Nintendo’s Next Console Will Enter The HD Era, But Not The Hard-Drive Era

Kotaku writes: "The successor to the Wii will not include a traditional hard-drive but will bear some of the traits of competing high-definition game consoles, according to sources familiar with Nintendo's planned 2012 gaming machine.

The console, codenamed Project Café, will include 8 gigabytes of on-bard flash-based memory, presumably for game storage. That quantity, while nearly 16 times the storage capacity of the Wii, is smaller than the 20GB of room available in the original, optional harddrives offered in 2005 for the Xbox 360. The amount of memory in the new Nintendo console would also be dwarfed by the 250 GB drives offered in current, high-end versions of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3."

[NYC_Gamer]

would be foolish if the console doesnt have hard drive support

[smoothdude]

I added a 320 GB drive to my PS3. Though I am sure that Nintendo knows they need to have some kind of storage solution as gamers this gen have complained about it a lot.

[stragomccloud]

I just added a 320gb too!

[evrfighter]

I added a 2tb hard drive to my pc. and an ssd.

oh wait I added a 320gb. like 5 years ago.
sitting in a cupboard unused now.

[WhittO]

I just added a 2TB HDD to my existing 1.5TB Comp.

How can they NOT include a HDD??

Just proves that they will STILL not bring the features the other consoles have been offering for years.

With everyone becoming more "tech-aware" with owning Smartphones etc, I think even the casuals will understand how STUPID it is not having a HDD and will see just how much less it will offer compared to what is already available.

[HolyOrangeCows]

@evrfighter
.....and?

I think Nintendo is making a big mistake. We're only moving more towards the digital/internet age. People are going to want more.

And especially if they're going for the controller with the touchscreen....they might attract a more hardcore crowd based just on that (with it being a more classic setup but with more), like people were when the Wii showed a bunch of potential for shooter controls and such. And that's an audience who wants to download demos, trailers, and use their console as a multimedia device.

"People will be fine with that flash memory, Nintendo consoles never need to install games and they are never used as media centres"
And at a price higher than PS3/360 (most likely), they WON'T be expecting to do more than the Wii??

[SephireX]

I've a 640gb hd in my PS3 and a 3tb one in my pc. Hdds are important and I think Nintendo is making a mistake here. It seems like they are still concentrating on the casual gamer and drawing them in with low price.

[Reibooi]

If this is true they are shooting themselves in the foot. How many devs have said they can't do certain things on the 360 because they can't be sure everyone will have a HDD? Tons.

That in addition to the line that implies they are matching the PS3 and Xbox 360 but not trying to surpass them is also a giant WTF. Why would anyone buy a new console this late into the generation if said console is equal to what there already is? On top of that devs would again pass it up because they would be able to do the same games on the more established consoles.

Now granted this is all hear say until Nintendo officially unveils the thing at E3 but I really hope they are not this stupid.

[jetlian]

means devs cant be lazy. Before xbox hdd weren't an issue ow everybody complains

[darthv72]

Nintendo isnt sony or MS so the path they choose is of their own accord. Passing judgement on the storage option is pointless if we dont know what the intentions of the machine are.

If it is strictly for gaming then perhaps that is where the sweet spot is for nintendo. If it is for media streaming then we know that a hdd is not always required but it certainly helps. They could still have the option of external storage by way of those small hdd enclosures that you can put your own drive into.

Why not just wait and see?

[BattleAxe]

Its official, Wii2 = Fail. How can you make a console in this age and not have a hard drive. Nintendo is going to be the next Sega. I'll expect to be playing Mario Bros. Greatest Hits on my PS3 3 or 4 years from now. The game Cube was a failure, and the only reason the Wii caught on so quick was because of Motion Controls, well guess what, everyone has that now.

[N4g_null]

SD terabyte chips are faster and cheaper and they don't break. Plus it will have USB 3.0 I believe and a sdhx card slot.

The flash is much cooler since it is faster way faster so trick like mega texture will work even better. I told you they where going to do this years ago.

2t SD cards are coming and they are pretty nice. They are also silent and you don't have any addition issues from spinning parts.

There is more but I'm sure some one else will leak it.

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

@scissor_runner
Yeah, it'll have USB ports so you can connect a external HDD but I hardly believe you'll save DLC and DD'ed full games on a external HDD, piracy is a concern.

@evrfighter
The problem with Ninty not offering HDD isn't comparable to PC using HDD in anyway, not just that it's a console not a PC, but also cause you use that space for much else than games... The main concern here is gaming.

In this generation, the option to buy smaller and even full games digitally, as well as the option to buy extra content to some games, had became a standard (which can be argued to if being a good or bad thing, but like it or not, DLC and Arcade/PSN games are what people expect).

No HDD means Ninty isn't focus on offering much online (unless they present another solution).

[sikbeta]

@everfighter

I have five HDDs in my damned PC, that makes me more cooler than you? :P

320GB in my Slim running smoothly, I have like 70GB left so no problems and about Nintendo not putting a damned HDD in their next console, I can't believe it, they can't be serious...

[fear88]

I am going out on a limb with this comment but I think that they can do without the HDD. Now before people start flaming me let me clarify why.

PS3 NEEDS a hdd because of the slower read speeds of the blu-ray drive and lack of available ram(ie: that isn't being used by the XMB)so it needs to install data to the HDD from the Blu-ray to not only help the load speeds of the game but function as a sort of cache.

