Top 7... Insanely stupid video game storage media that had no right to work (GamesRadar)

Video games, we're sure we can all agree, are pretty great. In their completed form (or at their least ready-for-fourteen-patches-for m) they illuminate our lives with multitudinous delights, beaming purest joy from our TVs, through our eyes, and straight into our brains. But they don't just appear in the world fully-formed. No, they must first be birthed from whatever storage device their magical digital code of dreams is stored on.

Usually these days, that means discs or cartridges, or maybe an internet pipe and your hard drive if you're downloading. But it wasn't always like this. Over the years we've seen some weird, foolhardy, and downright certifiably, illogically insane ways of getting games from developers' computers to your home. In fact one or two of them only just stopped short of steam-power and shamanic ritual. You've probably forgotten a lot of them, or maybe never even knew them. And in many cases that's a good thing. But we're going to remind you regardless, because we're like that.

List after the break

[Wintersun616]

Cardboards I can somewhat understand, because there was no spinning hard drives with high capacity back then and they had to start somewhere. But the rest of those are just ridiculous.

[darthv72]

there was potential there but sony didnt really make them "universal" in the sense that you could play them (at least the movies) hooked up to a tv.

I'm sure there were plenty of people (myself included) that gave sony the message to at least make a USB attached UMD drive for the PS2. That way you could play the psp games on tv and watch umd movies.

And who is to say they never made one...just never brought it out to the public. The format was sound but their execution in using it wasnt.

[Bounkass]

HD-DVD's.

[frostyhat123]

That was so clever!

[darthv72]

but to bad his comment doesnt fit here seeing as they were never used for video games.

[Anderson8]

i chuckled

[Arnon]

HD-DVD was actually a perfectly fine format and would've benefited the 360 massively, the Blu-Ray was just a better version of it.

But man... those UMD discs are terrible. I have people bringing in their UMD games constantly with the plastic pushed in so they're always defected out.

[MaxXAttaxX]

360 could have benefited from HD-DVD IF it was even built into the system for gaming. But it wasn't. It was sold as a separate device to play movies.

But good thing the PSV will be using new NVG cards.

[darthv72]

It wouldnt surprise me if someone picks it up for use as a game media. The hardware differences between blu and hd are minimal. With the popularity of blu so high, hddvd would be a great anti piracy format.

The hardware and media could be controlled unlike blu and how there are lots of companies making bluray burners and media.

[3GenGames]

Try CD-RAM. Even worse!

[Spitfire_Riggz]

For UMD's I didnt think it was about getting dust on the disc I thought it was more about protecting it from getting scratched.

[MaxXAttaxX]

Same here. I didn't think dust was an issue. Isn't the plastic cover meant to protect the disc from scratching?

I actually think the only issue with UMDs was the fact that it was slooow.

[potedude]

Casettes anyone? The ol' Commodore64 with the casette player, it used to forward and backward reading. So friggin slow...

[MSpence516]

load"*",8,1

Ahhhhhhh, the good old days.

[hazelamy]

they keep saying umd died, but movies were still released on it.

like the harry potter series, up to at least the half blood prince, and i got sherlock holmes on umd a few weeks back.
though the announcement of the vita does seem to have finished it off, for movies anyway.

[seinfan]

Movies were released in beta format along with VHS. But beta died off.

Movies were released in HD DVD format along with Blu-Ray. But HD DVD died off.

UMDs are in the same boat as all alternate formats that were simply never adopted as a standard.

[darthv72]

but you have to consider how those formats failed. Beta was superior to VHS quality but sony didnt want to license the tech to other companies to make player/recorders. So JVC did and VHS became the standard.

HDDVD lost out due to pressure from Sony towards the other studios about the soon to be released (at the time) PS3. They basically used their own studios (sony pictures, columbia tristar) and the popularity of the PS2 to sway the other studios into believing the PS3 will be the big push for the format like the PS2 did for DVD.

Thing is, DVD was new and didnt have a competitor and offered more worthwile features than VHS at the time. Blu didnt offer anything new other than HD. Same can be said about HDDVD. Nothing new to the table other than HD. Toshiba had an open licensing agreement and there were other companies that made players. But with Toshiba not owning any movie studios (unlike Sony) they really had nothing to showcase their tech.

It is the classic example of a stacked deck in one person's favor. It didnt mean the format was bad in any way, it just didnt (couldnt) get the studio backing like Sony had. Guess that is why it really paid off for Sony to have studios in house unlike the days of Beta. If sony had studios back then, the VHS/Beta could be different. Of course you are going to back your own format so long as you have content to produce for it.

Sony failed with the mini-disc as well. I thought UMD was a nice alternative but again, like beta, they didnt open it up to other companies to make players. Even if it it was just for the movies. The convenience in size and the quality of a UMD movie is really good.

[thekiddfran]

Funny article!

[wenaldy]

HD DVD drive is the worst thing i'ver ever seen, it's like combining two separate x360 by using one cable.. lulz..

[_Aarix_]

cant tell if you have one bubble for trolling or for being a down right retard.

[iWishTifaWasReal]

Floppy Disk?

[brish]

This is the worst:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

A magazine had a print out of the hex of a game that you had to type into a program to play it.

[zero_cool]

Surprise Turkey!