A new Wall Street Journal report adds credence to previous rumors that Nintendo is planning to use cartridges, rather than optical discs, for its still-shadowy NX console.
The report, which cites unnamed “people familiar with the matter,” suggests that advances in flash memory production have made cartridge media closer to cost-competitive with the standard optical discs. The report also suggests that cartridges “load faster, are harder to copy, and can be mass-produced faster than discs,” statements that we’d rate as true, plausible, and confusing, respectively.
More importantly, though, using cartridges would be key for a system that can be used as both a TV-based console and a portable game system, as has been rumored numerous times in the past year. Housing an optical drive in a portable system adds significantly to its size and bulk, and the motor to spin the disc can be a significant power drain. Sony’s did manage to squeeze a proprietary disc drive into its PlayStation Portable, but decided to shift back to flash-based cards for the PlayStation Vita.
Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – More evidence that Nintendo’s NX is going to use physical game cartridges