Slashdot Mirror
Comics To Be Distributed On GBA Flashcarts In Japan
Thanks to 1UP for its article discussing plans to distribute comic strips via Game Boy Advance flash RAM cartridges in Japan. The cart will be released in August by the same company (Toshiba/AM3) as the previously mentioned Advance Movie Player system, and both will share a distribution scheme "...similar to Nintendo's own vending-machine distribution of 16-bit Super Famicom games. Consumers would buy blank cartridges separately and download content into them at kiosk terminals, placed at game stores and other locations, and then view that content on their GBAs."
Why couldn't they just use compact flash cards like everyone else? It's not like Nintendo's based in China or anything.
Look at the console market. Nintendo is the only company with a non-standard disc format - and as it happens, the only one whose games can't be easily copied. In Any country.
I think comic strips are quite a different animal than the Famicom system you cite as evidence. It has always cost more to produce a video game than it is to produce a comic strip.
I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
You state the need for a charge like it is a sure thing. The linked article is short on details but the possibility that this could be driven by ads is a possibility. Since I don't live in Japan, I'm not in a position to comment on the market there but if Marvel or DC released a system like this, the reduction in printing costs could lead to a system much like network television - where advertisers are paying for the development of content and all the company has to deliver is mindshare.
Consider the "marvellous" revolution of e-books. Surely e-books also benefit from a reduction in printing and distribution costs, yet they cost almost as much as traditional, dead-tree books. (Aside: Maybe this is why e-books have not taken off yet?) While I grant that advertising might fund the distribution of these comics, I honestly doubt that the cost will be removed from the transaction completely. Even if advertisers are willing to pay the full cost of producing and distributing the content, if the content companies can squeeze a few extra yen out of the consumers they will do so. More profit is the aim after all.
I think comic strips are quite a different animal than the Famicom system you cite as evidence. It has always cost more to produce a video game than it is to produce a comic strip.
While that is definitely true, there is still a cost involved in producing the comic - ie, paying the writers/artists and distribution costs. Stores are not going to install download kiosks unless someone is paying for their presence. Who will pay for the network connections required to transmit the content? Who will pay to prepare the content in the first place. There are costs involved, even if they are lower than the costs involved in producing a video game. What this means is that the cost to the consumer will be much lower than a video game would cost, but the cost will most certainly still be there.