An evil dictator.

You're lucky. It takes me 8 hours to download a Gigabyte of data on my connection, except my line regularly faulters and drops even lower. This is the case for many living in my county or even the neighbouring county (Both rural).

And BT (our Telephone/Internet provider) aren't going to do a damn thing about it.

I do see the charms of download media, in that it reduces clutter and would seek to put all my retro games onto a series of devices (given the opportunity) and Steam is a very good model for downloadable games, but like i said, some people need to be accounted for in terms of their download speed and even though money has changed hands, you still don't own the game.

Incidentally, it probably takes me longer to get into my local city to purchase a game if I have to wait for an equally poor bus service that only travels twice a day, but I also have amazon at my disposal if I was keen enough to get a game.

I don't know what you mean about the cloud system and Apple App Store/ iTunes online, but I saw a report which looked at cloud gaming which I interpreted as saying that cloud system works by sending the input to that distant server (as you control your character), while the distant server sends the on screen result back to you. You'd need a tip-top Internet speed to achieve this and the people at the show admitted that without that, you'd experience lag, because the signal has further to travel.

But with cloud gaming there's one fundamental difference. Correct me if I'm wrong, but most models being considered are online subscription based - you don't purchase them in any sense.

I think insertable media cannot die - for the sake of game retailers, trading games in, lending to friends or (if Nintendo doesn't ruin it for us) playing import games that aren't released in Europe (or Australia, Waltz - I know your territory is often overlooked in this sense), but I'd like to see these other models embraced alongside the current system - at least to ensure gaming is easier and more appealing to more people like yourselves.

A final footnote - anyone own an iPod touch/phone? Have you browsed a random game's review sometimes and seen several posts saying how buggy the game is and that 2 years on, the developer still hasn't patched it? Yes, retail games are sometimes shipped with game breaking bugs, but getting a refund with it (or even discretely handing it into a secondhand shop and cutting your losses) is much less complicated.

And how long does Amazon take? Mostly when I buy a game it takes 2- 8 days to arrive, depending on whether or not it's imported. Steam games take 5-6 hours max. And I do also have to point out, you are in a very small minority regarding your internet situation. Even in reasonably small country towns in Australia (our internet is worse than yours) you can get fast-ish ADSL/ADSL2+ connections.

Firstly, I currently have Left for Dead 2 on my steam list. It's 7.3GB, I've just started the download and it will take 21 hours (it keeps fluctuating actually - it's currently at 11 hours, but I can realistically expect [to have time to download] a Gigabyte a day).
That's 21 hours straight so I could split that up over several days. Also, I must consider my Internet connection fluctuating from its current 40kb/s down to 17kb/s or even 815bytes/sec. It's really that bad. I'd aim for a Gigabyte a day, making it 8 days.

Assuming i ordered it on a weekday, I could buy and receive that same game in about 2 days.

Secondly, while I am in the minority, I'm still valued as a Nintendo customer, and that article I pointed out states that users in Norfolk (7th most populous county in England) and Suffolk (31st most populous) were struggling to even get the advertised speeds. This cannot be unique to my county (or it's neighbour).

Overall, maybe. But in Rural England (especially Norfolk) we have it pretty bad. While this article states that the upgrade isn't happening this summer (summer passed), a TV report had a BT correspondant state the will not be doing anything about it in the foreseeable future.

But we're talking about 3DS here. What size would you say is a reasonable size for a handheld game?

If it's too big, I'd think Nintendo would do good to keep selling physical media alongside digital media - at least to please those who, like yourself are able to embrace it.

1-2gb?

Also, don't forget that would be downloaded in one go (unless Nintendo does it like steam and you are able to patrially download bit by bit). Again, that would be ok for people with healthy download speeds.

Not necessarily. Every other digital platform out there except WiiWare/DSiWare supports download pausing/continuing, I think the 3DS can manage it. Especially if it has limits higher than 20/44mb.

@edhe, The size of the 3DS will be around the same size as the DSi. That's what Nintendo was saying at the E3. I think gb will be 2-4

With the internet I have to deal with goes down quite a bit and sometimes it's not up till the weekened. I live the US BTW, but where I live the owner of the RV Park doesn't want the customers to have internet so he takes his time fixing the problem when it goes down.

That's a given, because you wouln't be able to leave your handheld on for those lengths of time either. The Nintendo handheld that embraces retail quality downloadable titles would need to have enough system memory (and I believe temporary memory as well) to even contain such games.

When you consider nintendo's stance on 3D console gaming (only if 3D TV uptake is high enough)

I don't have a clue how big these 3DS cartridges are going to be, but they're likely to be pretty big if they are to contain games like Metal Gear Solid, Street Fighter 4 or even Ocarina of Time, etc.

