Video game giant Nintendo has reportedly filed a patent with the US trademark office suggesting that the next gaming console it releases will not use discs, relying solely on broadband downloads, hard drives, and external storage cards instead.
The patent, uncovered by the folks at the NeoGAF forum, was filed with the US Trademark and Patent Office back in February before being published earlier this month. It appears to show that the forthcoming NX console will become the first television-based Nintendo hardware to not use discs since the cartridge-based Nintendo 64 was released in Japan in 1996.
According to Engadget and Yahoo News, the patent states that the development of high-speed communication such as ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) has made it easier to simply download games without the use of recording media. The documents could well indicate that Nintendo is going all-digital with a mobile-style digital marketplace.
A disc-free gaming console “makes sense, especially for a system to might not ship for another year or two,” Engadget said. “While all the big TV game consoles currently ship with disc drives, it’s no secret that the technology is on its way out – it’s slow, complicates game updates and adds to the cost of a system. Ditching plastic media would let Nintendo embrace the future while keeping its historically low hardware prices.”
NX may also feature Wii U-style controller
Eurogamer also reports that the patent indicates that the NX controller will feature its own built-in display screen, similar to Nintendo’s current generation system, the Wii U. It will also have a pair of speed modes for the device’s hard drive and a memory card slot, Yahoo News added.
In July, the Wii U finally surpassed the 10 million mark in terms of worldwide sales, according to CNET. Sales of the console, which have lagged behind those of the Microsoft Xbox One and the Sony PlayStation 4, were just 470,000 units globally for the quarter, down from 510,000 over the same period the previous year.
In comparison, Sony announced in August 2014 that it had sold its 10 millionth PlayStation 4, less than one year after the console’s launch. Similarly, Microsoft needed roughly 12 months to sell 10 million Xbox units. The Wii U needed three years to reach that milestone, the website pointed out.
The NX is expected to be officially unveiled by Nintendo sometime next year.
—–
(Image credit: Tom Newby/Flickr Creative Commons)
Comments