Rumors that Nintendo may be looking at ditching discs for cartridges with the NX, its next system, have been percolating for a while. On the whole, it is move that has definitely intrigued us here at GamingBolt with the possibilities. But these rumors have also been difficult to take seriously- if only because of how much secrecy Nintendo’s console has been shrouded in.
But where there is smoke, there is fire, and the smoke is thickening over here- according to a new report from Japanese site Money-Link (via Screen Critics), chip maker Macronix, the guys who manufacture the cartridges that Nintendo uses for the 3DS, are expecting a revenue increase in the latter half of 2017, thanks to a deal with Nintendo.
The report goes on to say that the deal does not involve 3DS cartridges- instead, it seems to refer to a new kind of cartridge, which are 32nm big, significantly smaller than the 75nm chips found on the 3DS.
“In the past, Macronix sales performance usually peaked at third quarter, while declined at the fourth quarter,” the translated Japanese report reads. “However, Wu Miin pointed out that because Nintendo has announced that the new platform will be launched in March next year, orders should be placed in advance. Therefore, the operating revenue of Macronix in the fourth quarter may be as good as the third quarter.”
If the NX uses these kinds of cartridges, it will certainly be very interesting- cartridges in general are no longer as expensive as they used to be, and they are also massive (3DS cartridges alone have a theoretical maximum limit of 32GB). So the old knocks against cartridges no longer apply.
On the other hand, it is also possible that these new kinds of cartridges are intended for the NX handheld more than they are for the NX console.