Intelligent Systems' latest 3DS effort - Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. - is shaping up rather nicely, and will almost certainly be on the wish list of many a seasoned tactical RPG player.
The game launches in March in North America and May in Europe, and if rumours are to be believed it would appear that Nintendo is working with retailer Gamestop on a unique in-store demo give-away in the US.
According to a poster on NeoGaf, cards with demo download codes on them have already been issued to Gamestop stores, although the codes themselves are currently inactive.
As you can see from the images here - which remain unverified, we should add - the cards also showcase character art on the front and a short profile on the back, rather like trading cards. This could be a nod to the game's cel-shaded, comic book aesthetic.
Are you on the fence about Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.? Would a demo be of interest to you? Or perhaps you're keen to play it, and can't wait to sample a taster before the main course arrives? Let us know by posting a comment below.
[source neogaf.com]
Comments 76
I want one by the time the N3DS arrives on February. They should have bundled a demo code in it here in Europe.
I NEED ONE!
That would decide for me to get it or not.its always nice to try a game before I buy.
Now this is interesting...so we just walk in and get one or something?
I want to say these will be handed out to people that reserve the game and or if they get a lot say 50 to 100 then to people that reserve or buy any 3ds game. I want one of course but I'm getting the game Reguardless.
I already preordered the game a couple days ago, but I'd definitely love to have a demo to help smooth over the waiting period!
As of right now I'm not interested in this game. However if I were to play a demo that could be their chance to change my mind. But if I need to preorder the game to get the demo then forget it. They're supposed to try and convince me to buy their game. Giving demos only to people who plan to buy it anyway would defeat that purpose.
Oh god no. I want to try out the demo because I'm really on the fence on whether or not I want to buy it but I have the WORST luck with Gamestop and their "no purchase necessary" promotions. They NEVER respect it and will likely tell me that I need to pre-order the game if I want the code like they did with the Pokémon codes unless they finally got nicer staff that know what they're doing. Man I hate Gamestop.
I like a good tactical RPG, but the theme on this one doesn't have me interested. The steam aesthetic and a tortured acronym make me wary. And having Lincoln as a protagonist is a bit like having a superhero who's an accountant. Yeah, you can do stuff with the idea, but why that as the starting point?
I am excited for this game. I would much rather play it on the new 3ds, but I don't want to buy the XL, thanks NoA!
I already pre-ordered it- the Fire Emblem amiibo play made me all giddy-
Nice! I hope they give me a card when I pick up Monhun in a couple of weeks.
I don't care for Gamestop, but I may have to go in to grab one of these up. I can't wait to play steam. I still play Fire Emblem Awakening so something new from those guys is always welcome.
Well, see, now I just want a collection of those damn cards.
Why does Nintendo keep choosing convoluted methods for distributing demos? It would be much better if demos were accessible on the eshop for everyone.
Cool stuff. I want the game and I managed to get an Ike amiibo so I am ready.
if I got a demo I would give it a shot
I hope there will be a New3DS/STEAM bundle available in March. I have absolute faith in Intelligent System as far as tactic/srpg/puzzle games go, so no need for a demo. Still "exclusive" demos are just silly ...
I'm definitely interested in trying the game, but I wish Nintendo would stop giving codes at Gamestop. Not only can they run out, but half the time the employees think the codes aren't free unless you pre-order a game. I'd much prefer email distribution, or simply adding the demo to the eshop.
A demo is a demo for free, I can't complain
This strikes me as a game that could benefit from a demo. If I hadn't seen all the actual gameplay demonstrations I don't think I'd be very interested in it on looks alone.
Anyway, that demo code should have been blurred out. :/ Or at least, it shouldn't be given to anyone, now.
Also, I give this a 98.85% chance of being legit. It's just motive right? Who'd mock something like this up and why? Plus, that rating on the front wouldn't be there on a fan made card mock up, I'm betting. There are other details, too, that would cause me to be pretty shocked if it was a fake.
