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Future Nintendo portable consoles may not contain its traditional cartridge slot.
Speaking with the Financial Times, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said he's looking closely at Amazon's electronic Kindle service, where consumers pay a one-time, upfront cost to download software as opposed to a monthly subscription fee to connect to a network.
"I'm interested because it's a new business model in which the user doesn't bear the communications cost," said Satoru Iwata.
Should Nintendo ultimately go this route, it would certainly help combat Apple's popular iPhone, which is now starting to become a contender in the portable gaming space. Iwata warns, however, that a 3G network service would lead to higher initial costumer costs.
"Only people who can pay thousands of yen a month [in mobile phone subscriptions] can be iPhone customers," Iwata added. "That doesn't fit Nintendo customers because we make amusement products.
"The Kindle's one-off cost would better suit Nintendo's customer base. In reality, if we did this it would increase the cost of the hardware, and customers would complain about Nintendo putting prices up, but it is one option for the future," he added.
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Speaking with the Financial Times, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said he's looking closely at Amazon's electronic Kindle service, where consumers pay a one-time, upfront cost to download software as opposed to a monthly subscription fee to connect to a network.
"I'm interested because it's a new business model in which the user doesn't bear the communications cost," said Satoru Iwata.
Should Nintendo ultimately go this route, it would certainly help combat Apple's popular iPhone, which is now starting to become a contender in the portable gaming space. Iwata warns, however, that a 3G network service would lead to higher initial costumer costs.
"Only people who can pay thousands of yen a month [in mobile phone subscriptions] can be iPhone customers," Iwata added. "That doesn't fit Nintendo customers because we make amusement products.
"The Kindle's one-off cost would better suit Nintendo's customer base. In reality, if we did this it would increase the cost of the hardware, and customers would complain about Nintendo putting prices up, but it is one option for the future," he added.
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