Nintendo DS/Wii Compatibility/Media
- Thread starter Squeak
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It would help during mass production too, tho. Instead of having to make a mask and then wait x weeks for the fab to return product, you'd just buy commodity flash chips of certain sizes according to whatever storage space the producer of the game needs, then flash the game on the memory devices and stick 'em in a plastic shell... In all, process would be much faster and simpler.
I guess many of us have heard stories of how 3rd parties used to hate nintendo's draconian rules regarding carts, how they had to be ordered in minimum lots (all paid for in advance with no refunds in case game bombs), weeks in advance, with long delays in case more had to be ordered (game became a hit - perhaps unexpected hit). And so on.
Flash carts would make sense from that standpoint, but I'm still not convinced it really IS flash memory in 'em.
I guess many of us have heard stories of how 3rd parties used to hate nintendo's draconian rules regarding carts, how they had to be ordered in minimum lots (all paid for in advance with no refunds in case game bombs), weeks in advance, with long delays in case more had to be ordered (game became a hit - perhaps unexpected hit). And so on.
Flash carts would make sense from that standpoint, but I'm still not convinced it really IS flash memory in 'em.
It would allow for a sort of coarse "on demand" production of games, but I'm not sure it will be cheaper than flashing blank matrix ROMs or the traditional mass production of ROM chips.
What's more, the manual and cover art is also a considerable part of the cost of a game, that wouldn't be alleviated by this approach.
When Nintendo allows for people to use their own SD cards to download games on, then we'll be talking.
What's more, the manual and cover art is also a considerable part of the cost of a game, that wouldn't be alleviated by this approach.
When Nintendo allows for people to use their own SD cards to download games on, then we'll be talking.
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Bah, this is true for CD and DVD game production as well, so no change there really. Also, I really doubt it takes an awful lot of time to get this stuff printed; mass production color printing has been a well established tech for many decades now.Squeak said:
True, that would be interesting. I sort of doubt it'll ever happen though. Nintendo's way too comfortable with having control of the manufacturing of physical cartridges methinks.
I'd like to see a flash cart using mini or micro-SD memories for homebrew, that way you wouldn't have to fiddle with any passme/flashme crap...
*Edit: This is sorta off-topic, so if a mod feels like splitting the thread, that's OK with me.
The DS content through Wii is obviously only meant to be downloaded to the DS's internal RAM I'd say, because if they intro'd a flash memory cart to store stuff on then it'd get cracked and people would be able to put pirated DS games on it. You get around that by making all data volatile and confined only to the DS, maybe you can transfer game saves back to the Wii for safekeeping in case your DS battery runs out.
That's it, I'd say.
The DS content through Wii is obviously only meant to be downloaded to the DS's internal RAM I'd say, because if they intro'd a flash memory cart to store stuff on then it'd get cracked and people would be able to put pirated DS games on it. You get around that by making all data volatile and confined only to the DS, maybe you can transfer game saves back to the Wii for safekeeping in case your DS battery runs out.
That's it, I'd say.
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