Tuesday, August 25th 2015

Next Gen Nintendo Console to Do Away with Optical Disc Media

by
btarunr
 Discuss (46 Comments)
Nintendo's upcoming high-performance game console, codenamed "Nintendo NX," could be the first major console in 15 years to completely do away with optical disc media. Patent applications covering the console, filed in February by Nintendo, with the USPTO, and unearthed by NeoGAF, describe a console that "is not provided with an optical disc drive." Nintendo is expected to reveal the NX some time in 2016.

This points at a new direction in which Nintendo wants to guide the console gaming industry - one in which an Internet connection is mandatory, games are bought from a centralized marketplace online, downloaded to your console's local storage (HDDs/SSDs), and played. DLCs and in-game purchases are as seamless as possible, and game progress, settings, etc., are stored on the cloud. Such a system already existed for close to a decade, with Xbox Live and PSN, but Nintendo NX will be the first platform to completely do away with optical disc media. This method could also curb piracy, since the only way your console can receive games to play is through that online marketplace.
Sources: USPTO, NeoGAF

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46 Comments on Next Gen Nintendo Console to Do Away with Optical Disc Media

#26
Uplink10
5DVX0130Only because games nowadays are so shitly made you NEED to patch them, in some cases for months, before they are even playable as they should be.
Like Splinter Cell Blacklist which crashes periodically after 20-30 minutes. They are never going to fix this.
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#27
VanguardGX
TheMailMan78The Wii was a massive market success. Hardly a "shot in the foot".
I agree, it was a success. Though it did suffer at the latter end of its cycle due to fading support from third party games. By then though Nintendo was already laughing all the way to the bank :) What I was talking about is the hardware shortcomings. The Wii Was under powered compared to its competitors, that's another reason for the poor third party support.
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#28
Random Murderer
The Anti-Midas
64KNintendo may curb piracy
I highly doubt that. I actually laughed when I read that in the article.
The Wii, WiiU, and 3DS have a huge modding community behind them, and nothing that Nintendo has done to curtail them has worked. Pirates gonna pirate, modders gonna mod, homebrewers gonna brew, and Nintendo actually makes it ridiculously easy to do so, even with all their "anti-piracy measures."
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#29
Mr.Newss
RejZoRAnd they just expect everyone to have super hyper fast unmetered lines. Not to mention shit servers that caused problems to all console makers (just look at all the crap with PSN). And lets don't forget the longevity of systems when they decide to end the support. I can still use PS2 today like it was released yesterday. All these modern consoles will be just a hunk of useless plastic in the same timeframe.
1+
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#30
TheMailMan78
Big Member
Mr.Newss1+
Hey Welcome to TPU. I see you are from Iran?! Good to see we are allowed in Iran.
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#31
FordGT90Concept
"I go fast!1!11!1!"
I'm shocked it is Nintendo making this move and not Microsoft or even Sony. Both are huge DRM buffs and that's the primary motivation for going to an internet-only model.

The only benefit for Nintendo is reduced production and distribution costs but at the cost of minimal retail store presence.
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#32
Ruru
S.T.A.R.S.
For a collector, having not a physical media is a big turnoff. I rather have my console games in physical form instead of purchased from digital marketplace.
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#33
yogurt_21
MusselsAgreed on planned obsolescence - the only way this is NOT a major issue is if the console that replaces it works with your account and can natively run the older titles.
which should be the case as long as they stick with x86. Should they go away from them and back to an IBM cell type again or a qualcomm unit, then there would be issues making that work.
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#34
ZoneDymo
9700 ProFor a collector, having not a physical media is a big turnoff. I rather have my console games in physical form instead of purchased from digital marketplace.
Honestly I think its more fear then anything else and just not being acquainted with digital content enough yet.
Since I have Steam for years now putting in a disk or whatever feels really old fashioned.
On my PS3 I also bought a lot of content digitally.
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#35
HisDivineOrder
This is rather ironic given Nintendo's colored history with online. They seem to be the last company that should be rushing away from a disc-based system to an online-only system. Do they really NEED to anger all the retailers at this most critical juncture to add to the crapshow they have going on?

It just seems unwise on a number of levels. Turning retailers against them when they only JUST got Amazon.com back selling their stuff, relying on digital only titles when publishers still see that as the dumpster of gaming and treat it accordingly in pricing, relying on digital when it's still obvious a lot of regions (even parts of the US) have too many caps to make digital downloads a solid option?

