GameStop says NX will use physical media

Leading US retailer GameStop has seemingly put to bed rumours that Nintendo’s NX may ditch physical media.

"It will have physical media, we will play a role in it, our pre-owned business will also play a role. So we’re excited about that," CEO Paul Raines told investors, as reported by Destructoid. I would say that the fact that there are rumours of that type just confirms for you that this is an important console for next year.”

Way back in August one of Nintendo’s many patent applications got tongues wagging about the possible omission of any disc-based media interface from Nintendo’s new machine.

However, what the patent did point to was a 3DS-style card slot. Indeed, reports from Asia in May suggested that current 3DS cartridge manufacturer Macronix was expecting some big growth in the future, fuelling speculation that Nintendo may return to its pre-GameCube roots.

And this is a possibility that Raines did not rule out.

"The only difference [between using discs and cartridges] would be on the refurbishment and pre-owned side,” he added. And actually, cartridges are much simpler to refurbish and repackage. So there is somewhat a little bit of an advantage if it went in that direction on used.”