Nintendo’s Disc Free System is Smart and Makes Sense

TheArabGamer writes: "A lot of people seem to have taken a backlash at Nintendo’s recently patent console device which doesn’t include an optical drive. Here’s the thing: optical drives are obsolete."

[-Foxtrot]

It's a silly idea, especially when there is a lot of people out there who like physical discs.

Remember when Microsoft with the Xbox One tried to force things onto the consumer and didn't give them a choice.....didn't work out well.

[MrSwankSinatra]

So you're trading a disc for a cartridge, how is that silly?

[-Foxtrot]

If the carts can hold the same or more then what Microsoft and Sony use...fair enough

But if they don't and they require us to download the rest of the data then I couldn't care less.

[MrSwankSinatra]

@-Foxtrot Discs require you to download data onto your hard drive anyways. So that point really makes ZERO sense. Not to mention carts have been able to hold more data than discs for years. Disc technology hasn't come that far when compared to carts.

[-Foxtrot]

@MrSwankSinatra

Not the same in the slightest

If you had a cartirdge and it had a small amount of data on it only for us to download the remaining 30+ GB then it would be silly

PS4/Xbox One dosen't make you download most of the game does it. You can still play them even if you didn't have a internet connection meaning you don't have to download anything to fully play them

"Disc technology hasn't come that far when compared to carts"

lol

Is that why Sony whizzed past Nintendo when they released the PS1 since Nintendo REJECTED their offer to team up and use their discs.

[DemonChicken]

I see alot of people mentioning cartridges so I don't understand where this cartridge rumor came from - the patent mentions no optical drive which kind of suggest no backward compatibility with previous physical media but does mention read/write card slot that can read from devices (such as an SD memory card).

[Dasteru]

@-Foxtrot:

"Is that why Sony whizzed past Nintendo when they released the PS1 since Nintendo REJECTED their offer to team up and use their discs."

The PS1 was released 21 years ago. Do you also believe horse drawn carriages to still be the best way to get from place to place?

Dual Layer Blu-Ray disk = 100GB storage
There are USB flash drives out already that have 1TB of storage. A game dedicated cart could theoretically have several terabytes of storage space (crazy expensive but not the point)

6x Blu-Ray disk (As is in the PS4) = 27MB/s read
Current top end flash memory = ~1.7GB/s
Typical flash memory used in mid range SSDs = 550MB/s

Flash memory (Cartridges) is far beyond disks and has been for many years. Just because disks were superior a couple decades ago, doesn't mean they still are.

[Dasteru]

Edit to my last post.

I meant quad layer (currently the highest capacity available) Blu-rays = 100GB.

[showtimefolks]

why this is hard for Nintendo is beyond me

meet with the publishers and ask them what it would take for our console to get their games at the same time as ps4, Xbox one and pc

meet with developers and ask them what they would like to see us improve and how can our console be better than ps4 and Xbox one. ask them what they don't like about ps4 and Xbox one and make sure we don't have the same issues

go hard after indies, offer them the best place to make their games and provide them with any help needed

offer fee online game play, and make sure our service are on par with psn and Xbox live. no matter how much work it takes and no matter how much it costs

get blue point studio to remaster or remake old Zelda games. and I if was running Nintendo I would make sure Atleast 2 past Zelda games launch with the console

make sure a metroid game is launching with Nintendo

a new built from ground up F ZERO

bring in a lot of new talent and make our studios 2 or 3 teams each. don't make the fans wait as long for the exclusives

sign kojima no matter the cost and let him own his ip

get insomniac to do future sunset over drive games for Nintendo

it's not so hard. if Nintendo is only run by people who actually understand that gamers want games.

ABSOLUTELY NO GIMMICKS

A PURE HARD CORE GAMING CONSOLE WHICH WILL BE STRONGER THAN PS4 AND XBOX ONE BY A BIG MARGIN.

Nintendo makes enough money from handheld to afford some risk taking

[ShinMaster]

I wouldn't mind cartridges.

@-Foxtrot

Dude, flash memory nowadays holds a lot of GBs. This ain't the 90s.

[XBLSkull]

Physical games need to die already, keeping the digital titles high priced and it's bull**** since they cost less to produce.

[Bimkoblerutso]

Yeah, I'm with yall. It really depends.

As far as cartridges go, I wouldn't mind at least seeing how that technology unfolds for Nintendo's console. This generation has made it quite clear that the physical size of media is increasing exponentially faster than the storage capacity of our optical storage solutions. That's why every game we put in our PS4 or XBONE is automatically installed, and then almost always patched immediately with a sizable download. Our games are just too big for our storage. If a game could be reliably run off a chip-based cartridge without the need for installing, then I think it could work.

If this is a play for a 100% digital Nintendo ecosystem...I am out right here and now. I didn't like it when Microsoft suggested it, but there is no way in HELL I'm investing in a digital system from a company that is as backasswards as it can possibly be when it comes to digital content.

[mikeslemonade]

It's just another lame attempt by Nintendo to make it big. Nintendo usually strikes out. They got lucky with the Wii1. This will be another flop.

[UltimateMaster]

Card cost significantly more to produce than discs.
3rd party will prefer going with disc and not support the NX.
Didn't they learned Anything from the N64?
Games on the N64 were 80$, while the PS1 were only 40$, for the same game.
Will you go off and pay 100$ for a game you could get for 60$ on the other consoles?
Didn't think so.
Also, the PS4 is using Dual-Layer Blu-Ray disc that supports 50Gb, and they produce a disc for only 0.25$. Try getting an 64Gb SD card for under 1$, I dare you.
Sony has a patent for a 128Gb Blu-Ray Disc and BDs can go up to 500Gb.
Nintendo will kill themselves if they don't release a optical Blu-Ray Disc Drive.

[ShaunCameron]

@ XBLSkull

But those production costs are offset by server maintenance and bandwidth costs.

@ showtimefolks

Free online gameplay? At a time when when even Sony abandoned it? LOL. I do agree on them needing to get it up to par, though.

[SonyWarrior]

no physical game option no buy for me. this will die just like psp go did

[Bltby38]

@UltimateMaster
You can't go by the prices of flash memory on Amazon or Best Buy to see what Nintendo would pay for it. You have to look at what wholesale bulk prices are for flash memory. Here you can buy 1GB-64GB Micro SD cards for $0.87 each as long as you buy 50,000 of them.
http://chinabigbook.en.made...