Already preordered Steam at GameStop. Have to look into how this will be distributed ( if it is indeed valid ).
Gamestop needs to go away. One of the worst companies to deal with in any capacity. Shady as hell. I wish all of the gaming retail stores were still around… especially Funcoland. Competition is a good thing, and the downward spiral of Gamestop and the stores it swallowed up is proof.The monopoly keeps getting worse, the customer service somehow manages to get worse, and their business practices as well. At least in my experience and that of my friends.
And now exclusive demo codes. Does Nintendo want this game to fail? This is definitely one of the games that would benefit from a demo, but not if it only gets into the hands of artificially limited fraction of 3DS owners. And given my Gamestop experiences, many might not even end up in anyone's hands. Because, lazy. They always seem to have drawers full of this stuff left over because it never got into customer's hands.
@Tsusasi That's your local Gamestop... At my local Gamestop—when the were giving out the Diance and Mega Gengar Pokémon codes—I simply went in there, and got a code (on both occasions). The employees at my local Ganestop aren't lazy, and are cool people. 8-)
Besides, we've pretty much seen this before; if this is real, Gamestop's probably going to hand out special demos with unlimited plays, and maybe something extra, and then demos with limited plays will probably show up on the e-shop. Nothing new, here.
Those cards look pretty cool.
@Tsusasi
GameStop is Funcoland. Literally. They changed the name to GameStop.
@BensonUii
What are you talking about? you guys get demos all the time, much easier than NA often times to where we get these stupid "randomly selected people from CN". Yes, you guys have the same thing happen there from time to time but it happens here more often than not.
sadly gamestop does suck, many of the people who work there are either ignorant to the world of video games, or just plain jerks. the state of bonus items for pre-orders, and pre-orders in general is a total sham. personally i am convinced that it's the gamestop employees who are sucking up all the limited edition stuff and flogging it on ebay before anyone at all gets a crack at it. with limited supply these days on that kind of thing, you basically have to work at gamestop to get anything special from nintendo at all.
as for this game, i havent been interested in the least, but i would try the demo if i could get it. but i dont plan on going to great lengths through some crazy gimmick to get the code for it....
@Quorthon No it is not. Gamestop/Software Etc bought out Funcoland in the early 2000s, took what they liked about the company, and liquidated the rest, closing many stores and eventually rebranding them. Not too long after that, they 'merged' with EB… and I use the term 'merge' loosely, only because they did. It was essentially a take-over again. So no, Gamestop is not Funcoland and Funcoland did not change it's name. It was bought out. The owner was an entrepreneur who wanted to move on and try new things. Gamestop got Game Informer as part of the deal.
I used to be a 'group' manager at Funcoland in the 90s and I worked at Software Etc while I was in school in the 2000s. Completely different companies. The detailed history is a bit more complicated, and begins with Babbage's, but for the sake of this discussion not completely relevant.
Here's the 'official' scoop.
http://news.gamestop.com/about_us/company_history
And an even more detailed history here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameStop#Babbage.27s_.281983.E2.80.931994.29
I remember when the first Gamestops opened. They were a spinoff of Software Etc, but also devoted floor space to collectables and other gaming related merchandise.
@ouroborous The company wasn't always like this, but it just keeps getting worse. And yes… unfortunately in spite of policy, employees do skim the good stuff through various means, usually involving having friends make the purchases for them.
not all, obviously and there are good employees.
Hopefully they will hand these out around the time I go pick up my ps4 and evolve
Oh gods NO NO NO! Not this GS crap again
Lemme guess, Nintendo's gonna announce that these are free for anyone interested, but GS's corporate jerks will tell their employees to only give them to preorders.
Why can't Nintendo of America stop making bad choices? Everything they do nowadays is anti-consumer, anti-fan, and anti-gamer.
As much as I thank Gamestop for bringing Xenoblade over here, there is so much wrong with the company.