Xbox 360 makes the HDD optional and only very few games require an install because the OS footprint is very minimal thus allowing more available ram and the DVD drive itself has a faster read speed.

Project Cafe can easily overcome the HDD just by having more ram, a very small OS, and a fast optical disk drive.

Of course there would be no room for DLC but I actually like that because DLC is nothing more than a developers way of saying that the $60 was not enough for the content and that they want more.

It puts a sort of pressure on the developers to press the game with ALL content. And even if there is DLC they will not easily get away with it because everyone would know its already on the disc.

Faster read speed and more ram will easily overcome that limitation because Nintendo does not market an all in one device like a PC, 360, or PS3. They market it as a game device and nothing more.

They are going to be fine.

[smoothdude]

Maybe they will announce the implementation of cloud storage.

[ComboBreaker]

Wii gamers don't want more. They want less. Less buttons. Less resolution. Less storage.

Wii is proof of it. Wii does not even have anything like Xbox Live, and it's owning the 360, easily.

Why do you think Microsoft decided to go that route too? Less reliablity. Less money in your wallet because you have to pay to play online. Less games in your house because the 360 kept scratching your DVDs. Less Triple A titles from Microsoft because Microsoft spent all its money marketing.

I, on the other hand, am one of the few minority (we call ourselves PS3 gamers) that want more, for less or free. More features (like optional 3D) for free. More storage for free (free as in exclusive Blu-Ray games cost the same as 360 DVD game, so we're essentially getting extra contents for free). More reliability. More games (tons of exclusive). And soon, more security, for free (Microsoft would have hike the price of Xbox Live and force people to pay for more security).

[stragomccloud]

Why did people disagree with what I said?
It wasn't an opinion. It was a fact. I recently put a new HDD in my PS3. How is it that people can disagree with that?

@evrfighter
Anyway, I don't need a lot of space on my PS3. I have 2 TB of storage and an SSD running my PC. Do you like playing the one up game? Grow up!

[jeseth]

This would be a huge mistake. Maybe they plan on using cloud storage?

[Honky Kong]

I added a 1TB USB HDD to my Wii... works great!

[Blaine]

Maybe they'll go cloud?

Maybe not right away, but once they realize the demand for DD is increasing. A Cloud would be a good solution then--would require no add-on hardware, and they could even charge a fee for the service--it'd be a win/win for Nintendo.

[kyl277]

People will be fine with that flash memory, Nintendo consoles never need to install games and they are never used as media centres.

[Scyrus]

@Kyle

nintendo consoles arent next gen noob lol no crap they dont need hard drives the games arent HD.

then again it would be sad if the next nintendo console didnt have a hard drive, that wud be some Sloooooow loading

[Ocelot525]

@kyl277

but the install size will have to be VERY small with only 8 Gig available. It probably won't even be used for installs, but for updates and DLC.

and for god's sake stop calling everyone who gives criticism on nintendo a troll.

[Agent-86]

@kyl277, you were the one stating that "Nintendo consoles never need to install games", so the games will be loading off the disk which is much, much slower than either HDD or flash memory.

[GiggMan]

Kyl277, I think that the console could benefit from a hard drive if nothing else but for demo's. By this being a new console, I'm assuming that the content will be a little scarce in the beginning and people on the fence about buying a game can at least try them out.

You can't do that (for long at least) with just flash memory.

[flyingmunky]

The 'hard-core' 3rd party titles that Nintendo is hoping to attract to its console might balk at the thought of having to optimize enough to avoid an install. Especially early on when the install base is small and that version of the game is already out on ps360.

After all I know of several games that run anywhere from 2-5gbs. That would eat up 8 gb in only a few games.

[sikbeta]

@Gigg

Not only demos, with a hard drive they can allow installs and make games loading faster, plus you can fill the HDD with whatever you want...

O-T

IF they don't put an HDD in their new console and still using the wii optical format, DVD9 or whatever, it's going to be rough for them...

[AWBrawler]

Nintendo really are living up to their title as gaming gods, because they sure work in mysterious ways. lol

[Dsnyder]

This console will be a failure.

[Agent-86]

I'm starting to believe the stories saying that the Wii 2 is the next Dreamcast.

[Ocelot525]

nevertheless the nintendo fanbase will still buy it

[Fez]

Failure in what way? Sales or your personal opinion? If the latter, seems like you've already made up your mind.

If you mean sales, if the media tells people to buy it, don't expect it to fail. Plus it's Nintendo, that is a much stronger name than Sony or Microsoft in terms of casual household gaming (where the money is)...

isaygoodday!

[flyingmunky]

I agree so far. However we have yet to see E3, so I remain optimistic.

I think its going to come down to the price and features on the hardware. It would really behoove Nintendo to make their console future proof, because if they don't then MS and Sony are going to steamroll them when they release their own consoles in a few years. You can bet Sony's next console will be a big step up in the technology department and probably MS as well.

[ProjectVulcan]

It suggests Nintendo still would have no intention to have their machine as a multi function, media centred device. Microsoft and Sony are pushing their boxes heavily as living room, everyday entertainment devices, whereas by lacking a hard drive it would mean Nintendo are still not really interested in that.