[Losso-Oso]

@XBLSkull

I have never understood why people think that an all digital future would be so much cheaper.

while production costs may fall some what, due to the lack of physical media production, those costs will be offset by a spike in server maintenance, IT employees and other costs that will arise from the maintenance and upkeep of server farms.

I work in IT, my job is fairly simple and boring, things don't normally get exciting around the office unless something completely breaks, and let me tell you, my coworkers and I don't come cheap, like at all.

Not to mention that I don't trust any of these companies with an all digital future. I don't trust Nintendo, I don't trust Sony, I definitely don't trust Microsoft with it. Heck I still have a hard time trusting Valve with Steam.

I guess cartridges could work, or flash storage, and buying flash storage in bulk can bring the cost down to similar levels of that of disks, but not close enough.

Unless the difference will be one or two cents, third parties will not support anything that will bring up their costs from what they are now, unless they are getting something extremely valuable to them in return, like the death of the used game market.

That's another thing, if the big three were to go all digital at the same time, it would cause a huge spike in the demand of IT workers, and if we have a shortage of them now, at least here in the states, just imagine what that kind of demand will do to salaries demands from those of us in the field.

I know that I would at the very least demand 3x my current salary, and I'm under asking according to my coworkers. SO all and all, going all digital could potentially, actually make games more expensive to make for a short while.

Also, and I cant say this enough, Digital protection rights for consumers are extremely bare bones right now. Even in Europe where they are making progress by leaps and bounds in terms of protecting consumers in a digital age, and don't even get me started on the states. Compared to Europe we are decades behind, and Europe is still no where near where the protections need to be to at least offer the same level of consumer protection that physical media provides.

If the extremely likely scenario of a rise in games costs, games becoming a service instead of a product, probably losing 90% of your consumer rights and ownership of the products you purchase, you right to do with it as you please, and having your games be at the mercy of a faceless corporation as far as the games remaining active and playable, if in all honesty, you would trade all of that away for a little more convenience on the next gen of consoles, sounds good to you?

Then more power to you, nut if that is the case then this is probably my last gen in the gaming world.

[iDadio]

You would have a point but Nintendo fanboys are the most loyal defenders, but if they want to make as much success as their handhelds they are going to need to listen to the consumer base properly. That and get third party a lot more on board instead of rehashing the classics

[-Foxtrot]

"You would have a point but Nintendo fanboys are the most loyal defenders"

Example right above you.

[showtimefolks]

idadio

so true man. they need to listen to gamers not the very very very local minority. the reason for my 3 very's is because Nintendo fanboys base isn't big enough for just one very

and fox I am above him lol

[BVFTW]

If they offer flash cards with similar memory capacity as BDs while not having an impact on games prices then it will be an excellent distribution media.

[ABizzel1]

The problem is exactly what you said.....price.

A 25GB Blu Ray disc is less than $0.40 to produce since they can be sold at a value of $0.50 per disc and result in a profit.

Flash memory while much cheaper these days than say 5 - 10 years, still isn't anywhere near the price of a Blu Ray disc to produce even in obsolete models such as 4GB / 8GB.

[BVFTW]

It makes me really curious to see their take on this issue if this is the direction they're going. Technologically speaking it's obviously a superior medium but it isn't as cheap as discs when looking at high capacity cards and the difference might be significant for 50Gb games, even when buying in bulk I imagine it still doesn't compare to the manufacturing cost of discs. We still don't know what this is but that little patent generated quite a spark ^^

[PsylentKiller]

I see partnerships with SanDisk, Seagate, Western Digital in the future. Hell, one of them may throw a fighter into the console ring.

[freshslicepizza]

steam has many more users than what the new generation of consoles have combined and they don't use physical media. nothing about this new system is suggesting anything like what microsoft posed for the xbox one. which required an online connection at least once every 24 hours. that is what really put people off, this constant monitoring they never explained why it was necessary.

what is evident is digital sales are on the rise and things like cloud computing offer exciting possibilities. yes there is still a large portion of gamers who refuse to buy digital but we already live in a generation where you can succeed if they don't offer physical content (netflix, steam, itunes...).

[Aghashie]

I had to disagree because u r comparing Steam user base w new consoles generation.

Steam has been around since the PS3/XB360 era, I think is more logical to compare to them.

Now, do the math and let's talk numbers.

[freshslicepizza]

all the more reason to suggest it. since steam has been around a long time and with internet access growing and getting faster what's the issue again for consoles?

[3-4-5]

* Nintendo knows people love Physical copies of games and collecting Nintendo items so I have a feeling there is a way to have both.

There is so much we don't know, that trying to speculate on what little info we have isn't going to do a whole lot.

* NX reveal is one of my most anticipated thing in gaming for 2016. Can't wait to see what they have to show us....but I try to stay positive about it.

* Also Cartridges were more appealing to collect and had a certain instant nostalgia factor even back during initial release in the 90's.

Cartridges don't scratch, last longer, more appealing to collect, people can't pirate them as easily...ect..

There are benefits to Cartridge.

[nitus10]

I remember this same discussion 20 years ago when the PS1 was released and we all know what happened there.

Sure flash media has gotten bigger and even cheaper, however it is still more expensive than disk (ie. CD/DVD/BD) devices which are very cheap to produce. Don't believe me then compare BD prices with an equivalent capacity flash device.

When a games developer has a game published the cost of the distribution media is a factor that must be considered. Yes they could go all digital for maximum profits however that is assuming everyone has a high speed internet connection.

>> Cartridges were more appealing to collect

That's conjecture and dependent on the collector.

>> Cartridges don't scratch, last longer, more appealing to collect, people can't pirate them as easily

Cartridges are active devices in that they have electronics in them. Sure the case may be very robust but electronics can fail, but then again disks can be scratched. It depends how they are handled.

As for piracy. If software no matter what media it is on it can eventually be pirated. For example it is not that difficult to get the roms for Nintendo and Sega cartridges.

>> There are benefits to Cartridge.

Just as there are benefits to passive disks and cheaper usually always wins.

[REDDURT]

Nintendo fans will defend anything they do. I think they will still have a storage medium.

[Ck1x]

I think most Nintendo fans actually want Nintendo to return to a cart/flash medium for their games because 1. It's definitely leaning towards buying one game that plays across multiple devices and 2. Optical drives are slow and a bottleneck. Nintendo already said that they would never go all digital, so people can stop listing that as a negative.

[ChristianTheAtheist]

@Ck, your point 2 becomes invalid if compared to PS4/Xbone since games don't run from the disc but directly from the HD instead.

