Weirdness: Japanese Company Wants To Bring NES Games To Smartphones Via A Tiny Cartridge

I like it, but it ultimately may not end up working.

I know, I know, three or more platforms to support, certain OS not allowing direct installation of applications, etc.

But it's nice to finally have a method for physical purchases on mobile.

Give me also a gamepad and I am totally fine, because touch screen does not work

The way it sticks out looks ridiculous.

@Damo It would've been nice if it did otherwise, though.

I guess it pretty much won't support Windows Phone, then.

@daniruy I agree 100%. There are some really fun games out there for phones, but they're usually puzzle or strategy games. Other genres don't usually have good controls IMO on phones.

This doesn't really work with the intended mobility of phones at all. People get smartphones because they don't need to get much (if any) external hardware, instead having everything imaginable available through digital means. A physical cartridge is way too backwards for that.
Also, the general idea is just stupid. Many NES games require extremely precise controls due to their difficulty, and virtual gamepads do not provide that. At the same time, an extra gamepad for phones contradicts their design as mobile devices just like these cartridges do.

Extremely useless. I'd need a buttons accessory not useless plastic occupying the headphones port

Lets just hope that the phone has the jack and that and that is isn't in an awkward place that prevents a person from holding their phones comfortably while gaming. Even the new 3ds with its inset design has had people pressing the power button by accident.

I can also see the cartridge becoming damaged after the connecter is bent 90 from dropping.

Ew.

Seems nice, but gimmicky. I doubt many people would want to have extra hardware with their phones.

I'm sorry, but I find this thing incredibly stupid. If someone wants to play on a smart phone the last thing they want to do is carry extra equipment.

That sounds interesting.

Three things I should point out:
-The way the cartridge sticks out looks really awkward.
-Does this mean I can't use headphones while playing said games?
-99% chance this won't work on windows phone since it has practically no market in Japan.

Can they get something like this to continue on with the likes of snes, n64, etc.? Doesn't look we are getting those on the handheld side of Nintendo anytime soon, so...

@Seacliff "-Does this mean I can't use headphones while playing said games?"

• if you use bluetooth/wireless headphones

Well, maybe the idea is interesting, but that just looks awkward as hell sticking out the phone like that.

Also, surely this is using ROMs, so why would you use this cartridge and not just download them straight to phone?

And, it does nothing to make those games play any better on mobiles.

You're not selling physical copies of games to smartphone users, it's not happening. They (smartphone game enthusiasts) don't want to carry a cartridge around, and certainly won't do it for a NES sized game.

I don't see people buying the Pokemon GO Bluetooth attachment unless they exaggerate its necessity or benefits either.

Interesting idea. I wonder if you accidentally drop or bend the cartridge while it's plugged if it would ruin the headphone slot or damage the cartridge itself.

There's already a way to connect a wiimote to a phone so pretty sure using a controller won't be an issue.

Thanks, but I have ROMs, and a countless amount of them won't even make it to cartridge form.

By the way, this is one of the worst ideas I've heard of, the headphone jacket connection would force you to use the device vertically.

Why 3.5mm jack though? The audio jack couldn't actually transmit data, could it? :S

Looks cool. Too bad it will never come out in the US.

Wouldn't it just be easier to download the games and play them without having to carry the carts and adaptor? Or if it's about authenticity why not make the adaptor able to support a famicom controller instead?

NOW YOU'RE PLAYING WITH CELL POWER!!!

@DarthNocturnal Headphones do not require much space at all, so they hardly get in the way. But with these cartridges, the exact problem would arise that made a good number of people already switch to digital on consoles and PC: it saves space and eliminates the necessity to carry/switch carts or discs constantly. It's simply inconvenient to carry these plastic things around just for one measly game when the exact same game can also be downloaded to the SD Card or internal storage of the phone.

what if....you want to play the game with headphones...?

I really don't see the point of a dongle on my mobile device. Why not just use existing app stores to buy the games or make them in app purchases inside the emulator app? I don't personally want to carry around any cartridges for playing games on my phone or tablet when I could just download directly to the storage on the devices. And as metalface said, I won't be able to plug in my awesome z moda headphones with this stupid thing. No thanks.

This feels like a solution for a non-existent problem. The only way this makes any sense is for titles that will vastly exceed the storage of the phone, but you still have to get the OS companies to allow them access.

If Nintendo abandons physical media for their next system than I will not be purchasing, unfortunately. I wish them all the best but I will only ever buy my games as physical copies. Particularly Nintendo games.