Maybe its not a bad thing assuming that the focus is still entirely on gaming, however these days most people expect their shiny new piece of electronics to be all singing all dancing.

I think the dangers of not having enough storage suggest lack of ambition in the downloadable games market and online services again. Nintendo need to vastly improve their online service.

[cochise313]

yeah, nintendo really needs to restructure their online if they want hardcore gamers. Online is essential this gen and will play a more heavy emphasis next gen.

[kneon]

Creating an online service comparable to Live and PSN will take many years, so maybe they just don't expect there to be much to download. And before they get close to a decent online service we'll be on to the PS4 and Xbox.next.

[infamousinfolite]

Nintendo to not have HDD hmm is it possible that Nintendo can get into a fully featured online cloud storage and online you can manipulate your game saves and demos

[nickjkl]

me thinks infamous didnt read the article

[sikbeta]

I didn't think about that vulcan but you're right, with no HDD it's going to be difficult to implement what PSN/Store and XBL/Marketplace do really well for DLC, Indy games, demos and more...

[fr0sty]

I'd imagine it supports external storage. Hard drives are expensive to manufacture, and not having one allows ninty more room for more powerful hardware. you always can toss in a SD card or external USB hard drive and have the same functionality.

[stevenhiggster]

HDD's cost peanuts nowadays. You can go to on Amazon or any other store these days and get a 1tb HDD for less than the price of one console game!

[fr0sty]

$30-40 for one part in a console that contains many, many parts isn't cheap. you have to look at the big picture. They want to keep costs low so it'll appeal to a wider audience. They're better off letting the end user choose their own storage medium and size as an add on than spending that much on putting a hard drive in the console.

Also, HDD size isn't a metric to use when it comes to cost, as a 20GB drive will cost you a lot more these days to buy than a 250GB drive. Reason being, those 20GB's are in lower demand, so there are less of them being made therefore the cost is higher (cost drops with volume).

[stevenhiggster]

Thing is though, an hdd costs £30-50 at retail. If Ninty were going to put them in every console, let's say at very least 5million units first year, then they would be able to get them at a real nice deal. You're talking maybe £10 cost to them at most. I'm pretty sure most users would rather pay an extra £10 for their console with a 1tb hdd in it, than pay £10 less for the console, and then pay an extra £30-50 for an hdd.

[fr0sty]

it isn't just cost, but durability. hdd's output a good bit of heat, and they're large so they increase the size needed for the console itself. sd cards are solid state, no moving parts to wear out, and you can throw them down a flight of stairs while they're running and nothing will happen. i don't mind moving away from the hdd, so long as they offer up a suitable alternative. Especially if they allow the use of an external usb hard drive, which will enable us to use our existing drives with the new console.

[badz149]

And you think flash memory is cheap? There is no way an 8GB flash is cheaper than 20GB HDD.

[jetlian]

8gb usb only 10-15 bucks and no one makes 20gb hdd anymore meaning your gonna pay more than 40 for the cheapest of drives

if all its for is game saves its enough. and they could make the system usb capable

[fr0sty]

in addition, that extra heat generated means an even more powerful cooling system must be used, which increases cost even more. And if having built in flash memory is cheaper than a 20gb hdd, why did MS take that route with the arcade 360 slim? a little flash memory is cheap, and putting a sd card slot and a usb port on the console so you can insert your own storage solution is also cheaper. it makes a cheaper, more durable, and cooler running system. it only makes sense to move away from hard drives these days, especially if you're not trying to go for an all in one media server, and only want to make a good games console with maybe a few media features on the side.

[AWBrawler]

let us look back at the 3DS. It is going to offer Netflix, Demos, game downloads, videos and what not, and it has no Hard Drive, but it comes with a 2Gig SD card inside it.

Nintendo is known to work around storage space, and make more out of less. (Just look at how awesome some of the top notch wii games like Mario Galaxy and Last Story look)and they specialize in handhelds, so it's only natural that they specialize in minimizing Hardware and still yeilding good results.

Let's be honest here for a second. If Nintendo release a system with say 500 gigs or a TB, or even 250 Gig, it would be a beast and everyone else would seem like they were lazy with their big HDDs

[TBM]

I guess I can wait to pick up the system probably a year after its initial release.

[4Sh0w]

when are you guys going to learn to stop underestimating nintendo, if they are going HD with a small flash drive then they have already plans for a storage solution in mind, perhaps a cloud account for all users who sign up, who knows? but you can bet ninty will have something to grab the masses attention like they did with the wii2 HD= success.

[soundslike]

No, see, the controllers are actually external hard drives in themselves.

[frostypants]

Way to go Nintendo! Your plan to make a stunningly fast dash back into 3rd place is all coming together!

[eagle21]

Nintendo back in 2008 has been exploring holographic data tech. Not that it will change the trolls of n4g's minds anyway since they are so pissed about psn they troll nintendo articles all day...lol. But this maybe the direction they are taking.

"Patent reveals Nintendo's exploration of holographic data tech"

http://www.aussie-nintendo....

The idiots agreeing with Dsnyder should be ashamed of their blind minds. How come every console released these days gets a "Dreamcast" label until it shuts haters up. Fu$$ the darn dreamcast. That POS is dead...excuse my language.

[AWBrawler]

Don't you dare mock the Dreamcast! The Dream was a better console than a lot of the ones that followed it.

