@Jake From Wikipedia:Nintendo DS games use a proprietary solid state ROM "game card" format resembling the memory cards used in other portable electronic devices such as digital cameras. It currently supports cards up to 2 gigabit (2048 Mb or 256 MB) in size (with ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat being the first DS game to use a 2 gigabit card),[23][24] which is four times the amount of memory that the largest Nintendo 64 cartridge was able to store (512 Mb or 64 MB). The cards always have a small amount of flash memory or an EEPROM to save user data such as game progress or high scores. The game cards are 33.0 mm × 35.0 mm × 3.8 mm (approximately half the width and half as thick as Game Boy Advance cartridges) and weigh around 3.5 g (1/8 ounce).

I think Dragon Quest IX will use 2 256MB cartridges.

Your first mistake is in calling HD "innovation".  It may be considered progress, or technological advancement, but it's not innovation.

Funny. I coulda sworn that CD's were cheaper than cartridges (1)..........which in turn lowers the cost for developers/publishers (2/4)..........speaking of developers, they never really had to learn anything new to program on CD's compared to catridges (3)......it's just a medium for storage after all. Was there a risk to switch to CD's? Sure, I mean look at the PSP, and what a failure the UMD discs are. Also discs are horrible for handheld gaming. They'd get easily scratched in the car (or wherever), aren't as portable, and have slow loading times. They can store more space, for sure............but how much space do you really need for handheld gaming?

"Innovation waits for no one." If that was true, the freestyle pro would have become a standard motion controller 10 years ago............but it didn't. The wiimote was.

DS and Virtual Boy aren't departures from safe bets?

OT: HappySquirrel........I can't really disagree with anything you've got down there.

For the DS, I think Nintendo went with what was practical and efficient. It's a portable game system. You want it to be durable. You want it to not have long load times. You want it small, and you want it to be simple. Throwing in CD's would get rid of all that.

By the Wii not being HD, it can separate itself a far distance from the PS360. Many of those games are multiplatform and the graphical differences are minimal. With that in mind, the Wii is more unique in a way.

Some Nintendo rep said that having too many T-Rex's on the same battlefield is not a good look. They'd tear each other apart and no progress could be done. Why do you think so many games are interchangeably ported between the PS360? Nintendo had the controllers to complement the Wii as a unique console. I don't understand how GameDaily said the 360 had the controller ever and was the best system...........but the 360 controller isn't really different from the Original Xbox Mini except for the inclusion of more triggers (PS2) and the exclusion of the white and black buttons (Paul McCartney/Stevie Wonder).

And I'm getting off track so yea, Wii no HD equals good for me.

Thanks Rol, that was a great blast from the past.

Remember though in 2004 (fiscal 2003) "trouble" was a half a billion in profits instead of 6 or 7 billion.

Rol, yes but that was just modest talk by Yamamuchi.

With the 6 billion in reserves and GBA still incredibly strong for two years after the release of DS Nintendo would have been just fine. Not 6 billion a year fine, but still around and still making consoles and games for the 6-7 million Nintendo Fanboys and millions of families that still associate children and videogames with Nintendo.

Except CDs were more versatile and much cheaper than Cartridges. Nintendo didn't stick with Cartridges because the industry wasn't ready, they stuck with them out of stuborness and control over the medium their console used. Cartridges were harder to develop for, they were more expensive and they had less space. They had no advantages what-so-ever outside of Nintendo's control over the format. The situation of CD vs Cartridge couldn't be further from the current situation of HD vs SD.

It's laughable you would even try to compare these two situations completely out of context like this.

Because the Wii doesn't need it.

Op: Great read