Back before the PlayStation 2 came out, and I was still using my PlayStation, I had been using a third-party memory card that, apparently and somehow, screwed up my first Memory Card slot on my PlayStation, meaning I could no longer use the first slot -- I always had to use the second slot, so any game that didn't allow you to load or save on Slot 2 was a game I couldn't play. That pissed me off. Needles to say, when I got my PS2, I bought only official Sony memory cards -- though, I would have much rather bought a third-party card, because they're much cheaper. Official PS2 memory cards go for damn near $25, last time I checked.

Another story, back when I used to use a GameShark, I had, for some reason, hit "Format," thus formatting my PSX memory card, and losing all my data. I don't know what possessed me to hit "Format" in the GameShark, but yeah. I stopped using GameShark after that.

Of course, cartridges aren't any better, because, if I recall, eventually the internal battery (or something of the such) goes dead, and you lose your save. Memory cards are also far more convenient for taking places -- if you lose your memory card, you've lost your saves and the card, but not the game itself, whereas with cartridges, you lost everything. I think memory cards are better than cartridges, really -- memory cards allow you to do things cartridges don't. I like being able to back up my save to another card, or to duplicate it, if I want to experiment or something like that.