[Rageanitus]

say that to the early xbox supporters.

[kramun]

It's all rumours. I'll wait until I hear it from Nintendo, until then it's just gossip and rumours.

[Hisiru]

It's just a rumour guys. o_o'

[madcowz64]

Get with it Nintendo, even though it'll be HD its obvious the next-gen Playstation and Xbox will be graphically superior.

[50Terabytespersec]

It will sell! Fanboys and old Nintendo anti- Sony nerds will buy it so will parents who think it will shut up their kids and baby sit them and make them forget about girls..
Sad fact is this system will continue to slow the growth of gaming as did the Wii, IDK about you but if Nintendo had bowed out and stayed out of the gaming arena the PS3 and 360 would have better penetration and better games and more revenue to invest on their next..
Thank you nintendo for marketing and brainwashing low end idiots into believe HD is not the future and low def is !!
Now no HD???
go to hell Nintendo!!!
go make a handheld leave HD next gen to the big boys ..
Solid State or bust!!!

[DeadlyFire]

8 GB Flash memory if true the user will never touch it. If so optional Flash plug-ins are likely to be supported. Say DLC for example. Store it on a flash drive put it aside and store another on another flash drive. Nice concept. Its the only sensible thing to do with this 8 GB if users can get to it and its all we are getting without a HDD.

25 GB Disc format I am interested in hearing about. Nintendo typically has their own modified format. Its possible that they have settled with upgrading to Blu-Ray?

As for the graphics it doesn't matter which format is chosen for it. It can easily support 1080i or 1080p just fine with its rumored specs.

[ChrisW]

I going to assume that they aren't going to use Blu-Ray because of it's read speed. Especially since they're going to limit their HDD so much. If their disc technology is able to get comparable read speeds to DVD, they should be safe.

Speaking of their HDD, hopefully they'll make it upgradeable.

[DeadlyFire]

What are you talking about? They have Blu-Ray read speeds up to 10x-12x or greater now. That is superior to a 16x DVD drive's speed by far. I don't know all the technical details, but I know for certain its potential at this speed is much greater than DVD's.

2x doesn't do half bad compared to X360's 12x drive either. No real problems with load times. Games with concerns on this issue have the HDD to fall back on with the PS3. Likely this problem is gone with potential 6x-8x-10x-12x Blu-Ray disc speeds out there or a HDD would exist in this console. Apparently Nintendo doesn't care about DLC, but maybe. Never know. These all are just rumors.

I hope so.

[matey]

Depends what there strategy is i mean Project Cafe is said to have 2gig RAM 4 times the 360/8 times ps3 oh and flash memory is very good much faster than HDD and also benefits Internet browsing 8gig of flash is 2/4 times the 360 and 25gig on a single layer disc is more than twice the 360.
Then u have the revamped R700 GPU which eclipses the ps3 and runs between 750mhz/900mhz plus with support 4 Shader Model 4.1 this is better than 4.0 and eclipses the 3.0 version the ps3/360 use so id say with all that u r joking if u think it wont support 1080p it will have to with that power and as 4 HDD if the console has streaming tech it might be more like Onlive where u stream it from a super computer if so and i heard Iwata saying they might use Onlive/Otoy as a service if thats the case u can expect huge games to download much bigger than ps3/360 have with HDD.

[amilio]

As Nintendo says Don't believe everything u hear online. These sources are getting sad. all i'm hearing these rumors are from reliable sources. sigh E3 is the day. That we will know everything.

[52pickup]

If 8GB is the only SKU Nintendo is offering and there is no separate HDD available like the 360 then this tells me there won't be much in the way of online stuff like DLC,Movies,Music etc,also no optional HDD installs,otherwise they would need much more space to store it. 8GB will be used up pretty quickly in today's digital era of games consoles what with game updates/patches,game saves etc.

[matey]

Nintendo will do a Otoy/Onlive service u watch and thats better than 2gig games on a HDD the games on these services can be huge try 8/16 gig with CGI graphics.

[Shok]

No freakin way. SURELY Nintendo has learned it's lesson about having small storage. You can but a terabyte HDD for $40 today.

[Shok]

But I guess there's an upside about this. This means we wont have to pay for over-priced storage out the box. In other words, they'd be keeping the price of the system down. Then we could just buy HC SD cards.

[upturned2]

How dare you change your mind? lol I'd really rather have an HDD. Videos and music should be able to be added to the console. It's 2011. Enough with Nintendo knowing only how to do "simple" concepts. IE wii

[ChickeyCantor]

"Videos and music should be able to be added to the console"

Problem is that many people already have a medium for this kind of stuff in the living room. Its only logical for them to not implement a media center. Handy? yes. Top priority? No.

But surely there will be software provided by third parties if Nintendo doesn't.

I think flash memory of a few gigs will keep the the system going. But I'm not expecting an HDD.

[Peaceful_Jelly]

Blu-ray drives are still pretty expensive, specially the faster ones so, for the slow ones an HDD is a necessity. But seeing how Nintendo is doing everything in hopes of making an affordable console for the consumer I think this pretty much confirms that there will be no such thing as blu-ray in it.

Now the question is... Is Nintendo going to use DVD?!!!

On top of that, with only 8GB of internal storage it'll be difficult for 3rd party devs to patch their games or offer DLC. Is this how Nintendo wants to gain their support?

