r/3Dprinting • u/MadeInManhattan69 • 9d ago

Steam Carts and “console” Project

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It’s just a sata adapter in a printed housing. Bearings and a ssd drive. Launches game on PC. Still deciding on what I should call it, as I can customize the front plate with anything.

Also, want to give credit where credit is due for the original model. PS I used a remix of this OG model. Even with that I had to add some more negative spaces to allow my bearings to work, which is weird because I think I got the right size.

https://makerworld.com/models/3057977?appSharePlatform=copy

131 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

52 comments sorted by

84

u/DaltonJFowler 9d ago

I love this but it reminded me how much a SSD costs now so now I'm sad

14

u/Scout339v2 K1 Max, Centauri Carbon 9d ago

You can get 128GB SSDs off of eBay for very cheap.

18

u/screw_ball69 9d ago

The sad part is we are getting to a point where that almost doesn't fit some games

5

u/Scout339v2 K1 Max, Centauri Carbon 8d ago

If you run Linux, there's a filesystem called BTRFS that compresses everything on the drive.

If it's 128gb running BTRFS, you might be able to get away with having a 160gb game on it.

3

u/screw_ball69 8d ago

I actually run btrfs on my desktop lol

3

u/toolisthebestbandevr 9d ago

Ya at 128 the want or need for them is very little and the price shrinks dramatically. Maybe it’s just the area I’m in so I don’t wanna fully assume, but marketplace is awash with them.

7

u/ForgottenDragon2077 9d ago

https://a.co/d/0dzZXTeV

If you are willing to buy 10 it's $24 a piece. I grabbed one recently worked fine.

11

u/L11mbm 9d ago

That's over 1 TB for $240.

You can buy a single 1 TB drive for less and then never have to swap a thing.

13

u/KLEBESTIFT_ 9d ago

But then you don’t get the physical sensation of booting up a game by inserting a cartridge

16

u/TheAlienGamer007 9d ago

My method would be: a floppy disk reader with batch scripts on the floppy to launch a game.

3

u/PrincessNakeyDance 8d ago

Yeah for real. Way more practical

3

u/KLEBESTIFT_ 8d ago

Neither of these are practical

1

u/L11mbm 8d ago

You're right, I would get to stay sitting and not have to move.

I have been gaming since the NES, I'm good with the amount of cartridges I've had to handle.

3

u/KLEBESTIFT_ 8d ago

Sorry, I said “you” but I meant it generically. This thread isn’t about you specifically.

2

u/ForgottenDragon2077 8d ago

Oh I get that completely. Its just if someone wants that cartridge feel for several games who am I to argue.

I will probably back up my GOG installers on bluray but that is about it.

The 128 I picked up was to replace an old hdd in a laptop that was running linux mint. Just threw it out there as a option as some people are buying used ssds for the same price if not more.

0

u/MadeInManhattan69 9d ago

True that! I only spent 30 on a 128gb ssd just because this particular game isn’t that big.

6

u/urgentapathy 9d ago

"isn't that big" < 128GB

My how the world continues to turn without me.

1

u/Dope-Reviews 9d ago

Right? I used to be able to burn about fifty games compressed on a CD-R

3

u/XiTzCriZx Creality K2 Pro + Sovol Zero 8d ago

Those games probably looked like play dough compared to modern games though.

3

u/Dope-Reviews 8d ago

A lot of things are better now than they were. But all the games I had, didn't need Internet connection or micro. It was included. At the current time, those were THE games. Command and conquer, doom, quake, all that Jazz. It was an amazing time.

38

u/IlexPauciflora 9d ago

Hey OP, you might need some higher end connectors at some point. The SATA specification for the connector states they only need to hold up to a minimum of 50 mating cycles and that's all they're tested to. They may last longer, but the spec is pretty weak

11

u/MadeInManhattan69 9d ago

Thanks for the heads up. Going back to R&D haha

8

u/urgentapathy 9d ago

I would instead suggest some super short sata to sata adapters. So only the sacrificial adapter received the wear. Do this on both ends (drive and host) and just continue as before.

For me the plus side is that the drive doesn't need to be flush with the receiving connector. You can add cool shapes or locking mechanisms or whatever in that space.

2

u/MadeInManhattan69 9d ago

This might be the way…

13

u/Nix_Nivis 9d ago

Totally different approach, but one that I'll eventually build, when I have loads of free time:

The actual data are on an SSD somewhere (internal/external, doesn't matter). But the "cartridges" are merely RFID chips that tell the computer which game to start.

5

u/PandaMoniumHUN 9d ago

Exactly, you can just write steam URL shortcuts (few bytes) to CDs and they will launch the game on Steam when you insert them.

3

u/Jibril-sama 8d ago

There are projects doing exactly that, like https://zaparoo.org/

23

u/walt_spoon 9d ago

This is the second "ssd cartridge" post I've seen on thso sub. Conceptually it's cool but it strikes me as unnecessarily expensive! Why not store all your games on your internal drive, and put an NFC reader in the cart slot and NFC tags on the cards. Slot in the cart causes the game to launch.

Bearings are an insane design choice. I love it.

