It’s been a rough year already for video game preservationists, still desperately clinging onto the hopes that physical media will remain for a good long while (don’t worry, I’m right there with you.) Not only hasNintendothrown a spanner in the workswith its Game-Key Cards system for the Nintendo Switch 2, but it seems as thoughXbox may have stopped selling physical discs altogether.
It’s making physical collectors worry a lot more about the future, and now we have a new worry to throw on top of the pile. Earlier this week, the popular video game preservation Twitter account Does It Play reminded everyone that not even our physical cartridges for systems like the Nintendo Switch, DS, and PlayStation Vita are safe without proper care.
Switch Owners Urged To “Plug In” Games Every 5 Years To Avoid Data Loss
In a report screenshot by Does It Play(thanks Time Extension), it’s claimed that cartridges are capable of rewriting themselves over time, with only a certain number of write cycles allowed before the cartridge in question eventually dies. To stop this, systems such as the Nintendo Switch and 3DS refresh the data on game cartridges whenever they’re inserted to ensure all of them are in good working order.
We don’t have accurate information on exactly when cartridges will die if left alone, but it’s been suggested that owners stick cartridges in their systems and leave them idle for a little while if they haven’t been played in the past 5 to 10 years. That way, you may stop your cartridges from eventually degrading and becoming unplayable. So, if you’ve got any cartridge-based games you haven’t played since 2015, stick them in your Switch for a bit, otherwise you may find yourself down a game.
Of course, those that like to keep sealed copies of games are in another boat entirely. It’s highly likely that Switch games that remain for over a decade will have cartridges inside either on the brink of death, or have been dead for a while, so it may be worthwhile to crack them open and just pop them in your console the one time. It’s a bummer, but I’d personally rather have a functional game than one that’s essentially trapped forever in a film-wrapped coffin.