[garrettbobbyferguson]

"IF the carts can hold the same"

Why wouldn't they hold the same? It's a medium of storage. We have video (Magnetic) tape that can hold 185 TB from Sony. Mind you, they're not even cartridges. That technology has been obsolete well over a decade. They could go so far as to even use SD cards, although some proprietary medium may be best. Who knows.

[LackTrue4K]

For me personally I don't mind, I want a compact size tho! That way I can take it with me to Mexico (go down there monthly).

Hell, I wish both Sony and Microsoft made those option. With/without disk drives....
That way we have options and @ a cheaper price.

[pcz]

obviously backwards compatibility is out the window now though...

thats bad news because i have yet to buy a wiiu, but was buying wiiu games. with the knowledge that nx is just around the corner, i was hoping it would be B/C so i didnt have throw over one hundred pounds down the drain on a useless wiiu.

its ironic that the wiiu might actually be the last nintendo console i ever buy.

[marloc_x]

With unified accounts around the corner pcz, I think Ninty will have us covered :)

[truechainz]

Jokes kinda on you for buying those games without a solid knowledge of what the NX even is.

[pcz]

@truechains

the joke isnt on me, actually. i bought mario kart 8 practically on release day. that was well before the NX was even announced.

nobody could have foreseen the successor to wiiu coming so soon. it leaves late adopters like me in a predicament- do i buy a wiiu or wait until NX? assuming the NX is backwards compatible makes the decision easy- just buy wiiu games and play them on the NX.practically all nintendo consoles in the last decade have been B/C.

but again, nobody could have foreseen that the NX wouldnt even have an optical drive. that is not the joke being on me. perhaps the joke will be on nintendo when their move backfires and nobody is interested. after the pathetic performance of the wiiu at retail, that is a very strong possibility.

[Yetter]

my XB1 has yet to have a disc inside of it. If MS would have had an option to buy one with out the disc drive I would have picked that up in a heartbeat

[quaneylfc]

It's nice and progressive, modern day gamers need to be forced into going without discs.

Look how successful Steam is and think how annoying it is changing discs, especially chaning the discs for 3 consoles in 3 different places.

[SegaGamer]

I don't see anything annoying about changing discs, it takes about 10 seconds. If this annoys anybody then they must be a very lazy person.

[quaneylfc]

I said annoying, not physically taxing. Gamers need the cases thrust out of their hands, Ms and Sony are kicking themselves for not conforming to it earlier. Too bad they need to make friendly with the stores every year so hardware can be sold.

[DarXyde]

@XBLSkull,

Yes, let's destroy physical media and go purely digital. Of course they'll lower the prices of games when their online stores are now the sole means of obtaining new games. Yeah, these companies will DEFINITELY honor the fact that they're cheaper to distribute and won't try to capitalize on an opportunity to make more money.

...really, dude? REALLY?

[player911]

There is no way a cartidge is cheaper than a disc. Discs are super cheap to make. While I lile downloadable games that prevents me from changing discs all the time, being forced to buy the same game over and over again is stupid.

[DeadlyFire]

Well you know if Microsoft had the confidence and pushed ahead with that plan you never know it might have worked out for them. Valve did that with Steam. HL2 dropped and it was take steam or don't play the game. Then well Steam caught on some couple of years later and grew up pretty fast.

[jcnba28]

Nintendo isn't forcing anything. It's a feature on the console (if patent is for NX).

Understand the difference.

[Jdoki]

Hmm, let's see. Rare Replay, Halo MCC and Dead Rising 3 to name only three games that came on disk but needed huge downloads to get the most out of them (or even be playable).

Most games come with Day 1 patches now, and some are huge.

I don't see the problem in Nintendo going digital only, or cart based + download for the next console.

People are getting used to large downloads. Some iPad / Phone games are well over a GB. Plus, if Nintendo are smart, they can build player profiles and download to temp files the data for games a person is likely to purchase so they are ready to go.

The problem as I see it is for people with capped internet - but those people face the same issue with patching certain games on other consoles.

[JsonHenry]

@foxtrot- They'll just add enough static-ram to hold information needed on the carts. The data storage on the carts can be as big or small as needed.

And the read times will be hella faster than optical drives. So faster loading times. "Cart technology" (RAM basically) has made LEAPS AND BOUNDS more progress than disc drives over the years.

You are so wrong on almost all of your points. How do you have so many bubbles when you are so woefully misinformed about the tech you go on about?

[gedden7]

I feel as though, Nintendo will use card or cartridges. more memory and maybe NO loading times. I think this is the way to go.

[XanderZane]

The problem with Cards and Cartridges is that they are more expensive to manufacture then Blu-Ray discs and will cost Nintendo more in the end. They are faster then discs when it comes to loading however.

[gedden7]

@xanderzane actually no where as $$$ as they were in the past. I think around $2-$4 to make which comparable to blue rays right??

[XanderZane]

My main problem with this all digital console is that you really don't own the game. When you purchase the game from a retailer or digitally online, all you're going to get is a code that allows you to download the game and digital manual. Nintendo or whatever publisher will still have ownage to the game and could easily make it unplayable on your console if they wanted to. Also, you have no way to sell the game and get some return money once you've beaten it. Of course it's already like this with most digital indie games, but most of them don't cost $60. If Nintendo wants to go all digital with the NX, that's fine, but I wouldn't spend more then $30 on a digital game. Nintendo will save millions by not having to manufacture blu-ray disc, manuals and boxes for their games. So pass that savings onto the gamers.

[MrSwankSinatra]

I'm all in for Nintendo going back to carts.

[Eidolon]

Why, because of nostalgia?

[MrSwankSinatra]

Yeah it must be nostalgia. I mean Nintendo using a cheaper and virtually better alternative to discs must obviously be nostalgia. Carts don't have the ability to eliminate load times, carts don't have the ability to hold even more data than discs, carts are not able to read and write data, carts aren't more reliable and able to hold their hold their value more than discs. I mean Nintendo going with cartridges over discs wouldn't make their console more reliable because there are less moving parts in their system, due to the elimination of an optic drive. Yeah it must be nostalgia

/S

[_LarZen_]

Because discs can get scratched and has no identity like a cartridge. And loading time from a chip is faster then with a laser on a disc.

[ABizzel1]

@LarZen

Yet disc cost $0.40 or less to produce 25GB of storage. Meanwhile, flash memory $5 for 16GB.

It doesn't make sense, and in the end gamers will be the ones paying that additional cost bringing games up from their current $60 up to $70 if not more.

