@IceClimbers: "They can still ditch the optical disc drive. Ditching that doesn't mean they're going digital-only. They can use SD cards or some other sort of cheap flash memory."
Hm. True that. But without a disc drive though, it would seem as Nintendo wants us to go all digital. I'm all for faster loading times (catridges FTW) but I don't think it's likely the next Nintendo home console will come without a disc drive. Maybe the next Wii U revision.
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@skywake: Cartriges are a great deal better now then how it was in the 90s compared to discs, but as long as the manufacturing is more costly I don't see them comming back. Still Nintendo chose SSD over HDD for Wii U even though it's more expensive and has less space. It's not out of the question they choose the "better" option at the expense of price. However if other publishers share this view is another question.
@PaperMario64:
I don't disagree. I'm just making the point that the technical reasons why we moved to disks in the 90s no-longer hold. Literally the only technical disadvantage was the capacity, the $/MB. And 20 years down the road flash is cheap enough that they could bring it back if they wanted to. Sure it'd still cost more than disks but not same degree as it was for the N64 and you wouldn't have to be limited by game sizes. And the fact that digital distribution is a thing? There's less risk for publishers in general. Which also reduces costs.
I've always argued that eventually cartridges would make more sense than disk again. It's always just been a question of whether that day comes before digital distribution takes over entirely. Or at least enough to make them not bother with cartridges and just stick with disks. And it's for that reason I don't think they'll go back
@SuperWiiU: Yet nobody minds when Steam only releases their games digitally.
I'm with you that digital games are a bit risky compared to retail, but on the other hand, it can be much easier because factory workers can no longer do poor jobs just to manufacture the cartridges and disks.
I just don't see the NX having a tablet controller. Nintendo always patents ideas, and this is probably an idea they had for a revised Wii U.
People just assume it's the NX due to lack of knowledge on the NX, but in reality, there is as much proof that this is the NX: http://images.nintendolife.com/news/2013/04/nintendo_files_ne...
At some point Digital only console is going to happen. Given the issues the WiiU has with stockists I can see why they might be the first to take the leap. As long as they ensure a good size hard drive and sort out the prices I can get on board with this.
If the rumours of a Handheld/Home console combo then maybe it will be a Gamecard based system.
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@SuperWiiU: Yet nobody minds when Steam only releases their games digitally
Probably because PC gamers got used to product keys and all sorts of nonsense that existed to stop piracy. Trading in games was dead on PC well before Steam. Once you've taken that away there's nothing left to complain about. Because for software that's the only decent reason not to go digital..... other than "my connection sucks and it's a 50GB download"
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"Don't stir the pot" is a nice way of saying "they're too dumb to reason with"
Considering Microsoft got a hell of a negative response when they wanted to control how we play their games with their DRM while still having physical discs, Nintendo is in for a hell of an ordeal if they think they can get away with ditching physical media entirely. Especially since they aren't particularly known for their strong online components or huge storage for their consoles. It would be rather hypocritical of the industry overall if we made such a ruckus over Microsoft trying to control us and then just praise Nintendo for doing the same.
Assuming it has a cartridge system... I hope it's not their next home console. Maybe it's like Nintendo's equivalent of the PSTV? Cartridges are great, but aren't they rather limited in how much data they can hold? I know 3DS cartridges go up to like 8 GB I think
I don't think the negative backlash was as much about it being digital only as it was that you couldn't play used games or trade games, and that the Xbox One was going to be having to connect to the Internet every 24 hours to be able to play a game. I mean, you can still sell and trade digital games on Steam, from my understanding. I could slightly wrong on the little details, but then we'd be splitting hairs. But, I digress.
Regardless, eventually, we are going to have to have all of our media digitally. When is it going to finally be the time to where we switch entirely to digital? We're going to have to be ready sometime. I'm ready. I think going digital is a great thing. Games no longer take up physical space. If there were a console with no disc drive, it could have a smaller and more convenient design. You'd be able to carry your console comfortably to someone else's place and still have all of your games in the console with you.
Though, we need the necessary space. I haven't gone digital on my Wii U because I'm not exactly sure if I'd be able to carry all my games on a 32 GB hard drive. I could go digital on my 3DS if I bought a bigger SD card, but I haven't been wanting to spend the extra money.
There is never going to be a time, not anytime soon at least, where physical media is going to be unwanted. People keep saying that, but people said the exact same things when eBooks and iTunes became a thing. And yet there are still stores that sell physical books and CD's. 100% digital isn't a thing that's going to happen, especially not for games, whose consumers take especial pride in their physical collections.
