Topic: Do you think NX will accept physical media?

One of the things I fear the industry heading towards is a forced adoption of digital only by simply removing optical drives/cartridge slots on systems.

At the same time though, the consumer base couldn't be further from fully embracing digital. Physical media for games is still incredibly popular, due to price differences, the ability to buy used, the ability to share, etc, and the lack of a portability benefit that movies and music have.

Do you think Nintendo is going to make the plunge into a digital only system?

Yes, of course. The vast majority of console gamers still buy their games physically. It would be like shipping a smartphone with no headphone jack, since bluetooth headphones are widely available.

With Ninty being a family company that tries to have the broadest appeal I can't seem the going digital only, there's too many non-gaming Mums who don't how digital games work.

I'll embrace a digital only version. I'm practically doing that with my wii U already.

I think Nintendo of all companies, likes physical media. I couldn't see them dropping it any time soon. The first console to do it will probably be Xbox. They already tried some controversial game ownership policies with One, but the backlash was tremendous. Of course, Sony tried it with the PSP Go and it didn't turn out well either, going as far as some publishers boycotting the digital format.

And myself, I would not buy a digital only console. Nope, I like the physical media as well. I only buy digital when there is a large discount over the physical format.

A lot of things would have to change before they could possibly transition to digital only and even than they risk alienating a huge userbase. Neither Nintendo nor the consumers are ready for a digital only console.

Ofcourse it will.

Digital only is far away from being good enough for me to embrace, if a console is digital only I will never buy it.

Why wouldn't it? A disc drive isn't that expensive and plenty of companies (such as Activision) still depend on massive shelf space. I hope that next-generation we see every game available in digital format, no more retail only games.

I hope it takes 3DS Style carts (Or is digital only).

It should. Not everyone has the bandwidth to install games with large file sizes.

Well as consoles get more powerful the games get bigger. By my guestimate they get bigger at a rate that's slower than the rate that storage is getting cheaper. So that helps, I'd say that by next generation we'll be at the point where every console can be digital only out of the box. But on the other hand games are getting bigger far faster than the 'nets are getting faster. Particularly in some parts of the world. So for some it still won't be feasible

It's easy to say "just download it" when it's a 2GB download and you have 50Mbps+ nets. It gets a bit rough when it's a 50GB download and you have 8Mbps. Until fast nets are so common place that it can be assumed people have it. Until it gets to the point where they know they're not at risk of cutting out some potential customers. They'll still have physical media of some kind.

I don't recall hearing that. I remember it was the retailers that didn't like it. Which is why Sony had to hike the price of the console to make the stores happy about getting cut out of game sales.

In the last few years, PSP releases had to turn to digital-only, with only hardcore companies like Atlus, Aksys or Gaijinworks still publishing physical.
Like while FF4 Complete was released physical, only months later Square-Enix released FF3 internationally digitally, but only on physical media in Japan.

Digital is just another option, not a replacement. I don't think physical media will go away, especially not in the near future.

It will accept physical games, no doubt.
Internet in the US seems to actually be degrading as the years go forward. There is less competition, we are making no progress with fiber optics, data caps, and two major providers are trying to pull of a merger for the second time in the past year.

Looks at PSP Go

Well I'm on 8Mbps with 300GB/mo. Which is about what the average person gets. So here we have the reverse problem, ISPs advertise based on how much quota we get..... even though it's often not really possible to reach it even if we wanted to. "Unlimited" Broadband! ... with some people only getting 4Mbps or less....

The only ISP in the US I recall even mentioning a bandwidth cap was Comcast and even that I think was criticized once it got out. I thought it was more common to just slow down people once they hit the limit. (I get the feeling that's what mine is doing)
When Comcast telemarketed us, when questioned about the cap they claimed it was to stop piracy. Might have worked in like 2005 when people downloading tons of gigabytes were probably illegally downloading DVDs but now that legal streaming is common and probably some people almost live on that, not so much.

Well the "unlimited" plans that are available here only exist because they're doing precisely as you say. They buy less capacity and you get slower speeds during peak periods. I have 8Mbps with 300GB quota but at least it's running as well as it can. They're not the cheapest ISP but their service is good so I can't complain. And when Netflix, Steam, Apple or Microsoft downloads don't count towards my quota? 300GB ain't bad. It's the 8Mbps that's the limiting thing.

Yeah. Physical's not going anywhere any time soon.

Nintendo is one company I could never see dropping physical media.