It just doesn't make sense outside of a handheld, where games are much smaller and a 2GB / 4GB card is more than enough, offers faster read / write times than a disc, and isn't 10x the asking price of a disc.

On a console where games are averaging 20GB it doesn't make sense, unless you want to make games cost more.

[RegorL]

@Abizzel1 comparing production price of disks with retail price of flash? Would not surprise me if small flash chips are cheaper...

[iamnsuperman]

@MrSwankSinatra

Discs are far cheaper to produce than flash. It is a why developers moved to disc over cartridges. Most of what you said is right but don't call it a cheaper alternative to discs. It is not. It could be a major issue for Nintendo in the long run going flash. It adds to an already expanding budget. I see it pushing more developers and publishers away which is the opposite of what Nintendo needs. One of the major reasons why the Wii U failed was due to lack of support. I know the future is moving to digital only but not by the time the NX comes out. We are still in that transition period

[fanboysmackdown]

I just want them to make a console I want to buy. The last two were kiddie toys.

[MrSwankSinatra]

The Wii U is actually pretty dope (though has some flaws) imo. Sure it might be slim pickings when it comes to games, but it's a dope console. The Wii U is what the original Wii should have been if you ask me.

[fanboysmackdown]

Glad you like it, I think it stinks. The gamepad is not my idea of a good time. Give me a proper controller and hopefully the NX does away with the gimmicks so they can attract 3rd parties because that's where their last 2 consoles lost it for me. If they're out to only appease the fanboys, I won't be buying another Nintendo console.

[Spotie]

But those flaws are the reason the console isn't doing very well. It's kinda hard to agree with it being "dope" when it does very little to appeal to gamers that aren't already Nintendo fans.

[DragonKing81]

And it will always be kiddie toys because that's what Nintendo represents

[garrettbobbyferguson]

Video games are toys in general. Just so happens some of them are for adults. Also just so happens that these adults are too embarrassed to play something that doesn't seem "mature" enough.

[ShaunCameron]

Only to those who haven't gotten over the GameCube's purple lunchbox look, Nintendo sure does.

[Lennoxb63]

Yes. If they make it a modern day gamecube type console I am sold.

[nitus10]

The GameCube used propriety disks although you could get an adapter to play game-boy games via the cartridge.

[BenRage3]

@icheerbothconsoles <---that says a lot about your maturity and it's ironic

“Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

C.S. Lewis

Grow up kiddo

[maniacmayhem]

Kiddie toys!? Why because they didn't have a ton of FPS games that cursed, showed a ton of blood?

Exactly what makes the WiiU a kiddie toy? They have had some of the best games in almost all their generations of past on the WiiU, with a high emphasis on gameplay and design.

[Ck1x]

Don't people play games on all consoles? So the term "play" signifies something only a child does I guess...

[Germany7]

What's really is a kiddie toy is Kinect, it's embarassing even watch someone playing with that.

[jcnba28]

That's funny because that's how I feel about sony's last 2 consoles.

[Ipunchbabiesforfun]

Meh, I had the Wii and it got old fast. Initially I was curious about the Wii U but it just didn't appeal to me once I saw it. Nintendo for me isn't so much about graphics but I can't just shell out hundreds for a console I can't play the biggest titles on. I cannot afford to buy 2-3 consoles and it's silly since I don't have the time for them either. I like Mario and the other IP's for the nostalgia but I'm more into gears, halo, uncharted, god of war nowadays and so for me PS/Xbox is the way to go.

[DillyDilly]

Fuck cartridges. I am one with no problem with digital only. Cartridges would just annoy me

[parentsbasement]

I would buy it if digital only , I have an internet connection (but most people here seem to have trouble with theirs and being "always online" ) I don't want to get up and blow on a damn cartridge to get it to work...

[SegaGamer]

And when their servers close down you won't be able to buy another game for the console ever again. Also, any game you do purchase would be gone for good if you delete the game from you HDD or if your HDD dies.

Is this the kind of future we want for games ? to only be able to purchase games as long as their servers stay alive ? It would suck.

[DillyDilly]

& when the cartridges break down & stop working your forced to re buy it again. Id rather take my chances digital & buy once

[SegaGamer]

At least we would still have a choice to buy again though. If they close their servers down then that is it, you would never be able to buy any games for that console again.

Cartridges and Disc's wouldn't need to be bought again if people looked after their games. I'm 26 years old and still have plenty of old Master System and Mega Drive games from when i was only 7 or 8 years old, and they work perfectly. Even my disc based games still work perfectly fine.

[DillyDilly]

If Sony can get away with doing what they are doing with PS Now. Nintendo can always do something similar. I'm good with digital

[feraldrgn]

Would have preferred Blu-ray, we've seen that they go all out in fine-tuning the games, just imagine what they could do on Blu-Ray?

[madjedi]

In all honesty blu ray does need to die, at the very least for games, it is a bottleneck in current consoles.

Both consoles install the whole game from the discs onto the hdd, it is much faster than blu ray discs, otherwise we would have even longer loading times than last gen.

I still believe a physical medium is needed, because despite all the people who want to look down upon others for not having great internet.

Or not also jump on the digital only bandwagon, people still want physical items. But cartridges need to be a lot cheaper to produce in order for discs to be replaced.

Digital only is extremely convenient, and that really is the way it will ultimately go to.

[ABBAJESUS]

SD cards will do the job :)

[tigertron]

I won't buy the NX if doesn't use physical media.

[DragonDDark]

Same here. Not everyone has good internet.

[BenRage3]

A friend of mine just received an X-Box One for his birthday and spent all day doing updates and loading games onto the hard drive. These days it doesn't really matter if you have an optical drive or not, we all end up downloading massive updates and spending a lot of time waiting for the game/s to install onto the hard drive.

It takes me a few hours to download a 50gb game, which is inconvenient I get it, but after you download it, the game is there to be played as much as you want. As long as there is adequate hard drive space then I do not see this as a problem.

So, my question to you is, "How long does it take you to download a 50gb game?" And remember you can always speed up that process by attaching an Ethernet cable to your console. Because I have heard of people with slow connections say it takes days to download a game of that size, and if that is you, than I understand your concerns regarding Nintendo's new platform should they decide to go this route.

[Ipunchbabiesforfun]

You need internet to game nowadays it's just a prerequisite. Sure, you CAN go without it, but that's just a sad state of affairs with the amount of broken games that release.

