One Redditor has created a physical media project that not only laser-targets my cartridge-based obsession but also scoffs at the raging memory supply crisis. User Jibril-sama scored a bunch of second-hand 2.5-inch SSDs "for cheap" and has leveraged them to create a game cartridge system for their Steam library.
The Redditor explains that the games are actually loaded onto the SSD-based 'cartridges,' and they've even gone to the effort of creating colourful housing featuring each game's cover art. When the SSD is slotted into the drive dock, a script auto-navigates Steam to the game's library page by leveraging Valve’s Steam browser protocol. Apparently, the system can also be set up to immediately launch each game too.
Now, in the midst of massively spiking memory prices, the obvious question to ask is just how cheap those 2.5-inch drives were. The Redditor explains in comments that they "just got lucky," purchasing a number of 128 GB SSDs for only €7 ($8) each.
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So, unfortunately, anyone attempting to replicate this Redditor's system would likely have to spend much, much more on the SSD 'cartridges' than what they paid for their games. Some folks really do get all the luck. The Redditor goes on to say, "Found someone selling them in bulk. Probably some refurb station taken out of old PCs or something."
Though not always practical, it's not hard to see the appeal of physical games media even in this here year of our gourd 2026. I'm not sure I'd have space for physical PC games between all of my PlayStation and Switch game cases—not to mention my collection of Miku Hatsune figurines. Still, as just one of the Nintendo-liking interlopers here at PCG, I perhaps have an undeserved amount of affection for game cartridges specifically.
On the other hand, perhaps affection for physical media is absolutely deserved. PlayStation platform-owner Sony recently announced it wouldn't be producing physical game discs after 2028. The news led to Dutch consumer organization, Stichting Massaschade & Consument, filing a lawsuit against Sony. Company chair Lucia Melcherts explained, "No discs means no second-hand market and no alternative to the PlayStation Store, so from 2028, Sony alone decides what a game costs and even how long you are allowed to use it."
Though there are a number of DRM-free games available via Steam that don't need the software client to launch, there are still plenty that do. So long as that remains true, and other game corporations move towards implementing their own launchers, the anxious question of 'how much do you really own your digital games?' will never really go away.
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