• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

GameStop (circa May 27th): NX will have physical media

P

-Pyromaniac-

Member
Was this posted already?

“I would say that the fact that there are rumors of that type just confirms for you that this is an important console for next year,” Raines said in the call. "[NX] will have physical media, we will play a role in it, our preowned business will also play a role. So we’re excited about that."
Click to expand...
"The only difference [between discs and cartridges] would be on the refurbishment and pre-owned side. And actually, cartridges are much simpler to refurbish and repackage. So there is somewhat a little bit of an advantage if it went in that direction."
Click to expand...
In any case, GameStop thinks the NX's continued support for physical retail games will be good news for the retailer's bottom line. "Should the new NX perform only slightly better than the Wii U, it would still generate $2.7 billion of incremental sales over the first two years," GameStop EVP of Strategy and Business Development Mike Hogan said on the call. "Should it perform at even half of the level of the Wii, it would generate $7.5 billion in incremental sales over that timeframe."
Click to expand...
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/...xt-system-will-support-physical-retail-games/
 
Okami Haundo

Okami Haundo

Member
Pure speculation here, but their choice of commentary could be telling. Why would they be so direct about NX using physical media but then immediately decline to comment on cartridges?

#Teamcartridge
 
L

LewieP

Member
There has been no credible suggestion otherwise.

Nintendo didn't recently develop an allergy to money, so of course they aren't going to abandon traditional physical media, be it discs or cards.
 
Digital-Hero

Digital-Hero

Member
Expected. Whether or not it's actually cartridges/cards over a optical disc is another thing. I would prefer optical discs like Blu-ray.
 
L

Leafhopper

Banned
I mean, Internet isn't as readily available as electricity or water yet so.

That and only downloads for home console is a death sentence right now anyway.
 
P

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Cartridges are coming back. I can feel it.

Lack of a disc drive allows for better cooling and hardware in the system and cartridges could easily transfer between a handheld and a console.
 
K

KratosEnergyDrink

Member
Dark Cloud said:
Now we need to know if it will be discs or cartridges. :)
Click to expand...

I really hope these "media" are cartridges.

Discs are slow, noisy, error prone and big. If NX has discs I would go fully digital and not bothering with even thinking about buying a game at a store. With cartridges I would probably would buy most games "physical" and only some "digital".
 
Hellraider

Hellraider

Member
It's still too soon for consoles to skip their physical media, especially on their main SKU. Wouldn't suprise me if 3DS' successor at some point gets a cartridge-less version, though.
 
N

Nugg

Member
Good, I was worried for a minute. Also, while we're at it, does anyone know if the sun will rise tomorrow? It hasn't been confirmed as far as I know
 
A

AjNimajwalHansel

Member
The first shot of the reveal video/event will be a blank cartridge, then a flash, and sweet Breath of the Wild cover art will have appeared on it. Wouldn't mind carts at all from what I've heard of improvements to the medium.
 
F

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Gamezone said:
Nope, but after what Microsoft did, we still have to verify. Nintendo have made some stupid decisions with the Wii U.
Click to expand...
This wasent even in the cards with nintendo, nintendo made sure to do both physcal and digital aswell as kept online free with WiiU
 
R

Rösti

Unconfirmed Member
The GameStop Corp. First Quarter 2016 Earnings Results Call happened May 26, and we're getting the transcript first now? That seems a bit slow.

Anyway, I'd like for NX (stationary device) to feature games on cartridges/cards. It would set it apart from the competing systems, and it would offer better protection of the games from impacts, scratches etc.
 
O

Oregano

Member
If they can somehow get cheap, high capacity cartridges then fucking go for it. Small, quiet and reliable.

Would also mean they could have a much smaller console considering 2/3 of the Wii U is disc drive.
 
E

Einhander

Member
While I will always support physical games, I have to say, a scenario where all console manufacturers switching to all-digital media for their platforms would be great only because it would effectively make GameStop go out of business, or at least severely cripple their company.

Getting off my tangent, Nintendo will never pursue digital games because they want games like Mario and Pokemon in stores like GameStop, Walmart and Target, so parents can buy them for their kids. I have to wonder if that occurs as much today, when kids are on their smartphones and tablets all the time now.
 
