Are generic memory cards as good as the originals?
 

I need a new memory card for my Gamecube and for my PS2. The generic cards can be gotten off Ebay for a lot cheaper than buying the original. How good is the quality?

I don't know how they are now but I had one for my PS1 screw up the slot so no memory card would work in it

I've also had really bad luck with PS1 third party cards. Very weird stuff, one only worked with one game (even the mem. card manager could not read it for a while), on another a lot of important stuff vanished, leading me to become very angry and throw it to the floor. Then it read fine when I put it back in. Dangerous stuff, I'd stay away from them.

I've had really good luck with PSone third party memory cards. One I have has lasted me eight years now. Although I only got it as I couldn't find a first party one at the time. If I can I always buy first party memory cards.

No. Always get the first party cards. They may cost a bit more, but they're worth it for the quality and peace of mind.

There are way too many horror stories out there (on this board and others). It's just not worth the increased chance of losing all your saves.

I've had a 3rd party memory card for PS2 since I got the system in 2002. Never gave me a problem. Also in my 2 years working at EB, I hardly ever see a 3rd party memory card returned defective.

I've had a Mad Catz card for 3 years and I've never had a problem.

If you enjoy replaying your games... by all means get a third party memory card.

I had (have) a third party GC card I got as part of a bundle. It's awful. It's orange BTW - I wonder if that makes a difference. Anyway, it would only load my Resident Evil 0 saves about half the time - the other 50% of load games required me pulling out the memory card, blowing on it, inserting it into slot B and then re-loading. That's quality! I don't have as much time as I'd like to play video games lately - I have even less time to be fucking around with some piece of shit generic card before I can even get started! :lol:

Go with the first party cards...

Never buy them. They always seem to eat your gamesaves.

I picked up a used 3rd party memory card for my PS2 at GameStop and took it home and it told me there was only 168kb free on the card. The card had nothing on it so I formatted it and it still stated that it only had 168kb free so I took it back and paid the extra money for a sony one.

Like everyone is saying, it's probably a better idea to pay the $5 more for the 1st Party. I didn't and I haven't had any problems, but you never know...

I think its okay for Xbox, if you're getting it just to make backups of your saves on your PC (with a controller hooked up to the PC and the Action Replay drivers) or to download saves from the Action Replay website. I got one on clearance for $5. In this case, the save is still on the Xbox's hard drive or the PC if it's a file I downloaded, and gets copied to the card and then to the Xbox or PC. If the card would get corrupted or something, you don't lose the save because it's still on the console's hard drive or the PC, so I could always copy it again. So far I haven't had any trouble with the card though.

I wouldn't get one for Gamecube or PS2, where the memory card is the only place to save to.

Just a reminder that the first-party PS2 memory cards are on sale for $19.99 (or $14.99 after coupon) at Best Buy this week. That's the way to go.

You get what you pay for.

Or if you don't have a Best Buy, Circuit City has the 2-packs for $30 (that's $15 each - hey look at me, I do math!) - free shipping too!

Sony 8MB Memory Card for PlayStation®2 (2-Pack)

(These are the pretty Red/Blue lady-magnet style)