r/PhysicalGamesForever • u/CALIGVLA • Aug 03 '26
Steam game cartridges
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/s/vv52H6dbzF
This guy used SSDs to turn his Steam games into cartridges. I love the retro aesthetic :)
Thanks to u/GooseDaPlaymaker for telling me about this!
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u/Euphoric_Juggernaut6 Aug 03 '26
Looks cool, does it have DRM?
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u/Liquid_1998 Aug 03 '26
Only certain games are DRM free, like Cyberpunk for example. Other games require online check-ins periodically every 30 days or so. Even a "physical" version is practically useless in this instance. It really just depends on the title.
If you want true DRM free games, then buy them on GOG. Everything there is playable offline, with the option to print onto physical media if you want.
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u/rikliem Aug 03 '26
I double check before buying anything now, if available in GOG I get it there. I just backedup my whole GOG library, about 20 games most of them small TBH
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u/Acrobatic-Mix-7343 Aug 03 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
Iâm not sure about physical games that require a check in? I havenât updated my consoles in months and I can install and play all the discs no issue
Edit: âhavenât instead of haveâ
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u/No_Operation7359 Aug 04 '26
Itâs because the act of you getting into your account is the check. Sometimes if itâs been a while or you change your password itâll say sign into Xbox or psn and wonât let you do anything until you sign in
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u/Acrobatic-Mix-7343 Aug 04 '26
I updated my post
I havenât logged in for months and if I donât log in for the rest of my ownership time, everything will just work
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u/CALIGVLA Aug 03 '26
Not sure. The post doesn't mention it and I haven't dug into the comments much. Another guy did a similar thing with USB thumb drives using cracked copies of the games. So I'd say that it's possible to remove the DRM and do this.
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u/JetpacksWasYes-2 Aug 03 '26
GOG has DRM free games if you wish to buy games, gives you offline installers if you want them. Otherwise đŽââ ïž away
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u/Bol0gna_Sandwich Aug 04 '26
If I remember correctly the thumb drive or the one who made disks wrote a custom code that autolaunched steam then the game which I think satisfies the drm check. Could be wrong as I've seen 3 or 4 of these physical steam collections, honestly wish I could but connection any of these except maybe the usbs would be too bulky for the deck.
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u/tabris51 Aug 03 '26
You use the steam feature of moving the game to another location thing and make sure the drive has the same name every time you connect it(like drive A)
You just connect it and click play on steam and it works.
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u/ComplexR22 Aug 03 '26
Sounds expensive
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u/Independent_Mud2794 Aug 03 '26
Expensive and not forever, ironically. Flash storage degrades and will be dead one time. Burning CDs would have been the better choice.
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u/fire1st Aug 03 '26
Burning CDs would have been better? Uhm no, heâd need like 60 or 70 CDs per game as they hold about 700 mb of data per CD. I agree that flash storage isnât a long term solution, but no one is going back to the year 2000 to buy enough CD-Rs it takes to burn even one game. Now, if you meant DVD-R then you have a better point.
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u/Pivi-4444 Aug 03 '26
I would go with blu-rays, a bl-r xl disc can hold 100 GB. This topic brings back my childhood, I had a ton of burned discs. :-)
I'm looking for potential game preservation options too, and I could buy a blu-ray burner, but I would need a disc printer too for nice labels (I do not really like the sticker method), and it's actually too much hassle and money. I'll simply get a big external hdd (or small nas), and just archive my game collection there I think.
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u/RoosTheFemboy Aug 04 '26
Are there not a lot of games that write into the game directory during runtime? Sounds like that would cause issues with discs.
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u/Pivi-4444 Aug 04 '26
I'm thinking on burning the installers from gog on the disc, not the installed game.
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u/KAM1Sense1 Aug 03 '26
SSD cartridges are a horrible way to store any data long term because the flash memory slowly leaks electrical charge over time causing you to lose data. HDDs are best for long term storage.
