Nintendo NX: Why Not Having An Optical Drive Could Potentially Work In The Big N’s Favor

Soldato
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Nintendo may be using cartridges with the NX. This would, in fact, be the greatest thing ever.

Read more at http://gamingbolt.com/nintendo-nx-w...-work-in-the-big-ns-favor#TbLtJfrSlA3jHQpt.99

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I dont get moving back to cartridges, even SD cards. You have the cost of the media, distribution, packaging and finding retailers. Even with economies of scale you're still talking a significant cost compared with digital distribution.
 
I dont get moving back to cartridges, even SD cards. You have the cost of the media, distribution, packaging and finding retailers. Even with economies of scale you're still talking a significant cost compared with digital distribution.

Everything you say is correct but I still want it :D
 
It's not like Nintendo to follow the crowd. They could set up game vending machines everywhere, that'd be easy, just programme your cartridge as you order. It'd be a lot easier than trying to get a significant retail presence back.
 
Flash media is so cheap these days I could see this happening. Just wouldn't be cartridges though.

SD cards can hold over 128Gb and is quick access. Optical media is at the moment 50gb, slow to read hence why every PS4 and Xbox one game needs to install to the HDD first to reduce loading times.

It be nice to have a home console you can plug in and play less than 5 seconds of switching on the console like in the 8 and 16bit days.
 
The whole world is going online/digital/streaming and Nintendo is going back 20 years?

I can see the attraction and some of the logic but i don't think the public in large will understand.
 
Don't really see the big deal apart from nostalgia value. I much prefer not having to mess about with removable media, they should concentrate on delivering a decent online service, especially for a not-yet released system.

Of course they have tasted the nice money they can earn from selling cheap plastic tat with a bit of circuitry inside so perhaps that is swinging their thinking...
 
The whole world is going online/digital/streaming and Nintendo is going back 20 years?

I can see the attraction and some of the logic but i don't think the public in large will understand.
Nintendo's market are not a tech minded crowd. DS/3DS customers have been using cartridge-based media without any questions, so it's not a foreign concept.

So long as we're not talking about huge old cartridges like in the SNES days, I think the public wouldn't think much about it at all.

They could still offer digital download services combined with internal flash storage, so that forward push would remain intact.

I really like the idea. I think it would just come down to cost.

Don't really see the big deal apart from nostalgia value.
Missing the ultra fast loading of cartridges is not nostalgia. ;)

Could also mean a more compact console form factor.
 
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**** any haters, I'm way past bothering about spec wars. give me a console that is fun to play, instant loading, not dlc heavy add to that a format which may mean I can unplug it from my home based console and take it on the road with me and drop it into a portable and I'll be happy.

My laptop/mobile/home tv can handle all the media playback I'll ever need, make the NX cheap and fun and I'm sold.
 
**** any haters, I'm way past bothering about spec wars. give me a console that is fun to play, instant loading, not dlc heavy add to that a format which may mean I can unplug it from my home based console and take it on the road with me and drop it into a portable and I'll be happy.

My laptop/mobile/home tv can handle all the media playback I'll ever need, make the NX cheap and fun and I'm sold.

100% agreed !
 
**** any haters, I'm way past bothering about spec wars. give me a console that is fun to play, instant loading, not dlc heavy add to that a format which may mean I can unplug it from my home based console and take it on the road with me and drop it into a portable and I'll be happy.

My laptop/mobile/home tv can handle all the media playback I'll ever need, make the NX cheap and fun and I'm sold.

Exactly the benefit that they could add their new portable version on the same cartridge is huge.

I'm so excited about the NX.
 
Less load time, no need to install? No discs to be scratched. No optical drive lens to fail...

what does anyone perceive as a drawback?

Two main problems over digital delivery:

1 - Delivery - do you wait for postal delivery or will there be a retail presence, and how limited will this be?

Or can you download yourself onto physical disks?

2 - How much cost this adds onto game prices.
 
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Digital = cost more, loads of bandwidth to download, not sure how you perceive this to be a benefit? It's all drawbacks. The whole move to digital has cost us more. With zero resell ability. Do you smoke £50 notes?
 
You are not actually restricted to the size of the disc though. How many games these days requires a Day 1 patch for you to play? Quite a few I imagine. The fact is that they could ship 80% of the game on the disc and require you to download a 5G patch to finish installation of the game. Yes I know it means without an online connection you are screwed but we know that's the norm these days for gaming.
 
Missing the ultra fast loading of cartridges is not nostalgia. ;)

Being on a cartridge doesn't magically make games load fast. Most cartridge based games are tiny compared to modern AAA PC/console titles. You can stick a 50GB game on solid-state memory but you're still going to have to wait to load it.
 
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