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PSP2, Switch 2 and an Xbox handheld... a brighter portable future?

PSP2 Physical Media - Disc or Cards?

So, as the rumours go the PSP2 will use physical media in some form, allowing shops to sell games in their quaint, old school way. But "which form?" Is the big question.

Discs in the modern age are just too slow and noisy, especially on a portable. So, I think it has to be memory cards in some format. The price of all forms of card storage has tumbled over the years. I now pay the same for an 8Gb MemoryStick as I did for a 128Mb stick when the PSP first came out.

So, I would imagine a custom new card format that has a bunch of copy protection features built into the chip would be the way to go. Perhaps registering the code for that copy of the game with your PSN account and stopping more than three or four other users from running it. So, you can lend it to friends, but can't torrent it (theoretically).

Package that in something that children can't eat or destroy and it could end up looking like the good old Atari Lynx carts with more pins thanks to the wider bit buses of today. That would also limit the need for extra system RAM (as opposed to storage RAM) on the machine with just a smaller buffer needed than for wonky old UMDs that, I guess, were prone to read delays from bumping and jostling.

[UPDATE] - Some sites are reporting the use of mini Blu-ray discs, which numbs me with dread, I hate that whirring sound and its still going to be slower than reading Flash data.

Currently playing on my Vita/PS4/PS5