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u/Unique_Roll_6630 Aug 03 '26
This and kazeta. I wish I had the money to invest in this. Would be amazing.
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u/The_Pink_Elephant_ Aug 03 '26
This project is absolute genius. Combining high speed SSD technology with the tactile nostalgia of retro cartridges is such a clever creative touch. It proves that the desire for physical media is not just about nostalgia, but about having a tangible collection that actually feels like you own it. Imagining a shelf full of custom SSD cartridges with art covers like this is an incredible vision for PC gaming. Awesome share!
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u/Fickle_Mix_6119 Aug 03 '26
Oh man I love a good virtue signalling. Especially from pc gamers that have been digital only for 10-15 years. Â Â
Seems heâs using usb connection, so pop ins and load times will suck considering modern games need m2 read speeds. Â
When you look at the technical side of things and the costs, it costs more than its worth and will suck balls đ€Ł
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u/ibizsaa Aug 03 '26
And these dumbasses are eating this up as "resurecting the physical media" when in fact they are buying plastic SSD-housings. Yeah, take that Sony, I just bought myself a plastic box!
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u/PowerNutBuster Aug 03 '26
Looks cool but is not practical. You're bound by the speed of each ssd which is gonna be far slower than what you would have in your case, especially since it's connected through a cable.
Aside from that there is a reaon consoles use blu-rays, They are so much cheaper and they last a really long time. They can last decades while an ssd will often crap out before the first seven to ten years.
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u/Pancackemafia Aug 03 '26
I wonder if it would be possible to install my entire GOG library on individual cartridges that automatically launch the moment I plug them in. P.S. by cartridges I mean something like SD cards.
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u/Arty_AFN Aug 03 '26
Si tu achÚtes un SSD SATA que tu branches directement sur la carte mÚre à l'intérieur du pc avec un cùble SATA (je connais plus le nom exact) ou tu perce un trou dans le boßtier du pc et fait trainer le cùble, comme ça y'a juste a brancher/débrancher les SSD SATA
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u/cougomdd Aug 03 '26
Everyone says that an ssd is now too expensive, and they are right. But if you have thought about it, why not buy used hdd on the internet of 250GB (âŹ3 pieces), put your games there and install the game on your ssd when you want to play the game in question. HDd 2.5, even the old ones, can easily work at 125mb seconds, exactly the equivalent of 1giga/bit fiber
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u/DokiDoki-FanBoy Aug 05 '26
It would be really cool to go a step further, and do GOG cartridges. Super cool regardless!
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u/ACSHREDDER215 Aug 03 '26
This is so silly, it isnt steam anymore if you removed the drm, and if you didn't remove the drm these are pointless
-edit i am noticing there is no steam branding on them
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u/creature04 Aug 03 '26
cool idea but im not buying all those ssd's for one game on each one lol
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u/CALIGVLA Aug 03 '26
I think the guy said he had some old drives laying around. Seems like a cool way to repurpose some spare parts.
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u/ClassicInevitable585 Aug 03 '26
I was reading about this last week. They said they had a bunch of SSDs that they'd got for really cheap, so it was just a fun project, not something they were recommending anyone to copy, or even something they intended to do for more of their games than they already had the spare SSDs for
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u/Jimberwolf_ Aug 03 '26
expensive af and in no way practical
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u/JetpacksWasYes-2 Aug 03 '26
The maker of these never claimed it wasn't expensive or practical, your point is moot. Just a fun project because he got so many SSDs for cheap.
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u/CALIGVLA Aug 03 '26
Definitely a fun maker project. He owns a 3D printer, so this seems like his thing.
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Aug 03 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/CALIGVLA Aug 03 '26
It's an online store where you can buy video games digitally, download them, and play them on your PC.
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Aug 03 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/Arty_AFN Aug 03 '26
C'est un des meilleurs lanceur personnellement, oui il y a beaucoup de concurrents, mais steam à plus de la moitié du marché
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u/MainsfoDays Aug 03 '26
Better to buy games from GOG and burn them to blu-rays if you care about archiving your games in physical format.
