Was Nintendo right to opt out of the graphics arms race?

[Leynos]

Chrkeller said:

Leynos said:

Nintendo using their own media comes down to two things. Their paranoia about piracy. The other is the mini DVD was designed to shorten load times. Nintendo really wanted short load times for their games. Which to their credit they did do and hid others well like Metroid elevators. Was it the right choice? For them maybe but obviously not for 3rd parties. Where DC went with GD Rom because SEGA was broke and could not afford the DVD license. They wanted to but could not.

Damn good point on loading, I always forget how bad loading was back in the day, since I emulate.  But yeah, that was an advantage.  I do think Nintendo alienated 3rd party with cartridges and effectively repeated with mini disks, but ironically (for me) it doesn't matter.  Their first party output makes their systems worth owning.  

I miss the DC, Skies of Arcadia is still one of my favorite games.  the music is awful on the GC, is that because of mini disks versus GD Rom?  I am not sure I know what GD rom is.  

GD Rom was the disc format used for Dreamcast and NAOMI Arcade boards. NAOMI was a suped up DC. Gigabyte Disc. Proprietary disc. With a capacity of 1GB. More than CD Rom less than DVD and even Gamecube discs by about 400MB. Supposed to combat piracy but was so easily cracked and it was found DC can read CR-Rs the 90 min versions only. Skies on Gamecube even shaved a couple seconds off each cutscene.

Last edited by Leynos - on 16 January 2026