NOLA_Gaffer

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
I feel like this was a given. There will be a time where the videogame industry will be able to give up on packaged software completely but we're not quite there yet.

And thank god, because I love me some sales.
 
C

Cid Highwind

Banned
What's crazy is how time (and in a way technology) can change something. In the mid 90s Nintendo got so much shit for sticking with cartridges for the N64, because CD-ROMS were the superior storage format.

Flash forward to 2016 and Nintendo releasing a console that takes some form of high speed cartridges could actually give its storage an edge over Blu-Ray speeds. And if they market themselves well it could actually come off as refreshingly retro to the masses.

What a time to be alive.
 
S

SwiftDeath

Member
I'm not necessarily anti-cartridges but someone should mention the potential downsides to them.

Namely 3rd Party Relations which has been a large debate point regarding Nintendo since forever and certainly for the NX.

Cartridges are almost certainly going to be proprietary to the system itself like the DS and 3DS etc. which could technically make Nintendo the gate keeper/only suppliers of the cartridges.

I don't actually think Nintendo does this anymore and imagine 3rd parties can directly order carts from the manufacturer without going through Nintendo but during either the NES or SNES days, Nintendo had a lot of control over their carts and supply line with 3rd parties and supposedly made specific rules that 3rd parties did not like.

The other possible downside is sheer cost. Cartridges have probably gotten much cheaper to manufacture but I still imagine that a 50GB cart is more expensive than a 50GB blu ray disc at scale making the costs of making games higher on any cart system versus disc based competitors.

I don't necessarily think any of that means Nintendo can't go carts but I'm not sure it would be worthwhile to them unless they want the same game copy to be playable on handheld and console. That's the only benefit that would make sense to me to really fight for.
 
S

SalvaPot

Member
I have mentioned this before but they can totally go the cartridge route by using the same style of cartridge the 3DS uses, only better. Much better
 
D

Dark Cloud

Member
What if Nintendo comes out with a brand new media altogether? I highly doubt it, but we're all thinking discs and cartridges only. It would be cool if they had some new tech media.
 
C

CertifiedFP

Member
Well of course it would.

Retailers already go out of their way to minimize the shelf space of digital focused systems (One of the reason's behind the Vita's failure - And anyone notice how the WiiU really fell out of favor with retailers in-sync with Wind Waker HD's initial digital-only release?). The retail mafia would ensure a Digital Only system would be dead before arrival.
 
J

Jonbo298

Member
Gamestop said:
And actually, cartridges are much simpler to refurbish and repackage.
Click to expand...

Gamestop's interpretation

ae11f6f0-30c9-0133-5b2c-0aecee5a8273.gif
 
KingJ2002

KingJ2002

Member
Wow... well there goes my theory... but if they do go physical media... i wouldnt be surprised if it were cart based.
 
S

SomedayTheFire

Member
Why would Nintendo waste money and the potential backing of third parties by going with cartridges in a home console? That is literally still the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

There is still not one pro that outweighs the con of cost, despite what you may think you know.
 
L

LewieP

Member
SomedayTheFire said:
Why would Nintendo waste money and the potential backing of third parties by going with cartridges in a home console? That is literally still the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

There is still not one pro that outweighs the con of cost, despite what you may think you know.
Click to expand...

To save money and to draw in third parties.
 
P

-Pyromaniac-

Member
I was hoping for digital only mostly because I wanted to have a version of Nintendo that is forward thinking/embracing the future ahead of everyone else but I guess it's not a total loss.

To me the key thing will always be that it needs to have ONE library and also not try to compete with Sony on the powerful home console front. Everything else is just details to me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Take-Two CEO Says Competing Xbox and PlayStation Consoles Are a 'Benefit' but Not a 'Necessity'
33
3K
FunkMiller replied
Full Q&A English Summary of Nintendo's Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2024
Business
0
232
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
Phil Spencer interview - Says that their intent is for all Xbox games, including Call of Duty, to be available on Xbox Game Pass Day One
2 3
102
7K
Kenneth Haight replied
Interview with Shuji Utsumi (SEGA Co-COO) by Japanese media outlet Seizo-Trend
Business Game Dev
1
1K
Unknown? replied
The least expensive versions of new generation hardware have no disc drives. Is it over for physical collecting and brick and mortar?
12
854
ReBurn replied
Top Bottom