I love Steam, but going digital-only for a console seems crazy even if it were Microsoft. When it's Nintendo and its checkered history of supporting online and then of doing well at all...

Yeah, this seems like a disaster for them just waiting to happen. I hope they invested in online a LOT more than they have ever done in their history as a company.
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#36
TheMailMan78
Big Member
ZoneDymoHonestly I think its more fear then anything else and just not being acquainted with digital content enough yet.
Since I have Steam for years now putting in a disk or whatever feels really old fashioned.
On my PS3 I also bought a lot of content digitally.
No I think he has a valid point. I understand fully what you are saying as I hardly ever buy a game in a brickn' mortar. With that being said I own all the Fallout collectors editions. The lunch box and the vegas game box. I hope to get a Fallout 4 pip-boy collectors also but if they all go fully digital those kinda things might be gone which would suck. I love me some bobble head.
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#37
TheDeeGee
RejZoRAnd they just expect everyone to have super hyper fast unmetered lines.
Maybe it's time for other countries to make some steps aswell, we're in 2015 after all not 1995.
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#38
AsRock
TPU addict
Wow,
one in which an Internet connection is mandatory
No sale here, hell no not going take that shit just like i am not going take the shit from MS with it's parental controls in win10 only if your kid logs in to one of the required email accounts.

I wish they would start punching them self's in the face when they come up with this crap the pain might make them think about the crap they come up with.
natr0n"Imagines giant proprietary cartridges with hex/torx screws with tiny sd card inside"
And a good set of lungs.
Random MurdererI highly doubt that. I actually laughed when I read that in the article.
The Wii, WiiU, and 3DS have a huge modding community behind them, and nothing that Nintendo has done to curtail them has worked. Pirates gonna pirate, modders gonna mod, homebrewers gonna brew, and Nintendo actually makes it ridiculously easy to do so, even with all their "anti-piracy measures."
Only kills sales.
Posted on Reply
#39
rtwjunkie
PC Gaming Enthusiast
TheMailMan78The Wii was a massive market success. Hardly a "shot in the foot".
Absolutely! Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 all were supposed to be on sale in the same year. Sony screwed the pooch and couldn't release until after the new year. That left Wii and 360, with Wii releassing first. Nintendo OWNED the console market for quite awhile. That first year they consistently outsold the 360....and we won't mention the PS3.....you had to listen for the crickets on the store shelves set aside for them.
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#40
64K
I was just reading over at another site that at the end of 2013 in the USA 70% of adults had a broadband connection in their home. For their core market (18-29 year olds) 81% had broadband. I guess if someone were determined to have a Nintendo and had no broadband they could carry the box to a friends house and download the games and updates. From what I hear consoles don't get a lot of patches because publishers have to pay for them. This wouldn't work if it's like Steam's DRM where you have to connect to their site every time to play most of their games.
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#41
FordGT90Concept
"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Uplink10Like Splinter Cell Blacklist which crashes periodically after 20-30 minutes. They are never going to fix this.
I played Blacklist not long after it came out. Zero crashes.
64KFrom what I hear consoles don't get a lot of patches because publishers have to pay for them.
The reason they pay is for validation. Nintendo could easily do away with the validation program but my money is on not. Nintendo, like Sony and Microsoft, wants an iron grip on their console ecosystem. Validation is the primary manifestation of the iron grip.
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#42
rtwjunkie
PC Gaming Enthusiast
Uplink10Like Splinter Cell Blacklist which crashes periodically after 20-30 minutes. They are never going to fix this.
What? Splinter Cell Blacklist crashes? Haven't had it happen.
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#44
Mr.Newss
TheMailMan78Hey Welcome to TPU. I see you are from Iran?! Good to see we are allowed in Iran.
Oh thanks dude, You and other Guys like you can come to Iran Without any Problem ;)
Posted on Reply
#45
R-T-B
TheMailMan78Also Xbox Live and PSN are huge in the US (Gaming's biggest Market) and we essentially have zero caps on our internet.
You must live in a different America than me.
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#46
a_ump
ZoneDymoHonestly I think its more fear then anything else and just not being acquainted with digital content enough yet.
Since I have Steam for years now putting in a disk or whatever feels really old fashioned.
On my PS3 I also bought a lot of content digitally.
What this guy said. I don't even have a optical drive, all digital for me already with my PC. Use flashdrive with working PC to get all needed drivers for a new pc build and walla, no need for cd, plus much faster installation speeds.
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