Don't like the idea of having to go to a store to get a demo - why not home Wi-Fi - and then get the code on a card - why not just Wi-Fi DL? - and then have to scratch off that stupid annoying stuff - why not just scan a barcode?
I like the cards as marketing material, but that's too much work for a demo.
Well at least we don't have to purchase Final Fantasy Type-0 HD to get it. (ie Nintnedo's not the only company making people jump thru hoops for free demos)
@Tsusasi
Actually, what I said is accurate. They did change Funcolands into GameStops. I just over-simplified the whole thing as I didn't have the individual corporate details.
I knew about the EB thing, though.
@AVahne
I don't know if we can really be thankful for GameStop on Xenoblade Chronicles. Reggie botched that pretty good by limiting the release of the game to just that one store--who later over-charged for the game. GameStop has pretty much obliterated any other nation-wide game store chain, which means Nintendo is only going to deal with them or Best Buy for this stuff.
After having worked for both of those stores, and seeing how other employees dealt with Nintendo owners, you guys are right to be angry with them. Generally, employees at both have no interest in actually helping consumers find anything worthwhile on a Nintendo console. Almost without fail, they just lead them to a wall of Mario crap and tell them to "just get that." I wish that was an exaggeration.
Turned out, I generally enjoyed helping people learn more about gaming. Be it explaining that there's "more than just Mario" to Wii owners or educating a very stubborn woman that games were not all just about violence by relating to her about my own experience with Fallout: New Vegas, and my attempt to diffuse as many situations as possible through dialog and non-violent means.
@rjejr
What we're most likely seeing is Nintendo attempting to maintain a good working relationship with a major, though largely terrible, retailer.
Part of the reason Sega struggled so badly with the Saturn was a string of poor decisions in how they worked with retailers, resulting in many stories of such badly burned retailer relations that some flatly refused to carry anything by Sega, and later made getting the Dreamcast out there that much harder. Hard to sell a console when many retailers refuse to even carry it.
We've already seen a retailer in the UK dropping Nintendo from their store shelves, and GameStop stores aren't very big. It'd be very easy for them to clear up stock room (more like stock-closet) space by simply no longer carrying the poor-selling Wii U. This may well be a move to avoid such a situation, along with giving GameStop an exclusive of such a popular and well-loved character as Shulk. When it comes to exclusive Amiibos, in my opinion, GameStop got the winning hand in that.
Hopefully something similar happens here, I'm really interested in sampling this one.
Not sure if it was mentioned above but the codes at Gamestop were only given to the keyholders of the store. My local Gamestop got five codes and only one of them was given away since that particular keyholder didn't have a 3DS.
@ChuJelly I work at GS and those pokemon codes were given out free to walk ins. Just might be that your local store is full of silly people.
@Quorthon - "Hard to sell a console when many retailers refuse to even carry it."
I've been saying that about Amazon US since the Wii U launched. I would think at least a few people have been put off by the 3rd party only stock.
@Vineleaf
It's just one of those games that tries to be crazy, just for the fun of its outrageousness.
Abraham Lincoln, Tom Sawyer, Cowardly Lion... How can anyone NOT love a game that has those 3 characters in it
At the end of the day though, it's Intelligent Systems. The entertainment value of their strategy design is best in class, regardless of how strange the name or odd the characters or peculiar the aesthetic.
@rjejr
Or put on about it. Amazon charges tax and consumers can save close to $20 by ordering through a 3rd party Amazon vendor, simply fulfilled by Amazon and backed by their guarantee.
Amazon has historically never stocked Nintendo hardware. Handheld or console. Why, I'm not really sure. But the fact you can buy through 3rd parties fulfilled by Amazon tax free means the systems are still getting the same exposure. At least the consoles are listed- if someone truly has an issue ordering through a 3rd party they have other online options, like Newegg for example.
@Mus1cLov3r right lol as an employee there that watches out for fellow gamers people need to understand that not all stores are the same. You just might have a store full of jerks.
