13th May 2004, 8:33 PM
You know, I realize everyone is excited about the DS, and I would like to as well, but for some reason, theres a nagging issue about the game media. The SD card technology if you are aware is quite small, and quite expensive. You're looking at an SD card that weighs in 256 MB of data which can range up to $50. The FlashROM tech is fast, BUT it might end up being an unfortunate Achilles Heel for the DS.
Look at the PSP, Sony is using the minidisk system, and that gives it a disk size thats even bigger than the Gamecube's disk. Nintendo might have used the same reasoning in the past that the portable games of this generation might not be able to use all of that space and the system might not have that power. This might be true for portables, but it might be proven wrong given time and creativity. We have seen that the N64 reasoning was that CDs might not have been fully exploitable in that generation. That was however, proved completely wrong.
Expensive or not, that doesn't seem to be an issue for most buyers when buying consoles. Its another few months of savings vs. buying a system they might feel is inferior. Sony is going to be weighing on its already superior fanbase to carry over to its PSP market. Yet again, I'm afraid this is bad for Nintendo because up until now, casual gamers have had no other choice than Gameboy, and given the opportunity, the mast majority of them would likely associate the PSP with a superior gameplay experience. In addition to that, preferences and console/company loyalties will play a big role despite any of the unrealistic arguments that say they don't... speaking on an economic understanding that people do have limited disposable income combined with personal preferences.
Unfortunately, I can't help but feel this is a grave mistake for Nintendo to use ROM technology yet once again and might end up just handing the handheld market over to Sony on that aspect.
Look at the PSP, Sony is using the minidisk system, and that gives it a disk size thats even bigger than the Gamecube's disk. Nintendo might have used the same reasoning in the past that the portable games of this generation might not be able to use all of that space and the system might not have that power. This might be true for portables, but it might be proven wrong given time and creativity. We have seen that the N64 reasoning was that CDs might not have been fully exploitable in that generation. That was however, proved completely wrong.
Expensive or not, that doesn't seem to be an issue for most buyers when buying consoles. Its another few months of savings vs. buying a system they might feel is inferior. Sony is going to be weighing on its already superior fanbase to carry over to its PSP market. Yet again, I'm afraid this is bad for Nintendo because up until now, casual gamers have had no other choice than Gameboy, and given the opportunity, the mast majority of them would likely associate the PSP with a superior gameplay experience. In addition to that, preferences and console/company loyalties will play a big role despite any of the unrealistic arguments that say they don't... speaking on an economic understanding that people do have limited disposable income combined with personal preferences.
Unfortunately, I can't help but feel this is a grave mistake for Nintendo to use ROM technology yet once again and might end up just handing the handheld market over to Sony on that aspect.