Ben, I have a PS4 and downloaded the Last of Us in a few hours, at least enough to play and it finished the rest over the subsequent hours/days, no clue when it finished. I only have a 40mb connection (feels like 2mb at times, thanks century link) and I did so over Wi-fi on my lame 2.5ghz connection.

[ShaunCameron]

That's not Nintendo's problem, though. People need to take their lack of good internet issue up with their ISP's.

[Lennoxb63]

I haven't bought a disc since Games On Demand was enabled on the 360, so all digital is no problem for me.

[Main_Street_Saint]

While it is rare, there are some games not in digital format.

[Fro_xoxo]

jeez does the storage medium matter?

It's just to hold the software.

Cartridge or discs, doesn't matter...

personally, I'm done with physical media.

[N0TaB0T]

You're not in the majority but good for you.

[Ck1x]

Well I see many people complaining but have already bought into this ecosystem with their phones and tablets that they own.

[Fro_xoxo]

exactly..

When it comes to video games, the vocal minority just love to b!tch. It's the standard.

[DragonDDark]

I dont buy digital because my internet is so bad -.-

[fanboysmackdown]

Agreed, not everyone lives in a big city.

[5yb5n6u]

and if the games somehow got pulled out from the store, or some service got discontinued, well, goodbye.
digital future is overrated as long as the services remain, well, digital

[StormLegend]

Hopefully they come out strong with the Nintendo games
I want
Zelda U
Pokemon for NX
Mario for NX
Bayonetta 3 for NX
Luigi game for NX
Sonic game for NX
Kirby game for NX
and some good 3rd party games

[FlyingFoxy]

If it's using Flash based cards then it doesn't matter if it doesn't have an Optical Disc drive. As other people have said, read speeds and access times are better than Blu-ray.

When i upgraded my PC some months back i didn't know my new mobo didn't have an IDE port for my DVD rewriter, so i've been without a disc drive for months and had to install Windows 10 from USB. That was quite a lot faster than from disc even though i was still intalling to SSD.

Besides no optical drive = no noise.

[TheLastVoiceOFsanity]

upside to using cartridges- cartridges uses a lot less power than optical drives, the load times are faster than the fastest blu ray disc drives. ram memory in modern consoles is used to compensate for the slow speed of the disc drive. the cartridge is the memory card, so taking a game, not you console to a friends house would be a better option again. cartridge slot would be cheaper than a optical drive, and allow the console to be manufactured smaller, light weight &save money on shipping cost. fast memory is getting cheaper & cheaper. 4k blu ray disc are going to be in the 66gb-100gb capacity range, but i don't see 3rd parties filling them up.

[link2Dpast]

They did make there own cd's but in the end if it isn't bluray there just not enough capacity. In doing this you avoid the whole having to depend on another hardware being bluray. And I'm on the side of having a physical copy but I see the business sence of not having others in your business

[garrettbobbyferguson]

"There just not enough capacity"

Flash cards can hold well over 100 gigs of data. Modern games are 30 or so due to terrible compression to deter pirates. You do the rest of the math.

[Hiro193]

But, the patent also states that there's a physical based version as well...

[Chaosdreams]

I'll make my judgement when I actually see what they are working on. Getting worked up right now is stupid. Often times when we are absolute about something, our minds change drastically when we gain another thread of information which changes our perception.

We all know Nintendo doesn't do something, without trying something different. We also know it doesn't always work, but on the off chance it does, we love them for it.

[KaoSouL]

Won't work for me then, it's another Nintendo System I'll never touch. I live in the middle of nowhere and have to pay $89 a month for 15GB's of crappy lagged satellite internet. One or two game updates from PSN or XBL wipes out my bandwidth for the month.

[masterfox]

The new console needs to have somekind of external storage for their games if not were are seeing an already dead console without even release yet, still society is not 100 % fully connected hell I think not even 50 %, so for this reason Nintendo can't screw with this is just plain dumb if they intend to.

[N0TaB0T]

I actually like owning my games, thank you.

[jmc8888]

The people hating are morons, pure and simple.

They must be people who have ONLY used CD/DVD/Bluray discs for games.

There ARE other mediums, and a discless console... IF it becomes a reality DOES NOT mean it is digital only.

Only a moron thinks DISCLESS automatically = NO PHYSICAL Media.

The two are not mutually exclusive.

Carts, SD cards, maybe something else proprietary. I'm fine with it.

Never had a NES cartridge screw up. Have had 12-15 discs chewed by my 360. Had it replaced, and the replacement stopped reading discs a few years later.

It's an additional failure point that can brick a console. We don't need it.

I'd have no problem putting some stick into a slot rather then insert a disc. It could also mean more $$$ to be put into the guts of thing.

Oh and disc drives create heat and take up space. Less heat, and potentially better air flow designs from not needing to put in a disc, and potentially more room for a better heatsink, means they could potentially put in more powerful guts into the console.

Never thought I'd see people wanting to hold onto this fragile medium. Discs scratch, they suck. Period.

I'd much rather have a new medium that's far more reliable, and likely lasts longer.
media.

[nitus10]

You obviously haven't tried to scratch a Bluray disk. This is not to say that BD can't be scratched but it is so much more robust than a DVD or CD for that matter.

The most heat that is generated by PC's or consoles for that matter is by the CPU and GPU not the hard disk unless you have a bank of disks in a RAID array.

I do remember discussions like this over 20 years ago when the PS1 was unveiled and we all know how that turned out. Basically developers always go for the cheapest distribution media.

I also have PS1 and PS2 disks that are still playable. I even have some old Snes cartridges that still work although the internal batteries have long since died. There go my old saves.

[parentsbasement]

I would think cartridges cost more and third parties may not be on board...but , I always saw Nintendo as an exclusives console only anyway so no biggie to me...

[BattleAxe]

"Nintendo’s Disc Free System is Smart and Makes Sense"

Now I've heard everything.... The only thing that would be cool, is if Nintendo were to go back to cartridges (solid state). It's funny how some things have come full circle since the 80s.

[madjedi]

Realistically that is the next logical step for consoles that still require a physical medium.

Cartridges would be vastly preferable to discs, in virtually every way, except it is too expensive compared to disc as of yet.

As for a disc less Nintendo console, it better have a 2 tb hard drive minimum and hire someone from steam to design the entire download and rights management.

If I delete a game from my steam library, I can be downloading it again immediately afterwards without having to get permission from valve.

If Nintendo can't mimic steams ease of use and convenience of downloading old games at any time you wish. It will be a total failure as a digital only console.