@JaxonH - "if someone truly has an issue ordering through a 3rd party they have other online options, like Newegg for example."
Gamers buying Wii U for themselves that's probably all good, but parents choosing between a Wii U, PS3/4 or Xbox360/1 for a gift may not feel like risking so much money on a 3rd party. And I know Newegg is huge (I think I read recently it may be only behind Amazon for online sales), but is it huge among the soccer mom gift buyers?
I just don't see how Amazon US NOT carrying a product can be rationalized as a good thing. Well unless that product begins with an "i". Apple seems to do just fine w/o Amazon.
@rjejr
I would imagine. I tend to avoid resellers on Amazon unless they're the only option--especially for something like this--and when it comes to the Wii U, it's just as easy to go to Target or Best Buy. It's not like they're hard to find.
But this is seriously why game companies do things with GameStop--to maintain that faux partnership (more like a hostage situation with GameStop as the guy with the gun), and it will continue until the rise of digital games destroys the need for GameStop.
In some ways, I do not see GameStop surviving another generation or two. The company pays pure sh*t, which breeds hostile employees, who are treated like crap anyway, and the policies of the company are frequently anti-consumer.
Perhaps it's telling that after I quit that job, which was ridiculously hard to get in the first place, I let my GameStop Rewards thing expire and have deliberately stopped shopping there barring rare occasion.
@rjejr
Well it's certainly not a good thing, I just don't think it's having that big an impact. As long as a 3rd party vendor is "fulfilled by Amazon" I think most average people won't think twice.
@JaxonH
I'm pretty sure Amazon stocked Nintendo hardware in the past, as this only really became an issue after the Wii U launched. Hell, Amazon is the company that sold me my Neo-Geo X Gold set. If they're even carrying that, there's something wrong if they aren't carrying Nintendo hardware.
The impact on sales, like you said, may be relatively negligible. What's more damaging is the image it puts on Nintendo. What did they screw up for one of the largest retailers in the world to stop carrying their stuff?
@Quorthon
I'm pretty sure they didn't stock the Wii or DS either. It's been a thing with Amazon and Nintendo for a while.
@Quorthon - "until the rise of digital games destroys the need for GameStop."
What's funny is that the end of "disc based" games seems to be coinciding w/ the rise of physical based downloadable content in the form of Skylanders (spent $65 on them this just morning) Disney Infinity figures and amiibo. Skylanders have been out for 4 years so theoretically should be going away soon, but I suspect something will take it's place, the market is too big. And 3 new Star Wars movies are coming out, and Disney owns Star Wars so...
Gamestop isn't my favorite place, but I'm glad they're around for used games. And how many shoe stores and matress places does the world need?
And if Gamestop goes under, somebody else gets the power, and I don't shop at Walmart. As long as there are music CDs in stores there will be disc based videogames. Not everybody can download 50GB, which is what some PS4 games are. PS5 will have 4k resolution and 100GB games, thats a loooong time to download.
If someone can please pick up an extra code for me, that'd be nice. In return I am offering two NA MH4 demo codes
@rjejr
Well, I'd say most PS4/X1 games are 50gb, and it's only the start of the generation. Next gen will almost have to have physical based discs with just certain texture packs being installed, otherwise peoples' hard drives will be full in a month! Unless some new ultra capacity hard drive is invented before then. OR, they transition to streaming (but I doubt they'll ever forego hardware in favor of streaming, though they might release hardware that utilizes streaming rather than discs or downloads.
Idk, they seem to be in a bind no matter what they do. Digital-only will mean too few games on a hard drive and excessive download times, streaming-only would piss people off royally and might jeopardize their business, and physical-only would necessitate extremely fast read speeds, and it would go against the grain of their culture as a complete reverse of the status quo.
@300murlocs Yeah, you shouldn't base an entire store franchise on one store.
@JaxonH @rjejr
I'm sure our internet speeds will be at least 5% faster by then!
