Nintendo DS Details Revealed

[Arnwyn]

The UMD format sounds like a potential problem: mini-CDs don't sound like they'll be able to withstand the punishment of portable gaming the same way that cartridges can.

Well, if UMDs are anything like normal MDs, then the abuse they'll be able to handle will be astonishing.

I'd think they'd be equivalent considering the circumstances one would expect for portable gaming.

 

[WizarDru]

Well, if UMDs are anything like normal MDs, then the abuse they'll be able to handle will be astonishing.

I'd think they'd be equivalent considering the circumstances one would expect for portable gaming.

That's good to know. My personal experience with MDs is Zero. All I knew of them is that they appeared to be like mini-CDs...and knowing how easy it is to scratch them, I assumed UMDs would be the same. If they're more reslient, I can understand why Sony would go with them.

 

[Arnwyn]

That's good to know. My personal experience with MDs is Zero. All I knew of them is that they appeared to be like mini-CDs...and knowing how easy it is to scratch them, I assumed UMDs would be the same. If they're more reslient, I can understand why Sony would go with them.

I'm an MD fiend (far superior to mp3). They don't skip and have a protective casing that can handle being dropped, stepped on, and thrown, among other abuses. All the functionality of a 700 MB CD, but a third of the size, none of the drawbacks, and fully recordable.

By the looks of the UMDs that Sony has shown, they look to be about the same (but even bigger capacity, though not recordable).

 

[Welverin]

And the other thing was that cartridges cost considerably more to make (especially the largest ones); pressing CDs is cheap.

The other problem in this regard is Nintendo required a minimum order for a game, combined with the licensing fee and you had a significant up front cost that just didn't exist with the PS and Saturn.