another year-ish, the plastic casing around it literally came apart.
Then my dad just took me to GameStop and we bought a legit one, which still works fine last I checked (haven't used my PS2 in years but didn't have any issues with it).
But what did suck is my first memory card was some third-party one and it was pretty garbage. I remember after about a year or so, it randomly wiped all my damn save data I had on it and then after another year-ish, the plastic casing around it literally came apart.
Then my dad just took me to GameStop and we bought a legit one, which still works fine last I checked (haven't used my PS2 in years but didn't have any issues with it).
Not really. Before this, what was our option? If you lent out or sold a game on cartridge w/ battery back up saves, that was it. This way, they were portable. Yeah, they retailed for like $25, but you could always find them cheaper. I also liked the various colors they came in (at least on PS1... can't remember if the same variety existed on PS2, but those were bigger). I think I only ever had two PS2 memory cards throughout the console's lifetime (vs. like 8 on PS1 LOL).
When the PS1 was originally released in the US, I remeber massive memory card shortages for like 6 months after the console came out. I bought my PS1 in April of 96, and had to wait a month for one of the stores around me to get memory card stock in.
N64 memory cards were notoriously unreliable. I've never had a HDD fail but I've had a couple of 1st party N64 cards get their saves corrupted.
I mean that memory card situation could still be relevant even today (albeit for different reasons) breath of the wild takes up more than half the switch storage space lol
100%. I remember when I got my PS2, there was the memory card shortage. Couldn't find one, even third party, ANYWHERE. I would have to replay the fucking intro mission over and over in GTA 3 before getting to free roam.
My town only had a wal-mart . I think I called them every day for 2 months before they finally had a batch of madKatz ones in.
My town only had a wal-mart . I think I called them every day for 2 months before they finally had a batch of madKatz ones in.
I remember when PS1 came out it was definitely a noteworthy and remarkable moment.
The consoles also cost more, but the visual impression seemed completely worth it. The memory card cost on top was just another luxury expense. But yeah I clearly remember about that extra cost over the console, and of course that continued through PS2 and Gamecube!
The consoles also cost more, but the visual impression seemed completely worth it. The memory card cost on top was just another luxury expense. But yeah I clearly remember about that extra cost over the console, and of course that continued through PS2 and Gamecube!
I'm sure people did make a stink about it but things were different back then. You couldn't rush to the comments section of a Youtube video or have some Youtuber in his house make a rant video about it. You could maybe post on a message board which were just gaining in popularity or if you were lucky, you might be featured in some letters to the editor in a game magazine. The news cycle was less immediate and global so you mostly just had to keep your complaints to yourself or share it among people you knew in real life.
They were a blessing to lend games to friends and a curse for those like me that couldn't afford the oficial ones.
I mostly bought third party ones (except for the Dreamcast, that screen was dope) because my allowance was very small and I can't complain; only the ones for PSX gave me a lot of troubles, I had to refund 4 from different brands before my mom got me at my birthday a Steren one with "4 mega" that I still have in working condition.
I also have an unnoficial "Sony branded" 16MB one for PS2 that I got with the console and still works to this day. Sadly some games don't recognise it, so I had to buy an official 8MB one to save on those. Still, I use a USB pen drive to back up whenever I finish a play session.
My N64 has a "Performer(?)" GamePak that ran out of battery and I only used it to save the other Bond game. A waste if you ask me since I didn't own many games for the system.
My one and only Gamecube MC is from a brand that I can't remember nor how many blocks it has since it only says "MEMORY CARD 64 MB" on itself. I started to use it again to finally play Metroid Prime and haven't had any trouble since I bought it with the console around 2005.
Its not a practice that I miss nowadays but makes me nostalgic remembering those times.
I mostly bought third party ones (except for the Dreamcast, that screen was dope) because my allowance was very small and I can't complain; only the ones for PSX gave me a lot of troubles, I had to refund 4 from different brands before my mom got me at my birthday a Steren one with "4 mega" that I still have in working condition.
I also have an unnoficial "Sony branded" 16MB one for PS2 that I got with the console and still works to this day. Sadly some games don't recognise it, so I had to buy an official 8MB one to save on those. Still, I use a USB pen drive to back up whenever I finish a play session.
My N64 has a "Performer(?)" GamePak that ran out of battery and I only used it to save the other Bond game. A waste if you ask me since I didn't own many games for the system.
My one and only Gamecube MC is from a brand that I can't remember nor how many blocks it has since it only says "MEMORY CARD 64 MB" on itself. I started to use it again to finally play Metroid Prime and haven't had any trouble since I bought it with the console around 2005.
Its not a practice that I miss nowadays but makes me nostalgic remembering those times.
A cousin of mine was the first to get a PS1 in the family back then, so me and the other cousins would be on his house to play. But yeah, no memory card, we probably played through the first 30 minutes of RE2 100-200 times. Every time before the "zombie hands coming from the wall" scene, we'd call someone in the family to try to scare them. Good times haha
I remember keeping my PS1 on overnight because I told myself after playing hours of Gran Turismo that I was going to buy a memory card the next day and didn't want to lose the progress.
For N64 so few games I cared about made use of it..think mine only had ExtremeG data on it.
For N64 so few games I cared about made use of it..think mine only had ExtremeG data on it.
This boy right here
A lot of Konami games used them, Bomberman too
N64 games that didn't have battery saving included and required the "Controller Pak" to save instead:
One of the reasons why I loathe Quest 64.
I was more bothered that, by the end of PS1 era, I have to have 4 memory cards to store the entire household's game saves (we played JRPGs a lot and you just have to save in multiple slots for those). And by that time, there are a few games that took two or three blocks per save. PS2's memory cards counting by the MBs immediately felt like a blessing LOL.
Paper runs out and ink does too, so do batteries. You need that stuff. Paying for online is something that I never needed to do in the past and some things that I could do (backups) are now behind another form of paywall. Times have changed and the form in which we get leeched is different, but in the end we need to pay up to play. Same difference.
My first experience of saving support (not including backup to a cart) on a console was with the Saturn which had it's own internal battery for saving so it did feel a step down after that when it took until the original Xbox to get another console that supported saving out of the box. We went through way too many PS1 and 2 cards especially as they filled up so fast.
I remember my dad buying me my first console a ps1 and got me crash bandicoot 2 both for my bday. I had no idea what a memory card was until I continuously saw that I had to start the game over and over each day. Of course when my dad finally started playing, he bought "us" a card so we could properly save progress. It's funny looking back to that, and now Xbox saves all my game saves in the cloud without any input by me and I always have my progress even if my hdd dies. Crazy
Oh boy. I'm glad those days are over. I remember unlocking Jigglypuff 10 times over before I got my first GC memory card.
Yep. The struggle was real. The issue was even worse since I went N64 so the games were already expensive. I did not get a Controller Pak. It just didn't happen. I tried to avoid games that required them.
OP
OP
We were kids who's parents brought our systems and didn't know about cards right away. Half the stories here explain this.
