10 Ways Gaming Was Infinitely Better In The '90s
7. Memory Cards Were Portable
Before the Xbox ushered in the 21st century with an 8 or 10GB hard drive, save games were limited to cartridges with battery backup or memory cards.
The greatest advantage was heading to your friend's house and letting them have a taste of your Gran Turismo car collection, or showing them Tekken 2 with everything unlocked.
For N64, most games saved to cartridge, so you'd just whip that round to your friend's house instead. But sports, fighting games and first-person-shooters relied on the Controller Pak being slotted in above the Z-trigger. (Some games used both!) It was fiddly at times, but usually OK.
Copying saves across cards prevented the grind for unlockables and cheats. If you were without a memory card, you were doomed to endlessly replay the same levels over and over again. Or you took the risk and left your system on constantly.
Cloud saving and hard drives mean memory cards are a relic of the past. The Vita and Switch use them, but it's not the same as those little rectangles with Nintendo and Sony logos on. Or if you're SEGA, a whole freaking cartridge or handheld computer!