Paperless was the catch word for the transition phase that the world saw in the 21st century so far as the electronic world and its slew of gadgets go. The end result was supposed to have been an environment in which it is the digital media that would contain the data whether it is a game or a text document and would not be anything physical. But we are yet far from it. If we take the games for example, the data is yet carried on a physical disk. The only consolation though can be that we have graduated to doing that on an optical disk instead of the gaming cartridges of yore. Unfortunately, apart from the content, everything else such the box it is contained in, the space it requires is everything physical.

There is however a major change expected to this entire scenario so far as games go. And the change is going to be brought about by Nintendo with their 3Ds system. With both the Xbox 360 or the Sony PlayStation 3, games can be downloaded directly to the respective devices without the requirement of a physical media in between. While that is desirable, the fact that games still continue to be sold in physical media presents a contrasting scenario. That is not all, the games available on physical media scores on areas such as graphics and game intensity.

So how does the Nintendo 3DS fit into the picture and how can it change the situation here?Well, the answer to that is in the title itself, 3D. For Xbox or PS3, 3D games is a rarity since the extra dimension is rarely kept in consideration right from the games designing stages. It is here that 3DS differs from the others since for its, 3D is vital right from the stage when the games are being developed.

Nintendo has created a virtual shop named eShop where one can get access to all its creations. That includes both 2D and 3D games though 3D is gaining more prominence than its 2D counterparts. The major focus that one would notice at the eShop is the 3D games.

Nintendo is taking serious steps towards means of distribution that is devoid of physical media. Take the instance of Nintend’s latest — New Super Mario Bros. 2 which can be downloaded from a direct link that the company has made available. Of course that has been made possible thanks to internet speeds going up considerably in recent times. Then SD card storage capacity has gone up too though thankfully, the same is not applicable to its price. Nintendo too has reasons to cheer as it is making more money here as making disks would have eaten away it profits to some extent.

Nintendo is doing quite a lot of active work to further their 3DS product amongst the consumers. The result is quite positive and they are slowly making their way to the top. One need not leave the comforts of one’s home to get their hands on a new game on the day of its launch. It is available to the gamer at his, or her own connected gadget wherever it is.

Nintendo may well be on course to becoming the top player in the gaming scene like what it used to be in the old days. Others surely are not expected to be a mute spectator to all this. There is a big margin out there to shift into this networked game distribution scenario. The makers of the game have the advantage of not requiring to make boxes for packaging the product as well as the logistics involved in making sure the item reaches the retail stores. Costs of the game would naturally be reduced as these costs are eliminated. Also the gamer feels very happy to have the game demanded and delivered at the very console that he or she is sitting at. For the gamers, they get to save some on the cost of the games available online while the game makers get to earn more with less of costs involved in producing each title.

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Sovan Mandal (692 Posts)

Sovan Mandal is the senior tablet and tech corespondent for goodereader.com and 3D Specialist. He brings a international approach to news that is not just applicable to the North American market, but also Asia, India, Europe and others. Sovy brings his own writing flavor to the website and is interested in Science Fiction, Technology and Writing. Any questions, send an email