[JsonHenry]

If this is true then I think it doesn't say much for their "new" console.. the lack of a HDD means one of two things. They either CAN'T stream things like DLC or movies or demos. (or not plan to support it very heavily) Or they leave it up to the consumer to supply their own USB HDD/Jumpdrives.

[NukaCola]

Can Nintendo go back to cartridges? Could they support HD quality and storage? I can see Nintendo skipping music/movies and going cartridge based. But they got to be doing something with streaming services. I just hope they don't drop the ball.

[Computersaysno]

They are expensive relative to DVD drives true, but not too bad and you don't need a really fast one. A 4x bluray drive is all that is really required, equivalent to a 16x dvd drive. Xbox 360 has a 12x Dvd drive.

At retail such a BD ROM drive would be around 40 pounds, for an OEM manufacturer like nintendo they could probably buy them for nearly half that.

[tweet75]

more storage space equals more revenue for nintendo in download games purchased.

[garrod]

Come on Nintendo I want Mario Kart downloadable track packs and dlc characters in the next generation of smash brothers. Where the heck are we supposed to store them if there is no HDD??

[VampiricDragon_]

This is fantastic news.......ask psp and ps3 users how much they wish they had flash when load times take forever and manditory installs take 30 minutes.

And even that is over 10 times what the wii had

@ below

its a choice for people

cheaper hdd- more space
more expensive flash - better performance.

everyone will have to make a choice.

[BlmThug]

Good luck with overpriced flash cards and not finding big enough cards and a HDD can easily be over 1tb but flash cant go above 64GB

[N4g_null]

SD cards are over a few terabytes now. They are expensive but they will drop as more are made. The new ones are pretty fast though. I love my solid state hard drives also.

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

Waiting for GPU, CPU and RAM Specs of this HD console.

Hope at least 3GHz double core or more.
At least 1GB of RAM XDR or DDR3.
1GB GPU with at least 800MHz on Clock settings with 1000MHz Memory Clock settings of performance.
To perform 1080p NATIVE and using Engines of next generation.

[Chocoboh]

thats not even close to next gen..

[Otheros00]

That's more like part of this generation.

[jonse]

God I hope they aren't taking the Apple route - 1 year later they release a 16gb version, then 32gb, then 64gb....

[Otheros00]

To late, they already went the apple route with the ds and soon the 3ds.

[PS360PCROCKS]

yikes 8GB? I hope you can use some sort of storage outside of the 8GB. What would Nintendo do for DLC? That 8GB will be gone FAST. You can't create next gen to next gen multi platform games and not allow DLC. Who would want mortal kombat without the option for downloading new fighters? weird choice if true.

[Thepro318]

Nintendo New Console Needs List
Hardcore games
250 GB HARD DRIVE
Blu RAY
5 GB of RAM DDR
WIFI/4g/ethernet
Improved Online Network no friends code
Better 3rd Party Support
Evolution of Nintendo 1st party games. Give LINK an Mario voices
Better Interface for the System

[VampiricDragon_]

how much am I going to pay for that huge amount of ram and a bluray player? 600 dollars? no

And nintendo characters not speaking adds to the whimsy

samus spoke, everyone hated it

Why deal with it

fyi the wii had hardcore games and better third party support the gamecube did. Every small step up is still a step up

[Thepro318]

Ram gotten way cheaper so has hard drives. Nintendo could buy Blu RAY drives in bulk for cheaper cost.

[Thecraft1989]

5gb is stupid idea. It dose not need more than 1gb-2gb not to mention 5gb would mean no duel channel memory.

Mario and link will never ever have voices

I do however agree with your other points.

[Thepro318]

Future consoles going have do web broswing APPs games. Alot other things that probably be release in next gen.

[Dark_king]

"Mario and link will never ever have voices"
Mario has had a voice before so I wouldn't say never.

[vicofero]

if it's.... then it will overprice as hell

[antauwnehart]

Nintendo doesn't need most of these bickering crappy third party publishers. They can survive with out them they just need to let their first party studios keep pumping out
AAA games.

[lizard81288]

just like they are doing with the wii, right? little 3rd party support. the next game i want for the wii, comes out in 6 or 7 months from now....
>_________________________ >

[Ddouble]

8GB in this day and age? GT5 needed 10gb for it's installation alone.

E3 needs to come quick so they can release all the details.

[jc48573]

Wait, how HD are we speaking? If Nintendo can make a console that doesn't really require any "Hard Drive" install, then that's really something I say.

[Neko_Mega]

Really? Are we going back to NES/SNES times when the game had your save file?

[GoldPS3]

HD era started years ago. Nintendo is late to the party.

[CobraKai]

Why can't nintendo just give gamers all they want? They always leave something out. N64 it was sticking with cartridges which, for the time, sold for outrageous prices (no loading though). Gamecube had no digital sound output, no DVD. Wii, no HD. Now no hard drive?

[White-Sharingan]

Also not allowing the Wii to run DVD movies was a very idiotic decision.

