Nintendo next system maybe be carts again...

[cybercylon]

 

Needing an internet connection and going all digital requiring every game be downloaded are two different things. Most people in the world can't download that many GBs through their ISP. Plain and simple. We tend to forget this, because in the US most of us don't have that limitation. But there's a reason why retail stores are still going despite us being able to download our games.

 

And like I said in my previous post, Amiibos aren't enough for Nintendo. They tend to like releasing limited edition Amiibos with physical copies of a game, for a limited edition set. Nintendo likes the money. Customers like the physical game and collectible figure. I don't see that changing, even if they go from optical format to cartridge form.

 

Actually, data caps are still quite common in the US. I could not get a current percentage for this year (64% of broadband subscribers have some sort of cap in 2013). Nor do we have the fastest connections (http://www.statista.com/statistics/204952/average-internet-connection-speed-by-country/). What I hear commonly are caps of 150-300 GB per month with something like a $10.00 charge for every 50 GB over. As far as I know, the new net neutrality rules will allow broadband providers to price based on usage per GB rather than some set price for speed. In many suburban and rural places, there is usually little competition, so it seems to be that a broadband company can do whatever it wants.

 

So until faster speeds with high caps or not cap at all are generally available, some sort of media distribution will hang around. I suspect.

 

Actually, I read leods' comment a bit differently. Games these days are released with crippling bugs (Fallout 4 for example), so how is the game going to be patched without some sort of internet connection? New games tend to need the latest firmware/dashboard, whatever to play them and won't run on the stock OS. In the past, I knew such updates were usually on the disc with the game. Is that true anymore? If it isn't, you wind up with a useless consoles once the games require some sort of update.

[bretthorror]

I don't have Amiibos, but at the very least they do something in a game as well as are toys or figures or whatever the hell they are that people buy anyways.

 

I like the Hu-card idea, it's similar to what IndieBox does with their games and it's always better than a boring CD. I wish someone would come up with an idea where every cart is basically different as well, make a console really interesting to collect for. After years of making physical game purchasing as boring as possible, it'd be good on Nintendo to buck that trend since people love to collect and display their shit so much. I'm not saying I know how they'd do it, nor do I think they will, but I think their fans would really love it and they need to do something to differentiate themselves. Not that they aren't still raking in dough, it's just they likely aren't going to hit another one out of the park ever again. If they're gonna make their money on physical items and their games, I think something like that would really be intriguing. Or even if they allowed other things to be put on those cheap cards. A song, a mini game from a cereal box, whatever they can to make things interesting because I unfortunately believe they are done with consoles, handhelds maybe have one more run. Unless this is a handheld/console hybrid (which makes sense since it buffs up their home console end with their established handheld base), then maybe it will be the last.

[MotoRacer]

Yeah the hucard idea is smart, though I think if they went the cart route they'd stick with a DS style look.