Poll of the Day > Some PAL copies of Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire are already dying

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUyUNpu-OUQ
That's... weird. ORAS isn't that old. Only like 6 and a half years.

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...how are they dying

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Wow the 3DS is 17 years old?!

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Far-Queue posted...

Wow the 3DS is 17 years old?!

Nah, the DS is that old, 3DS is like 10 years old.

Joe_Biden posted...

...how are they dying

Some copies of ORAS aren't recognized as valid 3DS carts anymore and 3DSs won't read them.

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but how

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i don't think PAL is the appropriate description for the copies as PAL refers to an analog television standard and 3DS don't operate on a PAL or NTSC standard. Whereas "EU copies" would be better because of region.

I get why people might use PAL for SNES games because SNES models were differentiated between PAL and NTSC standards.

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papercup posted...

Nah, the DS is that old, 3DS is like 10 years old.

Yeah that's what I meant sorry the dude said it in the video

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Joe_Biden posted...

but how

all digitally stored information breaks down eventually with enough time and environmental variables

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Mead posted...

all digitally stored information breaks down eventually with enough time and environmental variables

This. All physical media will eventually be unreadable. Not just because of the change in technology, but because the data itself breaks down.

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Is there no format you can actually trust? =x

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Dmess85 posted...

i don't think PAL is the appropriate description for the copies as PAL refers to an analog television standard and 3DS don't operate on a PAL or NTSC standard. Whereas "EU copies" would be better because of region.

PAL makes sense, because they are released in PAL regions, not just Europe.

And what the fuck? Seriously? I own OR, going to be pissed if they cheaped out and now it is dying.
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papercup posted...

This. All physical media will eventually be unreadable. Not just because of the change in technology, but because the data itself breaks down.

Often known as "bit rot" for media like CDs and DVDs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_degradation

The real problem is, even entirely digital media will also eventually become unreadable, because errors get introduced when you're dealing with data copied over and over and over and over and over again, sort of similar to how a Xerox of a Xerox of a Xerox eventually starts to look like shit.



Zeus posted...

Is there no format you can actually trust? =x

This is about the best we've come up with so far:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stele

We've basically spent the last few hundred years perfecting technology that can store more and more information, but in ways that last for less and less time. Books printed 500 years ago still exist, but mass market paperbacks printed even 50 years ago can easily have gone brittle, browned, and faded to almost illegibility due to cheaper paper and cheap acidic inks. Very few DVDs (or other optical disc media) will be able to survive a full century, and many will decay past the point of accessibility long before that.

We've basically set ourselves up for a massive collapse of knowledge if our infrastructure ever fails significantly. A thousand years ago it took a rampaging horde of barbarians riding in, setting fire to your libraries, and throwing all the books and scrolls in the river to really wipe out information - today, lack of electricity blanks out SOOOOO much data we depend on.
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

The real problem is, even entirely digital media will also eventually become unreadable, because errors get introduced when you're dealing with data copied over and over and over and over and over again, sort of similar to how a Xerox of a Xerox of a Xerox eventually starts to look like shit.

you see it in biology too with cell division over time

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And Nintendo would rather every copy be dead and unplayable than allow emulation to exist

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DeltaBladeX posted...

And what the fuck? Seriously? I own OR, going to be pissed if they cheaped out and now it is dying.

They're basically just SD cards. And most of those won't last more than 10 years, with an upper limit of 30 years or so.
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Mead posted...

you see it in biology too with cell division over time

Yep - aging is basically when the copying process starts to wear out, and cancer is what you get when the copying process goes wrong and creates rogue cells.

It's part of why it's so hard to "cure" cancer - it's not an aggressive outside force in the way viruses or bacteria are, it's literally part of you, and created by the natural processes that your body engages in every second you're alive.

Also, I was already thinking about this, so now I'm going to post it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BvbvYnzSbg
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Zeus posted...

Is there no format you can actually trust? =x

Punch cards!

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FatBecky posted...

Punch cards!

*shuffle*

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FatBecky posted...

Punch cards!

Those tear and fray easily, though. Also, they can be folded, spindled, and mutilated.
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