Can you point me towards this?

Anyways no one can confirm anything on basis of a patent as we've seen a million times, all we know that amongst Nintendo's considerations for next gen they're looking at a discless platform which makes a lot of sense if they're not competing directly with PS4/X1

SD card slot support makes a lot of sense for seamless data sharing between console and handheld, although I'm sure theres more intelligent automated ways of doing that which doesn't involve the internet.

It is getting more and more clear that the next home console will have a memory card for games like the 3DS already has. The convergence of mobile and home was an explicit goal of Nintendo.

i could see this working, the cartridge is basically the system. if u wanted to make a ps5 game u could. if nintendo offers the tools to developers to enhance the game wo any constraints this could be gold. if u want it u can do it. if u dont then ur not commited to making a game that costs so much. easily upgradeable if a ps5 comes out they just upgrade the 3rd party games they want instead of forcing everybody to use the same software,os and everything. it makes things cheaper bc ur only using what u need. nintendo has to make this stuff cheap and accessible.

Please, tell me more.

No. You're not listening. I said every game is cross buy. Buy it on one playform, own it on all of them. The NX wouldn't work if you had to buy every game twice. You buy Pikmin 4 on handheld, and you own the licence for the Home console version. They can do this because the developement for these games makes the two versions as expensive to make as one. It will lose them no money offering all versions of one game for one price. You own 20 games on your NX, buy an NXDS, and you own all those same games on that automatically with all the same saves and the exclusive content and modes available on the handheld versions. That's the insentive to buy both hardware skews. And if you don't ever get the other hardware skew, no foul. You still own the game, start to finish.

It wouldn't force anyone to buy anything in most cases, just like with Smash 4. If you have Smash 3DS, you don't need Smash Wii U. If you have Smash Wii U, you don't need Smash 3DS. They stand alone. Now if they were cross buy and cross save, people wouldn't have more of a problem with it, they'd have exponencially less. That has nothing to do with how far apart those games are from there prior iterations. People accept it becase it's a good, an egaging idea that encourages people to own one, the other, or both. Same with the Mewtwo DLC. Own Smash 3DS? Get Smash run. Own Smash Wii U? Get Smash Party. Own both? Get Mewtwo DLC for free. It would be that, only you keep all your saves and you only make one purchase to own it on everything, like with literally every iOS and most Steam games.

Just like people are fine with Amiibo, they'll be fine with this, which is not even remotely as offensive. The systems will be designed to make you want to own both. The gimmick of the NX is how they are a family of systems. A large amount of consumers will own both, so it won't be a problem with most. And, like with many things, the few people who take issue with such a tiny issue won't be significant enough to make the change on what is generally a fantastic idea for a platform like this.

I don't think you'll see many occourances of thing like entire levels or areas on a game locked to one game. I don't think you'll see things like World X being exclusive to NX, but World Y being exclusive to NXDS. It'll be more like the NXDS has a mode which allows you to race other player's ghosts for extra lives or something via street pass in the NXDS version, and allows you to do something else on the NX version.

great article!

People in this thread is confused about the mobile population and the gaming population. NX won't be 100% digital platform.

I am still wondering if all digital is a real possibility, what about those without internet? Or what about the fact that there is a mode available where you can put it on a power mode where there IS no internet? It doesn't jive with an all digital future in my mind, but you could be onto something. I feel like there would be cloud saves, but really maybe it is a memory card slot for saves to go from console to handheld, it would make sense. The all digital future I am sure is coming, but I don't think it will be Nintendo's next console.

All digital already exists. Those without internet wouldn't buy it, just like they don't buy the other massively successful all digital devices out there. It wouldn't harm the NX at all. Literally every all digital platform works without the internet. All digital does not in anyway mean always online.