WiiU is 2 years old today, how much do you expect it to last?

[Solid-Stark]

Soundwave said:

Solid-Stark said:
I think the next Nintendo consoles will feature a unified platform (architecture, online and so on), but still a home and handheld console. The only issue would be that Nintendo will likely go with only one physical media type. So this would mean a cartridge (for the sake of making it easy for the portable). Then should the home console feature a disc drive? If it did it would only be there for the sake of backwards compatibility of disc based Wii and WiiU software. Of course BC isn't a requirement but has been a nice feature for both the WiiU and Wii in the past, and consoles of other companies.

Discs suck. The disc drive is an unneccessary cost and one of the most annoying things about the Wii U is how damn loud the disc drive is. It sounds like its having a seizure when trying to load Bayonetta cutscenes for example. 

They can use 3DS style carts next time for both the portable and home variants. Nowadays 4GB-16GB storage is cheap is 32GB is even getting dirt cheap, so 4-32GB carts should be good enough for most any game. 

The next Nintendo "console" will be tiny, like PlaystationTV size I think. No disc drive at all IMO. You'll be able to fit the console in your pocket if you really wanted to because it'll just be the handheld chip with more CPU/GPU cores and extra RAM, but that's it. The chipset even in an iPhone 6s is tiny, especially when you remove the battery which is what takes up like 70% of the space in an iPhone. I expect Nintendo to use similar sized components, even for the console variant. 

I doubt it would be as small as the PSTV size or near the size. Perhaps only if they axe backwards compatibility, and they opt for hardware thats weaker than XOne. That's assuming wonders for mobile chip advancement in the next year or so. Really depends what type of power is envisioned for console, and who can supply those chips. 

Also cartridges can get pricey as storage increases. Something we have observed with advancements in hardware ia that it translates to more detailed games which means the size of games go up. Presumable, this cartridge would house two files of the same game.