Well, the hype is building for the NX reveal, so let's all take a deep breath and think about something else for a short while; it's good for the blood pressure.
Back in the early days of the Wii U, when we were still full of optimism for the system, this writer shared the view that the system was in a unique position to capitalise on the sizeable eBook market. With the GamePad and its capabilities, standard and 'interactive' eBooks seemed like an interesting way to add depth to the Wii U, especially as Sony was also trying to explore the area (sort of) with its Wonderbook initiative. Your humble scribe once worked in eBook production and publishing, so was naturally keen on the idea.
It never happened, ultimately, but eBooks are still a growing part of the publishing industry. Having recently complained about the size of the Wii U internal drive and the horrors of losing content from an external drive, this writer was amused when he received a tweet (thanks, Robert Emmerich) about a special Kindle Paperwhite that's only getting released in Japan.
It's a standard current-gen Kindle, albeit it'll include a software update that allows quicker page turning and have the option to display two pages on screen at once. The selling point? It's a 'manga' edition with 32GB of memory - yep, that's an e-ink Kindle with the same amount of memory as a premium Wii U.
As anyone with an e-reader will know, most devices have between 1-4GB of memory, and that's enough for thousands of books. This Japan-only edition (out on 21st October) has manga enthusiasts in mind, with all that extra space allowing for the far bigger files typical for the genre. That's smart, though the fact that these Kindles use e-ink, and therefore display in black and white, still means that there are compromises in using them for manga or broader comics.
In any case, there's a Kindle Paperwhite with the same amount of memory as a Wii U. What a world.
[source translate.google.com, via engadget.com]
Comments 13
So the NX is a Kindle?
//only joking
You can buy watches with more storage than a Wii u!!! The storage really was a joke this generation, one of the things Nintendo was furthest from the mark on.
I have no problem with the 'want bigger,buy an external' stance but the standard memories should be sufficient for basic use out of the box. Please improve memory this generation 😉
It is strangely satisfying to read something completely unrelated like this, as the reveal trailer draws closer. I do agree it helps lower the blood pressure.
@Vix Yep, that was my thinking
@Yoshis_VGM That reminded me of the Cat in a particular Red Dwarf episode. Intentional?
@Vix Going digital doesn't always mean it's for convenience sake.
I prefer physical manga/comics too, but I'm running out of storage space(small apartment), so I have to get things digitally now. Movies and games too...
Why do I have to like too many things?
Japan gets all the good stuff
This is grasping for straws! Are they so desperate to fill the site with "news"?! Pathetic!
The Wii U's memory was a joke. I barely touched the Wii U eShop because I ran out of space with just a few games. I've got to delete things in order to play new games. Not good if you're encouraging people to go digital!
I'm surprised Kindle have only just released one with so much memory.
32GB seems to be a pretty normal size for things. Why is this a neat thing exactly?
This is pretty sweet, but I can see why it is a Japan exclusive. Most western manga readers probably also read other types of comics and therefore want to carry a colour reader/tablet if they're into digital comics.
@Spagem you don't have an ereader I suppose.
It's neat because typical e-readers dont have that much storage, for good reason, books dont take up much space, but manga does, so it's neat that they are targeting a specific market only in japan, when they haven't done so in the west.
It's kinda cool, now if we could only get colour e-ink readers
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