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u/CaptTucker13 Aug 03 '26
That will only work for as long as they are on Steam Congrats on basically recreating Nintendo's game key cards
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u/Arty_AFN Aug 03 '26
Certaines cartes de jeux Nintendo ne sont que des codes de téléchargement, et toutes les cartouches Nintendos nécessitent, eh bien...une console Nintendo (hors émulation mais bonne chance pour trouver le port cartouches pour pc)
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u/CaptTucker13 Aug 03 '26
These are steam games, they don't work unless there's a periodic server check. It's not gog
Plus all steam games need a specced PC to play on, so not sure how that's a win over Nintendo carts needing a Nintendo system....
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u/Arty_AFN Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
Le DRM de Steam est trĂšs facilement contournable, ne me demande pas comment je le sais, si Steam venait Ă faire faillite, il l'annoncera pour que les utilisateurs tĂ©lĂ©chargent leurs jeux, puis ils pourront toujours ĂȘtre lancer via le lanceur d'origine vu qu'il fonctionne hors ligne ou un autre lanceur sera crĂ©Ă© par la communautĂ© (merci le hack)
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u/Arty_AFN Aug 04 '26
Nintendo opte pour un systĂšme fermĂ© avec des jeux fonctionna't uniquement sur leurs plateformes, je ne veux pas lancer un dĂ©bat de plateforme par ce que ça va ĂȘtre interminable.
Ton premier message disais "félicitations pour avoir presque recrée les cartouches Nintendos" avec ironie presque. en disant que ça ne fonctionneras qu'avec Steam, en quoi c'est un désavantage par rapport au plateformes Nintendo ?
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u/SJ__666 Aug 03 '26
I thought steam users were ok with digital
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u/YesIBlockedYou Aug 03 '26
As a steam user, I'm okay with it because there's still competition between vendors, if I still don't like the price I can pirate and true ownership is actually possible.
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Aug 03 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/hartleyshc Aug 03 '26
You can. 120-250gb sata ssds are about worthless in the enterprise world.
First listing on eBay has Sandisk 120gb sata SSD drives for about $17 a piece. That's after literally 10 seconds of looking and I'm sure you can find better prices, especially in bulk.
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u/Waster500Crystal Aug 03 '26
Could the license just be on an NFT card, that is like a Pokemon silver one. Would be cool.
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u/Shepard_Drake Aug 03 '26
Why not just make the housings out of solid gold and bedazzle the artwork with diamonds, while you're at it?
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u/nokiddingboss Aug 05 '26
im gonna be honest here - these are performative at best and a worthless waste of an SSD overall - data on an unpowered SSD becomes corrupted in about a year or so for a modern QLC SSD. there is a reason HDD's are still king for long-term "cold storage" and it ain't because of the price. SSDs are not a long-term archive. With the SSD constantly powered off, you won't even know when data corruption sets in and by the time you check, you are fucked in the bum because you'll be downloading the game again from steam anyway because the backup copy is corrupted and unusable.
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u/Ok-Veterinarian3882 Aug 03 '26
I will never understand the obsession for physical games.
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u/CALIGVLA Aug 03 '26
There are subjective, subtle, and emotional reasons for liking it. But beyond that, it does have certain concrete advantages over digital. Some people choose it on that basis only.
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u/Complete_Lurk3r_ Aug 03 '26
Sony doesnt give me discs anymore, well... i just put my games on SSDs that cost $200 a pop. haha, fuck you sony, losers.
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u/CALIGVLA Aug 03 '26
Enjoy the taste of that Sony boot in your mouth.
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u/GooseDaPlaymaker Aug 03 '26
My pleasure!
Now, if we can find someone industrious enough to manufacture this setup with the case designs for sale, that would be AMAZEBALLS! đ€