[pumpactionpimp]

Seriously, why doesn't Nintendo just stop pushing hardware for a bit, and become a software company? Not permenantely mind you. Just until they right the ship, find their identity, and come up with a clear and concise plan of action.

The sheer amount of money they could make releasing some of their back catalog of games on current gen systems would make them tons of money. It would also give them time to see what they've done right and wrong in the past, and come up with a console worthy of the Nintendo name.

I don't understand why such a simple solution is so hard to go with. Especially when it's currently their best option.

[BVFTW]

It may generate revenue but it will also weaken the hardware brand, if they go full on third party it will migrate some of their really diehard fans that doesn't buy other consoles to other platforms and everyone will expect to have their games on these platforms and will see no need for a Nintendo branded console in the long run and when Nintendo decides to go back exclusively to its own consoles most people might not like to support this 'cause they might've gone used to having their games on everything else. They've said before that they don't want to loose this value and that is why they refuse to do it. I don't share this POV but it's still a good way to do business.

[pumpactionpimp]

I'm not saying you bring anything current to other consoles. Push out the first 3 Zelda games, first few metroids, and the same with Mario. It's easy. This buys you time to fit the same cycle as Sony and Microsoft, and come out with a console that has a real controller, and enough power to get 3rd party support.

[BVFTW]

As I said, that is not my opinion of what they should do, you asked why they didn't became a software only company, even if its temporary and I replied with something they've said multiple times before in different interviews, they feel that their games and IPs have a special value and they don't want to dilute that value. Iwata said to a shareholder once that "they're interested to be profitable in the long run" something in the line of keeping profitability and maximising revenue in some years of those cycles, it has something to do with different generations of gamers.

There are other options and I'm very critic with some of their hardware and services decisions but financially speaking, even if you and me have different opinions in how to run things, these guys has been making profits and had managed to keep the company healthy for a long time so maybe they don't feel the need to steer the ship in a different direction when they talk about how to manage the company.

[Ck1x]

Sony and Microsoft's loyalists don't play Nintendo games, so where would the business sense in that be?

[pumpactionpimp]

Wow, way to troll. Speak for yourself. I would kill for all the classic Nintendo games I grew up with. I'm just not going to buy one of their consoles to get it. Unless that is, they put out a console that is worth buying.

I guarantee for every person like you, that wants a new pretty game, there's at least 5 people that would be willing to pick up old Nintendo games. If nothing else, for nostalgia alone.

[N0TaB0T]

You children who put Nintendo/Sony/MS on a pedestal don't see a CORPORATION screwing you over in any way, at all. Like ever.

Grow up tool.

[Ck1x]

See you're the minority "gamer" that Nintendo isn't trying to go for. The way you come across is as if Nintendo hasn't put out any good games since their 8bit and 16bit era.

It's weird how people want Nintendo to go 3rd party when Sony will probably end up that route much quicker than Nintendo. Toshiba has brought itself low and the whole of Sony will be the cause for its ship sinking. so maybe we would like to see Playstation games as 3rd party titles as well...

[pumpactionpimp]

You miss my point entirely. I'm saying you can release older games to turn a profit, while you get a firm idea of what kind of console your fan base is asking for. I never said only their old games were good.

As for Sony going under... Anything can happen. No company is immune to going under. But Nintendo is/has been following a similar path as sega did. Releasing products with no clear vision, releasing gimmicks, and losing third party support. The only thing that holds up Nintendo is their handhelds now. They drop the wii u, and move to another console, and I would imagine many of their hardcore fans won't even buy it. Simply because they come out with a 2-400 dollar failure of a console in the middle of the other consoles life cycles, and drop support to move on to their next gimmick.

I think releasing 8-16 bit games on other formats will supplement their income, while they wait and support the wii u, until it's time for a new console. This isn't a knock on Nintendo, their games, or anything other than the fact that, past their handhelds, they seem to have no clue what gamers want.

[Spotie]

Pretty certain the gamer Nintendo is targeting now is a minority, too. Their sales sure as hell seem to indicate that.

[level 360]

Never heard anyone mention gamers' will have to purchase($) more data blocks from their broadband providers' when Nintendo does implement a no disc policy - think about this - add* up a years' extra costs' you have paid getting all those extra data block plus** the SD cards/chips to save all those games just in case you still want to have some sort of physical copy especially if the country/areas where you live still doesn't have a good internet connection service.

So yes, Nintendo is saving a lot.. but is passing the rest of the costs' to it's valued fanbase.

What I really see here is cost-cutting. Blu Ray/4K hardware and software nowadays are so dirt cheap.

[Razuel]

they could go all digital and the memory card is simply that, a tool to transfer game data that you pulled from a kiosk. Gamestop already sells digital only, though not competitive price wise.

[Jag-T1000]

I'm all in if it's a microSD card or something. As long as they don't go all digital.

[JacketsNest101]

Solid state is absolutely the way to go. Production costs on SD and USB memory cards have gone down drastically. At retail a 32 GB SD is anywhere between 20 and 30 dollars depending on where you buy it. By going solid state, Nintendo could eliminate the need for a high heat HDD, put more powerful gear in the system, and store all of the data (save games, game code, mods) on the memory card itself. The only reason you would even need memory on the console would be the operating system. They could save a ton of money on the console, make it very powerful, and keep the cost low enough to make it appealing to consumers. It's a very smart move.

[Ninja_G_Aidan]

E3 2016 will be showing Nintendo handheld which will be out early 2017. Every six years they have new console. That's my prediction. I do hope it's a cross between home and handheld. Home console seems to do really badly compared to handheld.

[_-EDMIX-_]

I think that is what it will actually be.

[craig2web]

Digital is the future. The next Apple TV will likely play games as well - with no physical media required.

[SegaGamer]

The negatives far out weigh the positives with digital only.

1) Price, digital games on cosoles are very pricey.

2) No re-sale value

3) The game is only yours for however long they will allow it to be yours.

4) Storage. I'm sorry, but not many people can afford to go out and buy a ton of HDD's every few months. With the size of games these days it wouldn't take long to get through 1 / 2 / 3TB HDD's

5) This for me is the biggest concern and why i am massively against an all digital future. Say a console has 500 games made for it, what happens to those games when they discontinue their servers ? Well, that would be it, we would no longer ever be able to purchase any new game for the console again. Also, any game we currently have backed up on a HDD would need to be on there forever. HDD's eventually die, so it's highly likely that one day we would lose all the games we payed for.

Digital only is a horrible future for gamers.

[x_RadicalAura_x]

"Say a console has 500 games made for it, what happens to those games when they discontinue their servers ?"