[pcz]

no hard drive? so it really is a wii2. backwards thinking and future proof- as in does everything possible to be obsolete in the future.

the only thing nintendo could do to solve its storage problem is allow users to use their own hard drives via usb.

in any case, this console better be dirt cheap! i mean come on, 4 year old graphics tech, no hard drive... its oldskool. it should cost 199 at most

[ILikeTurtles]

LOL seriously Pc gamers have experienced HD for over 10 years! Nintendo... Hd is not enough to impress

[ElementX]

8Gb is plenty for save game data. I don't see Nintendo's next console supporting download only games. If what I read is true and it can support 25gb on a disc, it beats the 360 hands down.

[danielle007]

Don't they have that Wii marketplace right now? Which you can download stuff off of..

For fudge sake, just gimme a harddrive. At least 20-50gb.

[No_Pantaloons]

Online is mandatory thus a hard drive is as well.

8gb of flash aint nothing, its almost an insult considering how cheap it is. 32gb is already less than $50 and thats for consumers, a big company like them buying in the millions would get a hefty price cut. I don't see how they can build a console to last through the next gen if its already completely dated by current tech.

[TruthbeTold]

If the console reads the disks faster (They may even be using cartridges since SD cards can hold a lot of data now) then there is no need for install. Installing is a burden that I'd rather not deal with if possible. Also, a lack of Hardrive will discourage people from trying to install Linux, etc. and do all of those things to their console that these companies can't stand.

[gamingisnotacrime]

that is the Ninty way

[BlmThug]

And Online For Wii4, Achievements For Wii5

[LoaMcLoa]

Man.. You guys sure are boring as hell

[GodofSackboy]

WTF? Taking offense because nintys console is last gen?

[laaakokaracha]

nintendo stands for plug and play.

most people just dont get that.

I got all consoles. I like differentiation in gaming.

[josephayal]

no way MEH!!

[drzmvp554]

Nintendo simply never learns do they?

[Ninjamonkey82]

Im sure nintendo if anyone can change are minds on this idea that HDs are needed :)

[jay2]

This is stupid, considering they're get dlc, movies etc that thats perfectic, especially if the console is in for the 'Next gen', (As in it will be on the market for quite a few yr's after the PS4/720. Liking but Not likeing the 25GB because, once again multi platform games on now TWO consoles will suffer due to the 360's 8GB DVD only support :@.

[tigertron]

No HDD? I hope thats not true, it would be pretty stupid otherwise. Its about time we moved away from the age of memory cards...

[mamotte]

I'll start by saying that I'm a Nintendo fanboy.

Now, with that said:No great storage means a lot of things. First, the format will probably not be bluray, since that format holds up grat amounts of information, but are not fast.

Also, I wont be able to storage music or videos, or big demos.

So... sorry Nintendo, I love u so much but... what da faq are you thinking?

[esemce]

DREEEEEEAMCAST! Sadly I think the next nintendo console will be underpowered yet still not cheap enough to interest me, then 10-18 months later MS will release theirs.

[zero_cool]

Blu ray is a given & maybe full cloud support for gaming,browsing,streaming,stor age ect..because i heard nintendo was investing r&d into cloud services.

[danielle007]

Really, Nintendo? I swear to goodness, I hope this is just untrue.

Why can't Nintendo just cover all the bases? Have real online, have HD, and have a goddamn hard drive. Nothing huge, just 20-50gb. Just give me something to work with, please.

Like, a real functioning worthwhile current gen system. Even though this is supposed to be next gen, all I'm asking for is it to be up to par with the current gen.

Thanks.

[LegendarySins]

I totally agree I want them to be the best they can be as I love Mario, Zelda and Metroid etc a lot but feel they are almost a generation behind nowadays. Such a shame.

[LegendarySins]

I thought Nintendo were trying to win back core gamers and also get 3rd party publishers onboard. How is dlc suppoesed to be added to an 8GB console if the games are 1080p? It cant be true and if it is then Nintendo just messed up their next console as well. I dont care if Wii sales were great Wii did not earn the respect of real gamers on the majority.

[Crazybone126]

I think everyone is sort of jumping the gun here. Does nobody remember that just a year ago, Nintendo patented "holographic storage" technology. It obviously isn't used for the Wii and obviously isn't used for the 3DS. Project Cafe is probably what it's going to be used for. Holographic storage fits perfectly into the "successor to the Wii will not include a traditional hard-drive..." rumor. Since holographic storage ISN'T an HDD.

[stragomccloud]

I remember that!
I was actually really hoping for that this gen. Terabytes of available data!!! And how cool does it sound? Holographic data drive.
HDS(Holographic Data Storage) has more than likely come down over the years. So.... fingers are crossed.

[Crazybone126]

Exactly, it's just people are forgetting about the hardware patent's Nintendo have been doing.

[stragomccloud]

Maybe there will be two versions? Like the xbox 360 arcade and the pro. I want a hard drive! I'd like to be able to download full games to the device. Or install games like I do with my Xbox.

I doubt they will though, Nintendo always does almost everything right, except for 1 glaring possible deal breaker.

N64:
No cds! What were they thinking(Rhetorical. I know the reasons)I bet you can trace all of Nintendo's woes to that one decision. They lost Square, Enix, Capcom, pretty much all third party devs because of that move.

Gamecube:
Small DVDs. 'nuff said.

Wii:
Don't get me wrong, it's my favorite console this generation. But they really messed up in the hardware department. It should have been able to at least support HD resolutions. If the thing was just a little more powerful, and had a little more ram.