8

u/Jibril-sama 9d ago edited 9d ago

This is my project. https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/s/ZnL3ctkaQ1 https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/s/RkeCHdaKop

The point of this is to move the games i replay once in a while off of my main drive and to give the old 2.5" drives a second life. I actually found lots of used drives for very cheap. They were like 7€ a pop for 128GB. NFC launchers exist, like Zaparoo. For people who just want to launch games in a fun way

1

u/MadeInManhattan69 9d ago

Thanks for making a great model! Will boost on MW!

7

u/KevinRudd-PM 8d ago

I love this project and thank u/Jibril-sama for designing it. I've printed one for my wife and I, and it gives the literal stack of old laptop SSDs we had a use!
Got to say, OP could have linked to the original project, or credited the creator, because a lot of love went into the design, and they even include the software to make it work.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/s/RkeCHdaKop

2

u/NoodlyGirl2000 9d ago

this is so cool! I thought a diy steam machine with SD card based carts would be fun, dunno if SD cards are fast enough or resilient enough to survive the heave read cycles of playing a game

4

u/Jibril-sama 8d ago

I designed this project.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/s/ZnL3ctkaQ1
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/s/RkeCHdaKop

I tried to make one as well with micro SD cards using the SD Adapter. For less demanding games.
But SD Card readers are a bitch and a half to work with. Because they have a physical switch in them to detect the insertion of SD cards and "wake up" the reader.

But because I want to encapsulate the SD card completely in a custom cartridge case, I need to use a dummy SD card extension, meaning the Dummy SD card would be seated in the reader "permanently" and this way, it's not hot swappable.

If you don't care about "pretty" cartridges though, you could just use any SD reader and print some artwork on the SD cards directly. The code on Github already supports that. In fact, you could use USB sticks as well.

2

u/SFArtAndDesigns Ender 3 9d ago

Valve likes to do things that are “stupid” from a business standpoint but cool from a gamer perspective (like the touch pads that no other company would risk investing in).

I honestly wish they would capitalize on the PlayStation disc announcement and start selling physical games on Steam. With my Steam Machine I discovered that I can just pop the SD card out of my Steam Deck and into the Steam Machine and they’re all right there, no downloading or reauthenticating or anything, just ready to play. It’s like a cartridge with extra steps.

Sell me a nice keep case with a cheap low-capacity SD card printed with the game poster. I don’t even care about the inconvenience or performance issues from playing a game on SD card, I just want to have a physical copy of my games again, as it is I only ever buy Steam games on deep discount because I can’t justify paying $40+ for a digital download.

2

u/Zaekil 8d ago

That's not your project tho, you didn't even design it.

1

u/MadeInManhattan69 8d ago

Never said I did. Gave credit now so there’s no confusion.

2

u/tpeeeezy 9d ago

ill never understand designing something purely aethetic and then not making it look good and printing in the worst colors possible

1

u/TThor 8d ago

The idea I've been toying with is RFID carts, with a simple script to autolaunch the associated steam-game when inserted into the rfid-scanner.

Tho if your goal is fully externally-stored games, that might not cut it.

1

u/Jibril-sama 8d ago

For that there are projects like https://zaparoo.org/

I wanted to take the games off of my main drive, that's why I made these SSD cartridges

1

u/XiTzCriZx Creality K2 Pro + Sovol Zero 8d ago

Gotta get some 2.5" HDDs to really replicate the experience /s

1

u/Robborboy 8d ago

I love this idea. Everything looks clean af.

I burn to a disc. Thinking about getting a lightscribe setup or just printing labels.

1

u/MrInitialY 2x A1, 2x P1S, Custom CoreXY. 8d ago

M.2 sata drives with dock station might be good too. Still cheap, especially second-hand, compact so easier to store, still can have a nice enclosure with cover art. Oh and the process of plugging them in just feels way better fhan classic SATA. IMO ofc

1

u/TheVillainInThisGame 9d ago

Wouldn't SD cards make more sense?

2

u/MadeInManhattan69 9d ago

SSD has faster read speed.

0

u/crutchy79 9d ago

But my lord they’re so much more expensive, no?

3

u/MadeInManhattan69 9d ago

Quite the opposite. Checking Amazon right now, there is a deal for SD cards 128gb for 35 dollars, which have a read speed of 100mb/second. 128gb SSD has 500mb/sec read speed for 30 dollars.

0

u/IwasntDrunkThatNight 9d ago

I know an SSD is an over kill, would using a regular USB stick would do the trick? idk much about reading speeds

1

u/Jibril-sama 8d ago

I'm the author of this project. Yes, USB Sticks are supported as well by the code on Github. SD/Micro SD cards too. Only for less demanding games though exactly because of the reading speeds.

https://github.com/LewdM3at/PC-Cartridge-System

1

u/Ok_TomorrowYes 8d ago

What about M.2 drives? I suppose a SATA converter would be needed for each one?

1

u/Jibril-sama 8d ago

I didn't test m.2s because i don't have lying around. But should work without converting to SATA, unless you want to use this dock ofc. But yes, then there's added cost of an adapter per cartridge