The memory card concept is used in the field of technology. The notion is formed from the ideas of card (object that has certain information recorded) and memory (ability to store information).
A memory card, in this way, is an element that allows you to store different types of digital data. It is a non-volatile memory: it retains data even when it is not connected to a power source. Therefore, memory cards are used to store data from different types of computers (computers), video game consoles, cell phones (cell phones), cameras and other devices: when these machines are turned off, information can be stored in they. the card. The memory card also makes it easy to move information from one computer to another (for example, photos taken with one camera can be stored on a memory card and reused on another camera, simply by using the same card).
It should be noted that memory cards are chips; that is, integrated circuits. Data, whether photos, audio, or other content, is stored in the form of bytes. In addition to its common characteristics, it is important to take into account that the same memory card cannot be read by any device, since not all of them are compatible, and factors such as the operating system, the file system and the reading and storage technology. The incompatibility is not always “natural” or, better said, it does not always have to do with facts that are impossible to avoid, such as a fundamental difference between two technologies; rather, it is usually due to issues related to protection against piracy or the rights and patents of each device. As a result of piracy, the memory card considerably facilitates the transfer of information, especially when compared to optical discs (such as CDs or DVDs), since the saving process is faster and more flexible, its size is considerably smaller and less prone. to harm. Add to that its ever-increasing capacity and we have a device that can be used with good intentions, to store your own data or to easily steal and distribute other people’s information. In the case of video game consoles, memory cards allow, among other things, to save games in progress. This makes it possible for the player to continue the game later, even after turning off the console. Until the late 1980s, video games did not allow this action, so common today, so most of them required players to complete them in a single session.
This fundamental difference between the so-called “retro” games and the current ones is also reflected in the length of their campaigns and the dimensions of their levels: thanks to the possibility of storing progress on a memory card, there is no conventional limit to the number of hours a video game should last; on the contrary, the longer it is, the better it will be seen by the community in general. In some cases we speak of more than 1000 hours, that is, more than 40 days if it was mandatory to play without interruptions, something clearly impractical. It is worth mentioning that this limitation did not always prevent the games from being extensive or varied: some printed on the screen a password at the end of each level, which had to be entered to continue from that point the next time the player turned on the game. console; Others, like Super Mario Bros. 3, bet on multiple routes in a series of immense worlds full of secrets, so that each time they could be traveled in a different way, since going through each of its levels in a single session would have been almost impossible.
