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Nintendo’s new console will not include a hard drive, will house 8GB of internal flash memory and offer a proprietary disc format capable of storing 25GB of information.
Those are the claims being made by Kotaku this morning as the rumour mill surrounding the still mysterious Wii successor continues.
The site says that while 8GB of internal storage is 16 times the amount found in the Wii it still falls short of modern console standards. Xbox 360 launched with 20GB and the PS3 with 60GB, though these have since gone on to boast 250GB and 320GB drives respectively.
Though ample for small indie games, it would certainly indicate that the company has no plans to release its triple-A titles digitally. It also makes the release of modern DLC such as the latest Call of Duty: Black Ops map pack, which is 650MB in size, unviable.
In addition, there are claims that the console will use discs capable of holding 25GB of information. That’s far ahead of the Xbox 360’s 9GB disc data cap but in line with Blu-ray’s single layer capacity of 25GB, though of course new multi-layer tech has lead to far bigger Blu-ray disc types.
Kotaku speculates that this points to internal tech specs comparable to Xbox 360 and PS3, though at the moment this remains nothing more than idle speculation.
The site also reiterates previous claims that the console’s controller will boast a touch-sensitive screen and Wii-like motion control. It’s also said to allow for some sort of remote playing, though it’s unclear whether users will be required to be in close proximity to their machine or instead play online over larger distances.