What I'd like to see is a virtual console or DSiWare thats even better than what's currently available - by which I mean an improvement in filesize limits.

I certainly hope the 3DS cartridges have more capacity. The current DS ones are abysmally small, especially compared to similarly-sized products like SD cards which can store up to 32GB of data (and theoretically up to 2TB / 2048GB).

As for download speeds, it really depends on your region and its internet usage. My speeds fluctuate greatly depending on the time of day, and sometimes I experience regular disconnects, which makes downloading (and playing) games a real chore. I have external backups of all my Steam game files just so I won't have to waste loads of time re-downloading them if I need to reinstall steam. I've made use of them once already.

A large majority of the world would have games in their hands faster by going to the nearest store than downloading it. Here's an amusing article about how homing pigeons were used in South Africa to transfer data faster than their local internet connection.

Yeah the 3ds realy needs to have more space because alttle card like that can hold 32 gigs of space the 3ds should do that too and they should do mini sd cards so that you can put multiple cards in it like 2-4 card they could all be 32 gigs but i if i was to be realistic all the slots should add up to 64 gigs of space to be fare. because nintendo doesnt have the money right now to do all that mass production.

I agree with all that you've said WaltzElf.

It is clear beyond the shadow of a doubt that Digital Distribution is far easier on us and far more convenient, convenient that is more towards us who have a reliable internet connection and all but things will get better in time for those who are now unable to find a reliable internet connection. Even now Google is in talks with various IT developers and thinkers to create a world wide internet connection that all peoples of the earth can access inexpensively and reliably. Besides, folks, panic not. Have you forgotten that Mr. Satoru Iwata made it clear that the Nintendo 3DS would always be online no matter where you were? Mr. Iwata also said that even when there was no hot spot near you that the 3DS would still have online media content "free of charge" and those are Iwata's words and not mine.

To be quite honest, Digital Distribution is far greener to.

Especially considering that with Digital Distribution trees and natural resources are spared from being made into discs or cartridges and there are no manuals to be made and no plastic to create a case to store manuals and the software disc or cartridges in. So not only is digital distribution convenient but it's environmentally friendly. RedBox has announced that they are going to be moving away from the physical little "red boxes" in favor of going digital and more movies and films are being released with digital vouchers and codes as movie companies also plan to go green in moving away from DVD's and BluRay Disc. Alas, it is not hard to acknowledge that the rising future of Digital Media over Physical Media is upon us.

Sony Playstation also features Digital Vouchers in many stores here in the Atlanta, GA area and now Christian Book stores such as LifeWay, Family Christian and Potomic Adventist Book Center all have stands with codes to download movies, Bibles, devotionals and music to either your cellular phone, computer, internet television or iPod. Best Buy also has Digital Distribution in many of their stores.

Like WaltzElf pointed out, digital distribution makes life a lot easier for us all. One can simply lay in bed in the morning and fire up the iPad and watch the news, download a book or play the addicting and enjoyable ongoing Zenonia Saga. If you're a fan of the Kindle or B&N Nook then you'll be happy to know that there is a special text book you can download for your college needs.

Of course some things will remain, as there will always been a need for some warehouses and retail stores of certain kinds even after the far and distant year of 3017. Digital Distribution will cause many brick and mortar facilities to close down become only distant memories but books will always have a special place as I can't imagine sitting in church with a digital Bible pad (the very thought seems anathema and almost heresy like) but I suppose it is worth noting that you can download the sacred Bible and even the Qur'an from the Apple App store and Android App Market.

lol TokyoRed, you make it sound ilke it's gonna happen overnight, but it's not. give it a couple generations and perhaps the world might be ready for it, with better internet and/or whatever-number-GS connections available for all, but as of right now, retail isn't going anywhere yet. :3

No, not overnight. It will be a subtle and subdued transition no doubt. But from what I've read in Wired Magazine and on various internet sites things will be a lot more digital by 2017 then they are today. Technology seems to move quite fast although people are a little slow to catch up with it. After all, how long did it take man to finally learn how to fly?

considering the myth of Icarus is from Ancient Greece, i'd have to say at least 1,903 years if we're talking powered flight, lol. sounds like your 3017 prediction would be a bit off, in that case :3

For digital distribution to become the exclusive standard, first there has to be universal high speed internet access available to everyone for free, or near-free. Which ain't gonna happen anytime soon. We're talking many many many decades here, people. Digital distribution of media will of course increase over the years, but it'll be quite a while until it's the standard.

20 years. Can we all agree that in 2030, developed nations will be technologically capable of doing this? Once the infrastructure is there I can promise you developers and publishers will move there wholeheartedly.

Technologically capable? Probably. Actually implemented? Probably not.

this. it's one of those 'i'll believe it when i see it' kinds of things, honestly :3

It's been over 20 years and there's still no hoverboards or flying deloreans