Sony and MS have tackled the long download times in a fairly clever way on the new consoles--in many cases, you can actually start playing the game before it's finished downloading or installing completely. And of course, all of the current gen hardware can download and install during sleep modes.
@JaxonH @rjejr
Not all PS4 and XBO games are 50GB. The disks can hold that much data, but not all of them are remotely that large--although some of the installs are ridiculously huge. The 3DS is apparently the only platform that managed it's storage space well this generation... well, actually, I still have an issue with that in that DSi Ware games cannot be saved and played from the SD card and must utilize the internal storage. Which is still kind of stupid.
Frankly, I've been wondering why we still use optical media. Unless we switch to the Holographic Versatile Disk media (HVD, which Nintendo co-owns a patent in), Blu-Ray and DVD technology can only hold so much. Hell, Rage, uncompressed, was purported to be 1TB in size.
I think the industry should move toward a "media card" technology combining SD style technology into something the size of a credit card or TB-16 Hu-Card, and putting games on those. Console temperatures would drop, moving parts would go away, read speed increases, and storage goes way up. The first 512GB SD card was revealed last year. That's, I think, way more than the 50GB of a Blu-Ray.
On the fence? For sure. The demo will be a make or break deal for me. On a side note: it concerns me that a new Fire Emblem is already in the works when we still have no 3DS Advance Wars, yet they made this game instead. What's going on here???
As for all the Gamestop hate, I've had my share of good and bad experiences as well. The few local stores in my area I deal with are generally great and very helpful. Some of the more distant ones I've deal with were pretty bad.
Can't wait to get one, who knows what the rules are but to those who keep bashing gamestop I have many friends who work there and had worked there in the past, I will be he first to admit that there is some rather shady people who can work there who will do anything to make there store look good like getting more preorders through such means, but on the whole a believe these are few and far between I have gone into stores like this but I usually walk out and take my reserves to another store, that's less unethical. It's the world we live in 99.99999% of the people follow the rules and that remaining bit dose things the wrong way.
That being said I'm thinking it will be something like get yours when you pick up your New 3ds XL or ask for it but priority will be given to those who ordered the system, they usually send about 100 when they do the pokemon ones, so I. Sure for most stores that's enough.
If nobody has mentioned this yet if you enter the code it gives you the 011-3102 error code which means the download code you entered isn't currently being distributed.
@Quorthon
I agree optical is dated, but I'm not sure how fast they're gonna move away from it. It's cheap, and that's the ringer.
Looking at my PS4 and Xbox One games install sizes, I have
Halo Master Chief- 61gb
Forza Horizon 2- 40gb
Sunset Overdrive- 25gb
Dragon Age Inquisition- 45gb
Far Cry 4- 25gb
GTAV- 52gb
CoD AW- 43gb
AC Unity- 56gb
Lords of the Fallen- 11gb
Shadow of Mordor- 31gb
Killzone Shadowfall- 43gb
Last of Us- 44gb
Diablo 3- 29gb
Infamous Second Son- 22gb + 9gb DLC
Wolfenstein- 52gb
Tomb Raider- 17gb
So I suppose you're right, not most, but a good portion of them, and some are even well above 50gb after the day one patching process. I did the math- we're averaging almost 38gb per game (based on sample study of my own personal collection- the real average of course might vary a bit). That's a lot, especially considering games will only grow in size as the generation goes on.
Gamestop is nice to find old games that are no longer on the market. Game Trader is my preferred place however. Outside of that, they unfortunately are the one place that has a decent selection of Wii U/Wii product outside of the local Target.
I really wish Nintendo would just directly market this stuff via nintendo.com or expand the Nintendo Store experience outside of New York City.
@rjejr @JaxonH
From what i understand, the reason Amazon doesn't carry Nintendo hardware is something to do with how Amazon typically discounts stuff. I guess Nintendo didn't like them discounting things without their consent, probably that whole "it dilutes the value" thing they went on about before.
