Nintendo’s New NX Console to Go Retro With Videogame Cartridges

[SWORDF1SH]

Article from The Wall Street Journal

TOKYO— Nintendo Co. plans to adopt cartridges for its next-generation videogame console, people familiar with the matter said, a step that might prompt a reassessment of the old-school format.
The industry prefers optical discs when physically distributing game software because the discs can store large amounts of data and the cost per unit is low. Major game systems including Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 4, Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox One and Nintendo's own Wii U use discs.
However, chip-based cartridges are garnering renewed attention thanks to fierce competition among semiconductor makers including Samsung Electronics Co. andToshiba Corp. to develop flash memory that can pack more data onto small chips at a lower cost.
Industry watchers said cartridges were a reasonable choice for Nintendo's next-generation system, code-named NX, because the company targets a wider range of consumers than Sony or Microsoft. Nintendo's core fans include small children, who might scratch discs but find cartridges tougher to damage. Cartridges also allow games to load faster, are harder to copy and can be mass-produced faster than discs, they said.
They are "no doubt today's best format to physically distribute games," said Atsushi Osanai, a former Sony employee who is now a visiting fellow at Harvard University.
A Nintendo spokesman declined to comment on whether the NX would use cartridges. The company has been tight-lipped about the system beyond saying that it would be unveiled by the end of this year. Analysts have said an announcement could come ahead of the Tokyo Game Show, which begins Sept. 15.
People familiar with the matter said earlier that the system would likely be usable both as a console with a television set and as a hand-held device that can be used on the go. Adopting a cartridge should help keep the device small for portability, the people said.
Nintendo's popular hand-held 3DS device uses cartridges that are roughly the size of a large postage stamp.
 
The company has been tight-lipped about the system beyond saying that it would be unveiled by the end of this year. Analysts have said an announcement could come ahead of the Tokyo Game Show, which begins Sept. 15.
 
 
      Nintendo's New NX Console to Go Retro With Videogame Cartridges - WSJ
   

[Legend]

A portable system using cartridges? Gasp!

I think it's funny that seemingly most people want the NX to be a home system to go up against PS4 and XB, but instead it's seemingly just a mobile system with HDMI out.

[kitler53]

A portable system using cartridges? Gasp!

I think it's funny that seemingly most people want the NX to be a home system to go up against PS4 and XB, but instead it's seemingly just a mobile system with HDMI out.

except as rumored the system isn't mobile either.

[the-pi-guy]

except as rumored the system isn't mobile either.

How isn't it?

[kitler53]

How isn't it?

[the-pi-guy]

So portable means "fits in pocket"?  A lot of phones aren't portable by that definition.  Especially if you're a lady.
Get bigger pockets.  

[kitler53]

So portable means "fits in pocket"?  A lot of phones aren't portable by that definition.  Especially if you're a lady.
Get bigger pockets.  

portable means portable.  i'm not commuting with an NX at the size it has been described as.  the thing is fudgy massive and i'm not in to carrying a purse.

[the-pi-guy]

portable means portable.  i'm not commuting with an NX at the size it has been described as.  the thing is fudgy massive and i'm not in to carrying a purse.

You must not use any tablets then.  This'll be smaller.  

[Legend]

portable means portable.  i'm not commuting with an NX at the size it has been described as.  the thing is fudgy massive and i'm not in to carrying a purse.

It seems tablet sized.

[kitler53]

You must not use any tablets then.  This'll be smaller.  

not as a portable.  it's strictly for on the couch when i don't need to do something that requires a laptop.  if i'm on the couch i'm not playing a NX (or 3DS or vita) i'm playing a real console (ps4).

i have no place for this in my life. 

i will not accept a home console in 2017 that is technically worse than the one i bought 3 years prior.  i will not accept a portable console that requires me to buy and use a purse to use it on my commute to/from work.  NX is the physical manifestation of everything i hated about windows 8: i have different expectations for different form factors.  i get that combining of the code bases is great for ms/nintendo to manage costs but as a consumer i don't fudgy want a pc that acts like a tablet and i don't fudgy want a home console that acts like a mobile or vice versa.

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

So portable means "fits in pocket"?  A lot of phones aren't portable by that definition.  Especially if you're a lady.
Get bigger pockets.  

[Legend]

not as a portable.  it's strictly for on the couch when i don't need to do something that requires a laptop.  if i'm on the couch i'm not playing a NX (or 3DS or vita) i'm playing a real console (ps4).

i have no place for this in my life.  

i will not accept a home console in 2017 that is technically worse than the one i bought 3 years prior.  i will not accept a portable console that requires me to buy and use a purse to use it on my commute to/from work.  NX is the physical manifestation of everything i hated about windows 8: i have different expectations for different form factors.  i get that combining of the code bases is great for ms/nintendo to manage costs but as a consumer i don't fudgy want a pc that acts like a tablet and i don't fudgy want a home console that acts like a mobile or vice versa.

I agree with you there.

Instead of combining the best of home consoles with the best of portables, this just seems to combine the negatives. Every new leak decreases my personal interest more and more.

[darkknightkryta]

I agree with you there.

Instead of combining the best of home consoles with the best of portables, this just seems to combine the negatives. Every new leak decreases my personal interest more and more.

I think Nintendo needs to show something soon.  These rumours are causing a lot of harm, and unless the NX brings me to the moon, it's going to be a failure.  If it's some shaming hybrid crud that's exactly as the rumours depict it, then show the form factor off already.  This gives time for people to get over it.  If they wait a few months before release, there's going to be a lot of pissed off people at launch.

[the-pi-guy]

I think Nintendo needs to show something soon.  These rumours are causing a lot of harm, and unless the NX brings me to the moon, it's going to be a failure.  

You want the NX to be a rocketship?  

If it's some shaming hybrid crud that's exactly as the rumours depict it, then show the form factor off already.  This gives time for people to get over it.  If they wait a few months before release, there's going to be a lot of pissed off people at launch.

Yeah, we need to see how comfortable it's going to be.  

[darkknightkryta]

You want the NX to be a rocketship? 
Yeah, we need to see how comfortable it's going to be. 

Or a molecular transporter.