Well in that case with your logic, then what happens to your physical games that are broken pieces of garbage without day-one (and subsequent) patches? lol Then you have a bunch of clutter that's been sitting around with the promise of retaining nostalgia for nothing.

[craig2web]

Digital games are often very cheap. HDDs are cheap - and a single HDD will be fine for most. Just because you buy a game doesn't mean you're going to play it forever. If someone starts to get low on free space, they can always delete older games they're no longer playing. DD allows a lot of smaller independents to release games that would never make it to traditional retail channels. It's faster and simpler - I don't have to go out to a store or wait for a delivery. It simplifies the design and manufacture of the console, and helps keep the price lower. And w/o an optical drive, it's one less thing to go wrong with the console.

[deathtok]

I'm a life-long Nintendo fan and own both a 3DS and Wii U however I'm also a retail hold-out.

I refuse (with few exceptions) to purchase digital so I can play my games long after the network services are offline.

Hopefully, Nintendo and other console manufacters will take notice...

[R00bot]

There's nothing in a nintendo console that will stop you playing downloaded games after network services are offline. In fact I don't think any of the current consoles have a system like that in place...

[Baka-akaB]

I'm not worried about that aspect and storage that much , that much , i'm worried by the fact that Nintendo has been straighforwardly region locking everything for a while now straight down to the hardware... and that i can't even rely , thus far , on the way they handle accounts and IDs , to at least commit to foreign version of the consoles and digital "imports" .

If i can't have that on a digital console , then i'm just skipping their console

[Tankbusta40]

Not that I will ever purchase another Nintendo system(Havent been a fan in ages) But I hope this fails so the execs at Sony and Microsoft dont try this. I don't mind digital and take advantage of it when there are decent sales but I would much rather prefer physical and I believe most people want that as well

[sloth3395]

so games you buy in store for the Vita and 3DS don't count as physical to you because its not a disc?

[PistolsAtDawn]

I've gotten every Nintendo before...I'm sure I'll grab this one too.

[jay2]

PSML!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! I have 14 Ps4, 3 xbox one games and many movies. ALL ON BLU-RAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have DVD's. Optical drives ARE NO WHERE NEAR OBSOLETE!

[x_RadicalAura_x]

Calm down bro. lol Digital is inevitably the future. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

[sloth3395]

you know the PS4 and Xbox One install the games off the disc so its not really using it when playing the game

[mixelon]

Download only wouldn't even be that bad, enough people do that on their phones, their FireTVs, etc. Having a cart slot too basically makes it a bit like a more powerful PSTV.

As long as it supports a standard (sdcard) and/or has a ton of internal storage, I'd be happy to go disc free on a console, just for variety's sake. Optical discs need to install to the hdd on the other consoles anyway, it's not that big of a deal. I've bought boxed games with download codes before on PS4, really not bothered.

I generally like differentiating features between hardware, if they're all so similar there's little point picking them all up.

[kingPoS]

Nintendo’s flash cart System is Smart and Makes Sense. FIXED!

Heh I knew Nintendo would eventually go back to form. Cartiadges do seem to be smart choice. Sd cards USB drives & ssd'so have come a long way
from the carts used in the 90's.

But...

Say what will about disc based media, it is undeniably convenient. However, the consumer level blurry format has it's limits, specifically a limit of fifty gigabytes. Perhaps when the bd xl format coughbecomescheapercough matures more it might be used as something more than an expensive means of archiving.

Gateway MT6706 2008

[hiawa23]

Well, honestly, micro sd cards now hold more than 50gbs which is the largest space a blu-ray disc holds, so this may not be a bad thing. Probably cost most to make, though..

[DoppleGanger]

I actually like the Wii U I though CoD Blops 2 Played Great on it. But Once Third Party Support Dwindled I got rid of it. Hopefully NX will Fix That.. I don't Care if there Disc, Carts, or all Digital if it has Support and is priced right I will get it..

[x_RadicalAura_x]

A month ago I would've been vehemently against this concept but as of recent, I've warmed up a lot to digital. Mostly because I'm realizing how much of a pain in the ass it is to run out of shelf space with limited/confined real estate space and also how much of a headache it will be to move with so many games, blu-rays, books, etc.

Digital games + a Kindle Voyage + Vudu eliminate all of that. :) But eh, to each their own. Maybe I'm just turning into more of a minimalist. Nothing against people who prefer physical (considering I was there a short while ago). Also, I CAN'T STAND retail stores such as Best Buy and GameStop. Their customer service is piss poor and I'm tired of dealing with them. GCU is nice, but the unpleasant experiences and gas money to get there quickly add up and make me question if it's really that worthwhile.

As long as Nintendo can drastically improve the eShop, I wouldn't be opposed to this.

[Captain_TomAN94]

To me it seems like Nintendo may be as ballsy as MS wanted to be with the XBOX One. If MS was honest with themselves they wouldn't have had a disc drive, and they would have sold it for $400 with Kinect.

[holtzy]

so nintendo wants to copy Microsoft this is going to fail miserable. when system go straight digital i will stop playing video games plain and simple

[MultiConsoleGamer]

It still has physical media.

Disc free =/= No physical media.

There's also a big surprise coming in the spec department. Remember, that cost of goods on current gen consoles has decreased substantially in the past two years. And those other next gen consoles were made to produce a profit, from launch.

And that's the last thing I'm ever going to say about NX on N4G.

[alabtrosMyster]

It depends how they use their control of the media to try to control what kind of offer third party devs offer?

Will they try to force companies to buy the parts from them?
Will they insist on taking full control of distribution?

If they insist on controlling manufacturing, will the media be reasonably priced and available (they have been known to "loose" trucks at convenient times, especially when some third party was not doing as they pleased).

Otherwise, I don't see how it would be a problem, these carts can hold a lot of data, we have 256GB microsdhc cards now a days, this is way more dense than any kind of optical disc!)

[theFAYEsorceress]

idk about where everyone lives, but where i live, my provider recently started giving allowances for the amount of stuff you can download per month. going over your limit results in extra fees to your internet bill, which is complete bs, so seeing a next-gen console without an option to physical games is no-no for me.

[Orionsangel]

Everyone has been talking about going digital by installing all your games on a HDD, but no one has thought of a new format to hold a game. Games on something similar to an SD Card carrying 100gb of information is an interesting idea. NX is becoming more intriguing by the day.

[JasonKCK]

Nintendo will do what's best for Nintendo. They been in the console business twice as long as anyone else.

