Console gaming has long held the advantage of offering physical media, allowing players to own tangible copies of their favorite titles. However, with PlayStation’s announcement to phase out physical discs for new releases by 2028, this edge is gradually diminishing. Yet, in an intriguing twist, one PC gamer is breathing new life into the concept of physical gaming through an innovative approach on Steam.
Steam Game Cartridges
In a recent Reddit post, a user known as Jibril-sama shared their creative endeavor: crafting a Game Cartridge system using affordable 2.5″ SSDs. “I got a couple of used SSDs for cheap, so I decided to make a Game Cartridge system,” they explained. The idea is simple yet captivating—each SSD contains games along with a script designed to navigate directly to the game’s page on Steam, enabling users to start their games with ease.
The system operates on Linux, requiring just a few technical components to function seamlessly. As Jibril-sama elaborated to Tom’s Hardware, “all it needs is a systemd template to check for a script on the SSD and launch it.” The process is straightforward: plug in the SSD, a udev rule detects the event, triggers the systemd daemon, which then locates and executes the script on the SSD.
One might wonder how Jibril-sama managed to acquire such a wealth of storage without breaking the bank. Remarkably, the 128GB drives were priced at a mere €7 each, a striking deal in today’s storage market, reminiscent of trading beans for gold.
For those who may not wish to delve into the intricacies of creating custom cartridges, there is a simpler alternative. Gamers can designate an external USB drive to house their Steam library, allowing for the storage of games without cluttering the main system drive. While this method is practical, it lacks the charm of physically plugging in individual game cartridges.
However, Jibril-sama candidly acknowledges a significant limitation: “you still don’t really ‘own’ the games on Steam.” Players remain dependent on Valve’s online authentication to access their titles, which means this approach does not replicate the ownership experience of traditional physical media. Nevertheless, Jibril-sama finds joy and utility in this inventive solution, stating, “it’s at least something fun and useful to me personally.”
As the gaming landscape evolves, the discontinuation of physical discs raises questions about the future of ownership in gaming. The PlayStation Portal hints at Sony’s ambitions for an all-digital future, leaving many to ponder what this means for the tactile experience that has defined gaming for decades.