@Quorthon
I second the Hu-Card idea, I've wondered that myself why the industry hasn't just switched to flash-based storage like the handhelds. the only reason I can see is cost, since while flash isn't expensive anymore disks can still be made for pennies on the dollar.
I know I am going to end up picking up this game, I am a big fan of Fire Emblem and this looks like an evolution of the game play from that series.
I will happily pick up a code if this is true!
@ChuJelly Tell them you'll report them to management if they refuse.
@Zombie_Barioth @Quorthon - "I second the Hu-Card idea"
Embarrassed to admit I did't know what that is, but the logical extension is amiibo and other NFC toys that have the games in them. Shouldn't be too hard to hide a micro USB port under the base somewhere.
@JaxonH - "Halo Master Chief- 61gb"
Isn't that like 4 games though, brings down the average I'm surprised they don't give you the option to just install the ones you want. I just finished a 12GB mandatory install for Bioshock on PS3 and it took way too long, but it was free on the B Infinite disc. Skyrim had it's own disc but I think that was a way too long install as well. All 3 were $15 so can't complain too much.
Why are you so stupid, Nintendo?
Nintendo clearly has high hopes for this, while most people really don't care about it, so why not release the demo normally on the eshop so people can try the game and maybe realize how good it is.
@Zombie_Barioth
I think they want to still be able to sell the consoles as DVD and Blu-Ray players, and that disks are just culturally recognizable as entertainment media. We've reached a point where flash media is extremely cheap to produce. We can't be far from being able to produce a game on something the size of a credit card or TurboGrafx-16 Hu-Card for a full game.
It might take an entire paradigm shift--for two industries (movies and games)--to move away from optical disks, and that might not be easy. The risk there of coming out with this before the industries or society is actually ready for it--which could lead to a colossal failure in a sense of being too far ahead of it's time to be successful. Sort of like the ill-fated analog sticks on Atari 5200 controllers, or the touch-screen and internet use of the equally ill-fated Tiger Game.com.
@rjejr
Its the Turbografx16's game cartridge, which actually does look like an SD card.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Hu-card&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=2VPDVP7qGtbhoASM-4HoBw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1360&bih=653
@Quorthon
Thats a good point, I don't think they want to completely redesign consoles around a proprietary format, never mind loose the all-in-one entertainment device aspect, which is what they think consoles need to do to remain competitive and relevant.
As for the cost, yeah, I know its plenty cheap, but like any corporation they still want to cut corners where they can. I think mass-producing disks still comes out cheaper. They'd rather just cut out physical media all together anyway.
I second the idea of using a proprietary flash tech or "hu-card" technology. But there is an issue.
Optical tech is at it's practical limits with BluRay. The push from 650nm red lasers to 405nm violet allowed grooves to be spaced much closer together, resulting in an increase in capacity for a dual layer disc from 8.7 Gb to 50Gb. Further expanding the storage capacity would require adding more data layers or larger discs. Beyond about three or four layers you get serious problems reading through multiple semi-reflective platters. This would also require thicker and more expensive media.
Flash storage is starting to reach saturation as well. I can remember when flash storage was $1 per megabyte. I can also remember when RAM was about the same. Flash has now been roughly $1 per Gigabyte for the past couple years, and capacities aren't increasing as fast as they used too. Higher density could be achieved with mask ROMs, but you're back to the issue of installing updates.
Either way you're looking at $30 per card manufacture cost if it can truly holds 30-64 Gb of data, as opposed to maybe $1 for disc media. It would be the N64 vs PS1 all over again. Portable 3DS and Vita games are smaller and low resolution graphics. Also the PSP prooved that mechanical drives are bad for portables due to reliability and battery life.
While nothing would tickle my fancy more than a return to cart/card based media in home consoles, it's just not likely to happen. CPU speed and data density, both optical, magnetic, and solid state, are slowly reaching critical mass where additional performance gains are harder and harder to achieve.