There is never going to be a time, not anytime soon at least, where physical media is going to be unwanted. People keep saying that, but people said the exact same things when eBooks and iTunes became a thing. And yet there are still stores that sell physical books and CD's. 100% digital isn't a thing that's going to happen, especially not for games, whose consumers take especial pride in their physical collections.
Yep, and keep in mind that ebook and music files are small and download very quickly, whereas video game file sizes are very high and are not as quick to download.
There is never going to be a time, not anytime soon at least, where physical media is going to be unwanted. People keep saying that, but people said the exact same things when eBooks and iTunes became a thing. And yet there are still stores that sell physical books and CD's. 100% digital isn't a thing that's going to happen, especially not for games, whose consumers take especial pride in their physical collections.
I don't think games are quite the same. With a CD you can still rip the music to a digital format, any format or quality you want. At which point there is literally no difference between the physical and digital goods. Other than the fact that you can still change your mind about quality/format if you have the disk. You can play that album back on whatever device you want in whatever quality you want. As someone who still buys CDs I don't see any disadvantage if the option is there. And when the option isn't there I'll just stream it using one of the numerous streaming services.
Using Steam as the benchmark for how digital can work for games. I brought Portal years ago and it has been tied to my Steam account ever since. When it came out it was only on Windows but since then they've ported it to Mac and Linux. I can download either. If they come out with a portable machine that runs Steam? I'll be able to download it on that. If I had the disk I probably would have lost it. Compare that to Donkey Kong Country Returns. I got that game on the Wii on disk and they then ported it to the 3DS. Not being able to download it on 3DS is the expected norm. They release it on the Wii U eShop as a download. Same again. The Wii U has backwards compatibility but there's no guarantee the next console will. At which point my old Wii disk is effectively a relic.
So yeah, there's a massive difference between digital for games and digital for other media. Other media can definitely hold out because in many cases the only advantage is the huge library an online store can offer. With games there's that but there's also the fact that code written for one machine won't work on another. Sometimes the media itself is entirely different and unlike music (or books) they want proof you actually still own it.
@SuperWiiU: Yet nobody minds when Steam only releases their games digitally.
I'm with you that digital games are a bit risky compared to retail, but on the other hand, it can be much easier because factory workers can no longer do poor jobs just to manufacture the cartridges and disks.
But you can't look at just steam. Steam is just one component in your gaming PC. You can still (if you chose to) have an optical drive and buy games alongside steam. Steam isn't the entire platform.
There is never going to be a time, not anytime soon at least, where physical media is going to be unwanted. People keep saying that, but people said the exact same things when eBooks and iTunes became a thing. And yet there are still stores that sell physical books and CD's. 100% digital isn't a thing that's going to happen, especially not for games, whose consumers take especial pride in their physical collections.
Yes yes, people still buy vinyl. It is not a good argument, because CD's are pretty niche nowadays. Most people download their music now. And I will venture a guess and say that music aficionados have had more pride in their collections than console gamers have had in their, since music doesn't get obsoleted every fifth year.
The only reason I could see the NX could have a secondary display is if it really is an AR/VR machine. I don't see how they could release a second home console with a gamepad.
I would rather them go to back to cartilage then completely abandon Optical media. If Nintendo is considering going all digital. They are shooting themselves in the foot. For one of many reasons. Not everyone has great internet or no internet......So I don't see this working.
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Yes yes, people still buy vinyl. It is not a good argument, because CD's are pretty niche nowadays. Most people download their music now. And I will venture a guess and say that music aficionados have had more pride in their collections than console gamers have had in their, since music doesn't get obsoleted every fifth year.
I did a simple search and found some ARIA numbers on this (Australia's music industry). What you're saying isn't quite right. According to ARIA's numbers their revenue for last year was split as follows:
40% physical, 50% digital, 10% streaming. CDs are still a large part of the market. Streaming is slowing eating into all other options but it's still the third biggest of the three different types of consumption. As one of those music fans who cares about this sort of thing? I'd never download off iTunes if there's a CD option. I pay for streaming but I'm not going to bother with downloads if I don't have to. For games? I couldn't care less about the medium. Because I have no intention of reselling anyway I don't see why I wouldn't go for the digital option.
Luis Alamilla pointed out that this could be Nintendo's system for countries that don't normally game. I think that is the more likely explanation.
That WOULD make sense. And since nintendo has plenty of hardcore fans, the console will sell well in familiar territory.
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Topic: No Disk Drive?
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