Rumor: Nintendo Ditching Optical Discs for NX - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 05 May 2016 / 10,911 Views
Nintendo could be ditching optical discs with its upcoming console, the NX, for game storage similar to the Nintendo 3DS.
Japanese Financial website Money-Link in a report stated that chip manufacturer Macronix expects to see growth in its revenue when Nintendo releases the NX.
"Macronix's ROM chips are usually supplied to videogame console maker, Nintendo," reads the report. "Although the sales is in off season during the first quarter, the revenue is similar compared with the same period last year. Wu Miin suggested that as Nintendo had just announced it will release a new generation console in March next year, and the console will be launched at the same time in Japan, America and Europe, so ROM's sales is expected to increase in the latter half of this year, and it will have a large growth potential."
Macronix produces 75nm ROM chips for the Nintendo 3DS, however, the company recently began testing 32nm ROM chips that would not work for the Nintendo 3DS.
Macronix chairman Wu Miin recently stated that due to the fact Nintendo is releasing its new console in March that its maketshare is expected to climb:
"Yesterday, non-volatile memory vendor Macronix (2337) announced that net loss per share of 0.25 yuan in the first quarter. Wu Miin, chairman of Macronix, stated that "the worst situation has passed". He expects that the company can potentially get rid of loss in the third quarter as the orders of an important customer, Nintendo, will have critical impact. The company targets a profit-loss balance annually.
"In the past, Macronix sales performance usually peaked at third quarter, while declined at the fourth quarter. However, Wu Miin pointed out that because Nintendo has announced that the new platform will be launched in March next year, orders should be placed in advance. Therefore, the operating revenue of Macronix in the fourth quarter may be as good as the third quarter.
"Wu Miin noted that before the launch of Nintendo's new platform, the sales of ROM is expected to remain unchanged in this year, but there is growth potential. In respect of NOR Flash business, market share in the global market has reached 21% last year, ranked second. It is expected to climb to first rank in a quarter next year. Macronix expects the sales of 75 nm, or below, NOR Flash process products will increase to 50% and more high-capacity products will be sold. Revenue of automobile sector will continue to increase."
The information is only speculation and should be treated as a rumor until more evidence is discovered.
Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima recently stated the NX will launch with a "solid lineup" and will not be sold at a loss. The NX will also launch in March 2017, alongside the next The Legend of Zelda title.
Thanks NintendoLife.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
More Articles
If Nintendo ditches the CDs-DVDs, the chances of a shared library between home console/handheld will be almost guaranteed. Nintendo's strategy seems to be to avoid as many software droughts as possible, and I like that.
Pokemon Colosseum/XD Gale of Darkness HD confirmed.
I know, I just want a remake of those games.
Or the Super Gameboy stuck in the SNES my poor downvoted Ice Bear!
Would be class if the new console has a 3DS card slot in it for games, would be strange if it has no disk drive at all though, no chance of backwards compatibility with Wii-U titles means we would have to wait for a remaster of the games onto the Eshop or reprinted onto these Rom cards.
Interesting E3 incoming, can't wait.
There are a bunch of rumors the NX is getting a few Wii U ports, which would line up with this if the NX can't be straight up backwards compatible. My only hope is that owners of thr Wii U versions can get a download code or discount for having the original, but maybe that's being too optimistic...
Would be very hard to do that though, considering most Wii-U games are disk versions so it would be very hard to prove to Nintendo that you owned a copy of the game, more so if the console doesn't support a disk drive for the titles.
Club Nintendo points were on most titles from the 3ds and wii-u but would a company hope that their gamers have retained these points as a proof of purchases nice and tidily to get access to the games on a new system, could upset loyal fans who just happened to bin them after purchase/redemption online, but retained the box and game.
This would play into the reason why their hardware and software divisions were unified. Most likely to communicate easier by utilizing a format that's usable on handheld and console. If they adopt the Smash 4 model, Nintendo might not ever have to worry about software shortages again. I mean, just look at Smash 4 combined sales.
I would imagine their goal with a handheld/console hybrid would be to avoid situations like SSB4, in which the game essentially had to be made twice given the huge disparity in graphics. It seems they would want to make devices which are easily compatible with each other, similar to how smart devices let you use the same apps across most devices running the same OS. Speaking of which, Nintendo sure has been talking about smart devices a lot lately.... Hmm......
Maybe so but that's the reason for developing a systems that resemble each other enough so that the porting process is streamlined. I'm thinking of it more like porting with the same code, optimized of course, but with differing graphics. Of course, the architectures would have to share functionality or be a special type of architecture that allows easy porting with different assets.
Cartridges = Less support
When I first saw "NX" at a glance, I thought it was something from Mass Effect.
Thats N7! lol
Yeah, but "X" could also mean "10."
If it means we don't have to install the games on the hard-drive it gets my thumbs-up.
No backward compatibility wiith U discs so. :/ yet they will rerelease the likes of Mario kart 8 and want you to rebuy it.
If third party also support it and the console sells well I might support this, but they have to prove they can get MANY good games to it before I just in to Nintendo again, I hope they do ofcource, love their games in general
I don't know how the cost thing would work. Because This would of happened with BD's. If a SD like media equals or is cheaper. Discs would of been replaced by them.
SDs and that kind of tech has become quite cheaper this decade. Plus, if they use just one format for all of their games, they will produce them in massive numbers, making them even cheaper.
Considering you can get 50GB BluRay disks for under $2.00 commercially and in OEM quantities even cheaper I very much doubt that solid state devices of equal or better capacity can equal those prices.
If Nintendo brought back cartridges for the NX I don't think too many third party developers would jump on-board. I won't deny that the new console would sell but the price of games for this machine would be quite a few dollars more in comparison to the same game on either the PS4 or XB1.
In addition not having a storage device on the NX such as a hard or solid state disk would mean no digital downloads although you can read into that what you may.
Agreed. If it's digital only, i won't even consider getting the console.