[RenigadeRuss]

Guys, look. its plain and simple. look what happened to Microsoft with their (DRM) fiasco. The proof is in the pudding. Microsoft did a complete 180 because gamers spoke loud and clear... if Nintendo releases this system without a physical based format, it will fail.

[u4one]

Discs started to be used on consoles because they had more storage than cartridges of that time. nowadays, you can stuff more than a blu-ray worth of stuff onto a micro sd card the size of a fingernail and its its read/write speeds make optical drives look like molasses. also - we have really fast internet on top of it now. i have downloaded every single game i have purchased on my ps4 and x1. no discs. its not once been a problem and i've had them both since launch. if anything its more convenient because i never have to get up and touch the freaking things.

holding on to optical drives is no better than the logic of being mad at mp3s because people wanted tangible cd's - and they only wanted those because its all we knew. when you bought something, you got something you could touch. we had to be taught that there was a better, more versatile, instaneous, more convenient way to deal with and listen to music... and when was the last time someone scratched an mp3 or executable file??

people just fear change and get set in their ways and it makes them blind to every better way to do something. my bmw has a freaking optical drive in it that plays cds, mp3 cds,dvds whatever you name it... how many times have i used it? zero because it also has bluetooth and usb. turns out i have this tiny computer called an iPhone that plays music without discs and fits right in my pocket and works with those technologies. music is transferred thru thin air or via data cable as if by magic without the need to flip through a huge disc catalog the size of a phonebook... what a world.

[fatneal]

i agree with everything you said...imo i think the fear is drm and region lock...those are legit fears man

[u4one]

yeah. i agree with you too. i think at some point though studios are going to have to gain peoples trust about the use of drm or abolishing it. its in everyones best interest. the technology is easier and superior for both sides to deal with (discs vs internet or high speed cards) i mean the read speeds for optical drives are horrendously slow.

they also aren't going to sell much product if nobody wants to buy it - just look at the still lingering stigma from the xbox pre-launch drm dilemma. yet another point that studios should take when considering drm.

also of note - even if they went a "cartridge/card" based system, its still not really different than a disc. you still get physical media that you can haul around with you to various peoples places etc - with the added benefit that its not gonna need a disc doctor scratch removal routine done to it when we get back home. its not like one could toss a wii U disc into a samsung blu-ray player and expect a game to appear on the screen. the format of the media is irrelevant. just my opinions of course! cheers!

[fatneal]

id rather have a system with unique 3rd party support than a system that plays the expected 3rd party annually releases (Cod, Assassins creed, ect.) i will admit i hate that nintendo doesnt get any of the sports games released on their consoles anymore.

no matter im buying whatever nintendo releases because i trust their intentions. they havent let me down yet

[fatneal]

the irony here is that nintendo is fearless. they arent afraid to be different and set the trends. if they go all digital or back to cartridge and they have DRM we will complain but we will still buy it and you can bet sony and MS will follow suit

[iNFAMOUZ1]

haha nintendo already *ucked up their next console and its still aways away, damn haha, not surprised. Yet another console i wont be buying since gamecube

[R00bot]

It's a patent, meaning the chances are it won't come to fruition.

[iliimaster]

foxtrot flash drives are so small and can hold GBs of data for awhile now very compact

[someOnecalled]

Some people don't realize what site this is any not sony will get bashed. And how bluray is the only media with high storage capabilities. Sd my tablet got over a 100 gb sd card. Cartridges cost more to produce but y'all acting like games are using more than 30 gigs. And the games that do have u download or install.

Gotta love this site. If it ain't sony it ain't $h!t. If it is its revolutionary.

People don't wait and see if it ain't sony. If sony pass off something that suck or garbage its gold. look at PS now, wonderbook, etc. Rember how onlive was garbage and game streaming is a waste of time, but now its great I wonder why

[ShaunCameron]

Or PS+ after Sony announced that people were gonna have to pay up to play online multiplayer. LOL

[Thomaticus]

I definitely want something physical. I don't want a download only system. If they use SD cards as a video game cartridge, or even something proprietary, then I think it's good.

Systems should generate less heat, use less power. Don't have to worry about the optical disk drive having mechanical failures. Faster load times

As long as the carts are durable, (and this has never been an issue for nintendo) everything should be fine.

[cabinotier]

Optical Disc is going to be a bit small and too slow for console game.
retail windows 10 is shipped on usb flash drive.
time to say goodbye to optical disc is coming.

[Malacath]

A digital only console will fail.

Most console owners still like discs.

If it's not having a disc drive then I sincerely hope it uses some kind of flash drive for games. Preferably a kind that can be manufactured cheaply to keep the cost of games at a similar price point to disc games.

[navi87]

A flash cart is way better than Blue Ray for oh so many reason, bar the production cost. But as someone stated earlier on, when you are producing these things by the millions I'm sure they cant be that much more expensive than a Blue Ray.
I also think that Nintendo should have both options available for consumers in terms of physical vs digital. A SD card type cartridge and digital download to be saved via an add on Hard drive (as far as I know USB 3.0 does similar speeds to SATA 6, so no bottle necking). I say add on as this doesn't force the consumer down one route thus keeping things flexible and also keeping the actual console cost down at the same time.
You could also in theory take the Hard drive add on to your local shops to download the game directly as well if you suffer from bad download speeds or download limits. 2.5" HDD are pretty damn portable and they don't need a PSU to power them either.

Nintendo knows what they are doing...they have had a rocky few years but they always set the trend in this industry.

And one more thing...stop comparing cartridges from the NES/SNES/N64 era to Flash Carts...it's embarrassing...

[NickAwesome]

first of all this is just a rumor,second of all i get a lot better prices in retail than in digital store and also i don't have to worry so much about games taking too much space on my hard disc

[Tzuno]

Stop defending this bullshit, soon we will pay for thin air.

[x_RadicalAura_x]

Just because something is intangible doesn't mean that it doesn't have any value. lol

[deadchucky]

you all guys forgot something that nintendo handheld come before the new console so i think this is all about the handheld i guess.

[jcnba28]

Going back to cartridges would be awesome.

[Monster_Tard]

A lot people were assuming the NX would be a hybrid console that would be capable of playing handheld games, So going the cart route makes sense.

[AstroCyborg]

so when ms was heavy into daily drm & checkins its anti consumer but when nintendo does it its al good

[Monster_Tard]

Who is saying any thing about Nintendo doing DRM or check-in's?

[dubal-e]

I agree with the author and like the idea.