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Soundwave on 27 July 2015
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spemanig said:
Intrinsic said:

i am not following you.... what is this all digital platform you keep speaking of? or this "unified platform" thing? I can't help but feel that you are getting carried away by the idea of something and totally overlooking its practicality or real world application. 

If by all digital you mean that the only way to get games is via download and that you think that could somehow be a "game changer" then I have nothing to say to you on that. 

And as for the unified platform thing? I don't even know where to begin. Tell you what though, if all the rumors pan out, by next year or so we mayvery well have this NX. let's see what happens then. 


...The practicality of an all digital platform? How is that getting carried away? That already exists. It exists with smart phones. It exists with steam. A unified platform exists with smart phones. The difference is that it doesn't exist on consoles. That doesn't mean it can't exist; it means no one has done it yet. Right now, we're still playing on the video game equivilant of flip phones. Powerful flip phones, sure, but definitely not modern design philosophies.

By all digital, I mean that the primary way to get games is via download. I think the NXDS will be digital only, but I think that the NX may unfortunately do both, though recent comments make me feel that they may just ditch discs altogether, which would be the right way to go. If you think that that isn't a game changer, then I have nothing to say to you on that.

The unified platform ties in directly with the digital platform. They are one and the same. It doesn't work without being all digital. A unified platform means that you can take your gaming library where ever you want on whatever certified hardware you want. That won't be seamless without being all digital, unless you think that the NXDS will have a disc drive or that the NX will go back to 1990 and run on cartridges. Nintendo directly confirmed that their membership program will reward players who buy a lot of games with discounts on more games. How is that going to happen physically? Printed out coupons for Gamestop? No. Sales on their digital software.

With a unified, digital, platform, you just buy a game and own it everywhere. Buy the game on the NXDS. Maybe a year later you decide you want an NX console. You just log in and are able to download your entire library to the new system, no problem. Because of cloud saves, all of your save files are transfered over as well, so you can literally pick up from where you left off. Have a friend in, I dunno, London with an NX while you have an NXDS? Wanna play a round of Smash? No problem. Unified platform has cross play. Playing Monster Hunter NX on the console, but have to go to work? No problem. Bring your NXDS and play on your lunch break. Cross save automatically syncs your saves so that you can pick up from where you left off without a hitch and cross buy means you're only purchasing the game once. There may even be a "download for both" option that has the game automatically download itself on both consoles without needing to boot both up separately.

A unified platform only works when its digital, and it's only revolutionary when its digital. Somebody has to force the future on us. That someone will be Nintendo with the NX. Not hardware innovation. Not Software innovation. Firmware innovation.


The Vita and Vita TV is basically a unified platform. One is a portable handheld, the other is a home console you hook up to your television. You can buy your games digitally or physically. They work on both. No fuss, so that's really not that big of a deal.