Project Cafe:
NO HARD DRIVE!!!!!

[White-Sharingan]

Original Xbox could output games up to 720p, and the wii is more powerful than the original xbox, they were just being stupid and greedy. (Have you seen some wii games in 1080p or 720p? orgasmic)

[artsaber]

Can gouge the customer by step selling old antiquated methods of technology configurations, they will do so and get rich in the process. There is NO/ZERO reasons why Nintendo couldn't include a hdd. Even a stinking dirt cheap 60GB would be better than nothing.

Let's hope they make the right decision and include a hdd.

[tunaks1]

rumor people rumor...
everything is a rumor until its revealed at e3.

[Thoreau]

nintendo should adopt blu-ray and a harddrive peripheral

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I am most intrigued by where Nintendo goes with their "disc format". Its sounding like its not Blu Ray...but not DVD either given the size of 25GB. Could they being going the route of some kind of flash stick type media? I mean I doubt it...but what other disc format is there for them that would be 25GB that is viable now or a year from now?

LOL...how funny would it be if Nintendo brought back HD-DVD for their console?

[jack_burt0n]

Yep it will be proprietary also help to keep piracy under control.

[OllieBoy]

No HDD? Really Nintendo?

I want a console, not a toy.

[boss_killa]

This can't be true if Nintendo is really going after the hardcore.

8 gigs is laughable nowadays.

[helrazor343]

What if the idea was for something of a hybrid traditional console and something in line with something like Onlive with cloud streaming and saving. I've heard the Stream code name thrown around, and it falls in line, although if that's the case it suggests a subscription based service, but having retail disks would make that optional. I'm intrigued to see what comes of it.

[jack_burt0n]

Best feature ever in consoles!?? The ps3 and generic 2.5" hdd.

[The_Nameless_One]

Too little too late. The casual people that made up for a large portion of the Wii won't give a rat's ass about this one. Besides, Nintendo will keep it's crappy 3rd party support like always.

They struck gold with the Wii but it seems they have been spending all that Wii loot on Sake.

[fullmetal297]

Having no HDD support implies that Nintendo isn't interested to make any improvements to their already sparse market place. A big margin to Microsoft's and Sony's profits is their marketplace and their collection of Arcade titles, full retailed games, demos, and media content. Nintendo will be loosing potential profit by not including a HDD.

[REDHULKSMASH]

good job nintendo! BERT!!

[kesvalk]

same old thinking... it needs a HD support and full digital media support... less than that will make it less worth than the 3DS...

[Morgue]

I'm gonna play this safe and say. It'll be interesting to see where Nintendo goes with this. Will they bring in some new franchises or will it just the same old games but in HD? Will it up-convert Wii titles? Will they make an actual controller for it with an option to use the Wii mote?

[slayernz]

they are probably just releasing the console with bare bones minimum to keep the cost as low as they can. that way the families can buy it, then they will release HDDs etc as separate add-ons, because surely not having a hard drive in the age is going to be suicide for them....

[SteveSmith]

It's just a proof that Nintendo doesn't want to evolve, and want to continue to market their system to kids and casual gamers.

[DarkFantasy]

not buying it..no HDD no buy .. sounds like it's going the way of Onlive which could be bad psn going down should show them how important offline play is..but im not into nintendos games tooo casual i won't be returning to nintendo.. PS and Xbox are the way to go.

[CaulkSlap]

So no demos or downloadable games of any size.... good job continually staying a generation behind Nintendo. I mean the freaking Xbox had an 8GB HDD.

[kuroukage]

Nintendo's always good for a let down these days. Nothing that's fail from them would surprise me. Besides, Sony and MS are just going to out spec them the follow year anyway, so why even bother with this? I'm still not sure why people keep falling for Nintendo's gimmicked hardware.

[clarkdef]

What makes everyone in here think they know better than Nintendo?... Nintendo have blasted the compition with their simple console and will do it again.

Nintendo does not have to prove anything to anyone on N4G or any other hardcore types because we/us do nothing but bitch about what we have right now, and what we have is awesome. Yet we are never happy.

So why not target those who mindlessly jump into a sale?

[IHateYouFanboys]

the wii seems to be doing a bit of ok without a harddrive, wouldnt you say?

lol the typical doom and gloom from the PS3 fanboys for anything thats not made by sony. you can bag the Wii all you want, but it absolutely destroyed both the PS3 and 360 this generation. its wii first, daylight second, 360 third, PS3 fourth. fact.

there are a few reasons you might need a HDD in a console:

1. for DLC. maybe Nintendo dont want to be reliant on DLC? maybe they want developers to ship fully working, fully featured titles like they had to back in the day of the PS2 and earlier? there were no patches back then, no DLC, yet the large majority of the best games of all time are from the PS2 and earlier. DLC and patches allow developers to release rushed and glitchy games.

2. to speed up load times. maybe their optical drive will be fast enough as it is, making it a non-issue. and hey, those of us who owned an original PS know that load times these days (apart from a few games like GT5) are absolutely miniscule compared to the ones back then.

