Hardware Proprietary cards - Could they be cheaper per GB while not making a loss on them?

[DiscostewSM]

Right now it is said that the Switch would use microSD cards, but considering the games that may come out could be dozens of GBs each, even 128GB may seem like too little if you go digital, and that could cost you $30 per 128GB card. My question is, could a proprietary card designed only for the Switch be cheaper per GB than SD/microSD cards while not costing Nintendo in the end? We know about the Vita and its expensive proprietary cards, which I believe was only priced that high because of Sony trying to make some money back after what happened with the PS3. I'm also under the assumption that SD/microSD cards are marked up quite a bit high by retailers.

Thoughts?

 

[SomecallmeBerto]

I have never seen a "proprietary" anything be cheaper then something has around for years. I think 128gb would be ok for now (depends on how big the games are) but yes 2-3 years from now I can see you running out of space. Hopefully 256gb will be cheaper by then.

Looks like you can buy a 200GB micro sd card on amazon for 70.

 

[foob]

My question is, could a proprietary card designed only for the Switch be cheaper per GB than SD/microSD cards while not costing Nintendo in the end?

Considering the billions of MicroSD produced out there, plus the need for re-tooling for any new design, I'm guessing things might be more expensive for Nintendo. I'm not sure how much the SD Association charges for licensing. https://www.sdcard.org/developers/licensing/ I would think that creating their own design would still be subject to all sorts of patent violations if they didn't get proper licensing (or if they didn't collaborate with the Big Dogs). As a user, it will be impossible to use a spare card from an existing device, plus harder to find the Nintendo cards in the store. Less competition generally means higher prices.

We know about the Vita and its expensive proprietary cards, which I believe was only priced that high because of Sony trying to make some money back after what happened with the PS3.

For sure. The problem is they priced themselves out of the market, in my opinion. Sony has my complete respect for pushing boundaries. I think they offered the best in portable gaming ever since they released the PSP. That continues today with the (dead) Vita. It's a shame that replacing aging batteries was made such a surgery chore in the Vita though. I would love to slap some hardware engineers for that move, but it's not uncommon today in so many devices.

I'm also under the assumption that SD/microSD cards are marked up quite a bit high by retailers.

Thoughts?

I'm not sure what profits are like on the cards. I just remember what they used to sell for & I am pretty grateful we haven't returned to the dark old days.

 

[Xzi]

It also has USB ports, so it's possible that flash drives and external HDDs will work with Switch as well.

 

[Mikemk]

I'm not sure how much the SD Association charges for licensing. https://www.sdcard.org/developers/licensing/

I believe $25.
Though that might be the SATA licensing fee.

 

[Veho]

It has always been my understanding that a read-only chip is way cheaper than one that is supposed to be (reliably) re-writable several thousand times. So the game cartridges should be cheaper than SD cards of equivalent size. The majority of the size will be read-only, and there will only be a few megs of rewritable memory for saves and patches.

 

[MAXLEMPIRA]

With newers SSD... I think Nintendo should include some high capacity SSD inside Switch (250-500 Gb at least) and if we want, the option to include SD Card extra memory, that might be the case

 

[Daisy]

With newers SSD... I think Nintendo should include some high capacity SSD inside Switch (250-500 Gb at least) and if we want, the option to include SD Card extra memory, that might be the case

 

[Veho]

Yes, HDDs are cheaper than SSDs, but they are much, much bigger and much more power hungry, and more sensitive to the kind of treatment handheld devices are subjected to.

 

[MAXLEMPIRA]

Yes, HDDs are cheaper than SSDs, but they are much, much bigger and much more power hungry, and more sensitive to the kind of treatment handheld devices are subjected to.

I mean... the image talk for itself... and I have to say that HDD are too much more slower than a SDD... PS3 have some problems using an HDD instead of a SDD to run some games

 

[Deleted User]

I would be pissed if the memory cards were like Sony's, and not SD or Micro SD. I can't stand proprietary things and it would be shit if the switch's memory was just that.

 

[Veho]

Sorry, I misunderstood the first post. I thought we were talking about the game cartridges, not the console's own storage / storage expansion.
It would not be cheaper to manufacture proprietary memory cards. It would also be an incredibly silly move that would alienate people.

 

[osaka35]

Nintendo has been using SD cards since the Wii, with the new3ds using microsd. No reason to change that now.

As far as the games go, they'll obviously only be accessable by the switch, but they'll be using the same...tech as an sd card. Same parts, in other words. No doubt publishers will be given a few sizes to choose from, and they'll make their game with that size in mind.

nothing for certain, obviously, but it'd be extremely odd and poor choices that would lead to anything else.

 

[Futurdreamz]

How do we know for sure it's using microSD and not full-sized SD? I have a 128GB Sd in my Wii u I can tidy then swap with a spare 64GB card I have lying around, and was hoping to plug the 128GB into my Switch. It's a fairly big handheld, and full sized SD cards come in higher capacities and can be a touch cheaper. Already I can get a 256GB for $100 or a 512GB for $240, and I may be set for life with the latter, while sticking to my 128GB until it is full so i have time to wait for prices to reduce.

 

[foob]

How do we know for sure it's using microSD and not full-sized SD?

The answer is probably "I don't know for sure" but everything I have read suggests it is using a MicroSD. I'd be extremely surprised if it was SD at this point.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

The answer is probably "I don't know for sure" but everything I have read suggests it is using a MicroSD. I'd be extremely surprised if it was SD at this point.

Especially considering most high-capacity SD cards are made in the micro variety by default these days