mechanical drives Archives

AppWizard

August 13, 2026

“I’m not interested in bypassing DRM” – Preservationist brings back physical PC games using discs and even mechanical HDD “cartridges”

Preservationists are finding innovative ways to keep physical media alive, including modern PC games. Archades Games, led by Ryan Enstrom, offers options to transfer new titles onto discs and cartridges. At the Utah Retro GameXpo, Enstrom showcased discs compatible with platforms like Steam, GOG, and the Xbox app. He uses GOG's DRM-free installers, emphasizing adherence to licensing agreements. Enstrom notes that most games released before 2020 can run from mechanical drives, and the Xbox app can dynamically detect drive changes, unlike Steam. He has developed a custom user interface for multi-carts and created custom Blu-rays for retro games. While these products are not for sale, there is potential for publishers to adopt this idea, promoting physical PC games. Archades Games provides video tutorials and resources for those interested in converting digital collections into physical formats.

AppWizard

October 4, 2025

Helldivers 2 Dev Explains Why The Game Takes Up So Much Space On PC

Helldivers 2 has a storage requirement of 150GB on PC, which is about three times larger than on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. The large install size is designed to accommodate PC users with mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs) by duplicating data to improve loading times, although this is unnecessary for users with solid state drives (SSDs). Current estimates suggest that around 12% of PC gamers still use HDDs, but reliable data on this is lacking. Arrowhead Game Studio plans to reduce the game's file size in an upcoming update and bundle common assets to minimize duplication, though this may slightly increase load times for HDD users. The studio aims to keep load times under 30 seconds and is also working on improving its engine and compression techniques. Additionally, Arrowhead's CEO expressed a commitment to the game's longevity rather than developing a sequel, and the studio is addressing various technical issues with planned updates.