3. to store media on. now i see a lot of you saying that Nintendo mustnt want the Wii2 to be a media Hub like the PS3/360 are...newsflash - neither the PS3 nor 360 are media hubs. to be a media hub, the device has to be able to output/stream its media to other devices. the PS3 and 360 dont do that. i have an 8tb NAS on my network that stores all my media, and the 360/PS3/PCs all just stream from it. that doesnt require a big HDD in any of them. its the smart way to do it because it means i have no redundant copies of media spread out over the 360/PS3/PC/Laptop. Microsoft knew this is how it should be done - they dont even let you transfer videos/photos to the 360 because its a Media Center EXTENDER, not a media center.

oh and they did say that its supposed to use SD cards for storage too - what're they up to these days, 32gb? 64gb? hardly seems like not having a HDD is gonna be a problem when you can just plug in ever expanding in size SD cards.

but anyway, im just gonna sit back and watch you all call the Wii2 a "fad", say itll fail, and how Nintendo dont know what theyre doing. just like i did with the Wii when i said i bet it sells gangbusters, and was met with the same sort of people saying its a fad and noone will buy it. its just history repeating itself, and some people just never learn.

[bigjclassic]

People do not understand such things at first. As long as the Wii2 allows for USB HDD usage or the option of using bigger SD cards then all is well. Just don't lose your SD cards.

Gotta Catch Em All

My only problem is can Nintendo release Wii2 this year? Release the console along with Zelda, PS360 ports and one 1st party HD Nintendo game and I am a happy camper this holiday.

[TacoTaru]

Maybe they are planning to release games that aren't broken and don't need to be patched out of the box. Maybe they are planning to sell "complete" games so they won't hear everyone yarping about paying for a game that has immediate downloadable content.

In spite of that, I still wonder why they would decide that storage wasn't necessary. Nintendo has had far more successful ideas than I've had so I'll wait and see.

[TBONEJF]

Com On' Nintendo it's better THAN FLASH MEMORY OR USING SD CARDS WHAT GIVES

[SpLinT]

HDDs are overrated. We dont need another HDD storage device for movies. Just give me games.

[RyuCloudStrife]

HD as in High Definition, but NOT HD as in Hard-Drive.

Pretty neat.

[Mike_Tha_Hero]

Oh lulz. They will ALWAYS be a step behind, and not just b/c of this.

[Kos-Mos]

A step in front you mean since sony and ms copy everything Nintendo have done since the PS1 came out.

[Gaetano]

So I assume Nintendo isn't pushing digital distribution? Because 8gb is nothing these day...

[DeckUKold]

That sounds like corporate greed, they just don't want people buying other companies hard drives for their console.

[Hozi89]

Hmm...if indeed this new console won't feature a built in hdd then at least allow us the ability to connect an external hdd right? preferably a regular usb 2.0/3.0 one.

Aside from that little issue, I'm really considering to sell my 360 and all my games. then buy this...I figure with equal or more power than the 360 and a whole new library of games. I can't go wrong. Besides I think MS has ran out of good ideas for 1st party blockbusters.

[s45gr32]

I say to Nintendo ditch the hard drive save money and let gamers save their games on the cloud. Cheaper, secure, and no hard disk errors. Cloud gaming on the next Nintendo gaming system that would be freaking sweet.

[herukuti]

only good if the system supports sd cards that are not released and hold 100's of gigabytes. nintendo should at least offer a proprietary ssd.

[MWH]

seems like nintendo insist on falling behind technologicaly in one way or another.. and that's just dull.

[Sanador]

It doesn't need a hard drive to sit in an entertainment center and collect dust.

[Droid Control]

Oh come on Nintendo!

I would have thought the Wii 2 would have AT LEAST a 320GB HDD.

How else can you court the hardcore gamer and please 3rd party developers if they can't sell DLC!?

[matey]

8 gig of flash eclipses the 360/ps3 and so does the and 25 gig on the disc is amazing end of plus its been confirmed to have 2gig of RAM 4 times the 360 but who cares about HDD the new wii will haveexpandable HCSD cards so think 64gig cards so i will buy 2 64gig cards thats 128gig for storing games movies ect its better because they can concentrate on a smaller sleek console

[djslapdash]

Ive just installed a

1 PETABYTE HDD into my server.

Terabyte HDD in my eyes are ancient wont use them anymore.

[Droid Control]

What the frak are you talking about ^

1TB would be perfect for a next gen gaming console.

And in case you haven't been paying attention, we're talking about consoles not servers or PC's.

[mcstorm]

I understand why Nintendo are not putting in a hdd as i dont think they beleve in dlc. But every other developer now makes dlc for there games so if nintendo really want full backing from 3rd partys they need to put a hdd in the console. Dlc has been a massive money maker for the developers this gen so im shocked they have not put a hdd on the console but Nintendo know what there doing when it comes to there consoles and even without the hdd ill still be picking up there next console just like i have done ever since the nes.

[monkeys]

Nintendo is doing the right thing. No point forcing people to pay for space they don't need. It will keep the cost of the console down. Add your on memory if you need one.

[kingotnw]

No hard drive would be the stupidest thing I can think of, short of all this Sony business.

[Megaton]

1 late step forward and 3 gens back.

[Rybakov]

why?

game saves arnt that big i dont see the point in a 320 gig hard drive....i have 250 on xbox and that hasnt gone lower than 150 and that is with all arcade and original xbox games i downloaded like 90+....and my ps3 just finally went below 100 and still tons of room

there really isnt any dlc for the wii besides virtual console and those arnt big either.....people just demand things they dont need