Digital downloads are also suspect, as residential broadband is nearly operating at capacity already. Satalite is high latency and useless for gaming, mobile is slow and expensive, and we've just about reached the capacity limits on DSL and Cable modems so ever increasing bandwidth and 4k streaming and instant game downloads are not likely in the near future unless every home gets a fiber optic line run to it. Never mind rural customers who can't get fast affordable broadband with low latency.
Pretty hyped about this game! Can't wait to try it out!
In bought that game on the eshop, and TBH I have always wished I'd bought the physical copy.
I love that game so much though! I have played it nearly 3 times now, and it always just as fun! Replay value is abundant in that game.
@StarDust4Ever @Captain_Gonru @StarDust4Ever - Don't wait on FIOS, it isn't coming
http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/01/verizon-nears-the-end-of-fios-builds/
"resulting in an increase in capacity for a dual layer disc from 8.7 Gb to 50Gb."
I'm under the impression that the new consoles - PS4 and X1, sorry U - install everything from the discs onto the internal HDD drive anyway, correct @JaxonH ? So the industry doesn't need bigger discs, just send multiple discs. What difference does it make how many discs a game comes on if you have to install it all anyway? Just make it so only the first disc needs to be inserted for the whole game to run.
I have 10 or so PS1 games siting on my shelf, they are all multiple discs. I was actually kind of snobby about that in the late 90's, but I really only played JRPG anyway. And MGS sits next to it's Bleem disc counterpart so I can play it on my Dreamcast. I wouldn't be surprised if Squenix decided to purposely make FFXV ship on multiple discs as a status prestige thing.
I honestly would greatly prefer if they released the demo on the eShop over giving a code at Gamestop. I know isn't a big deal to drive to my nearest store, I just think it is silly for me to have to.
These are only being distributed to GameStop employees at the moment.
@Zombie_Barioth
There's a big draw to physical media, still. What ultimately needs to happen is a format change for movies, media, and video games. If one of the consumer electronics companies (or a couple working together, as they did creating VHS) reveal a new "all-media card" that could replace CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, and video games, and reveal extremely affordable players for the technology, that might move in the right direction.
Especially if they could build it into a current-style player. For instance, a Blu-Ray player with a media card slot would help sell the things. They'd need to be 1) more durable than current media, 2) higher quality than current media (so 4K+ potential), 3) larger memory than current media, 4) faster than current media, and 5) cheaper or equivalent prices to current media.
The two certainties we seem to have are that optical media is more and more limiting every couple years and media size is growing faster than internet bandwidths. Blu-Ray was released, and maxed out within about two years--It was noted that Metal Gear Solid IV had completely maxed the Blu-Ray disk and had to feature compression in some of the videos--kind of the opposite to the point of the Blu-Ray disk.
Flash media is making huge advances and in-roads now, like the recently revealed 512GB SD card. That's half a terabyte that fits into the small change pocket on your jeans! I think it may have to happen sooner or later.
They are very limited unfortunately. My store only got 2 for 8 people and they used them.
@Quorthon
The problem with creating an all-media format is the same as every other one faced, getting people to upgrade. Unless it completely alleviates problems with existing formats, like DVD did for VHS, people won't see a point in it unless they're forced to upgrade.
The console manufactures won't adopt it until it becomes common place, or they lose the all-in-one media center aspect. The exception being another push like Sony did for Blu-Ray.
Most industries are probably going to push straight for a digital future over improving media formats, especially games since they're already closely following PC. The main improvements to flash will be in storage, since focusing on bigger, cheaper SD cards and SSDs for make more sense. Movie players and game consoles are the only devices that would even use a new media format.
I wouldn't be surprised if those industries start pushing to improve our infrastructure either, since that greatly affects their botton-lines. I'm not exactly for it, but the cable industry can't out-lobby the movie, game, and music industries combined.
That just what I think will happen though, I'm more of a best of both worlds kind of guy. I'd rather have both, but I know I won't get it.
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