Thread by @LuigiBlood

Since the DS, Nintendo has been using FlashROM, so Flash where you can only write once. I'll be honest for a second: DS and 3DS carts will die. Now probably not supposed to die this quick, but they will die within the next few decades.

https://twitter.com/Lewchube/status/1389693313473814529

I heard the Switch carts are more robust so this might not happen as fast as FlashROM does.

I said next few decades, but I was being safe, it's possible DS carts have already started dying by now.

So after retweeting someone I trust a lot, I will say some of it as a PSA:
- Flash ROM holds *on average* about 5 to 15 years. The DS was released in 2004.
- Mask ROM is 30 to 50 years on average. This is not going to be a fun time in the next few decades for 70s and 80s systems.

Mind you, this is an average, every memory chip have a unique lifespan, you could still have a working Super Mario 64 DS in 20 years if you are *extremely* lucky.

This is just one reason why game preservation is so important among many others.

I feel like I need to say this: don't panic.
This does sound worrying, but remember that every copy aren't going to die at the same time, not to mention that a lot of games are already preserved for the most part.
This is also not limited to Nintendo, just keep that in your mind.

Every single piece of media has pretty much an expiration date. From discs, to floppy disks, and of course memory chips as a whole, they have a widely varied lifespan depending on the material used and manufacture process.

I kinda forgot (it was the night) if you power Flash memory from time to time (it doesn't need to be every month or anything), it does help keep the data in place for a while longer.

I'm at least happy to bring the topic of physical media being not necessarily as perfect as you'd think, things are always more complicated than it sounds.

If there's one thing I want to say about this is that I didn't want to sound dooming about it. Some games will be impacted first, many might still be around way past the expectancy average. Just keep it in mind.

And I don't wanna sound like digital is the future, but a lot of the problematics is to make sure you can still access your stuff, whether you have the rights to "own" what you bought to play with in private, and so on.
Of course where it is stored is not going to be infinite.

I need to do a correction:

https://twitter.com/LuigiBlood/status/1390002539786121218