Is 8GB Large Enough For Nintendo’s Project Cafe

Kotaku has reported that Nintendo’s next console may only have 8GB of flash memory included and no hard drive.

Much like the Nintendo Wii, it may seem like Nintendo’s next console may only appeal to casual offline gamers. Compared with the hard drive space that both the PS3 and Xbox 360 currently provides, 8GB sounds miniscule to the modern day gamer.

People these days like to download music, movies /videos and games onto their hard drives on consoles these days. With only 8GB of space, it may seem like Nintendo is not looking for their next console to be a multimedia entertainment machine. 8GB may sound small to some but for offline gamers, this more than enough space.

When the Xbox 360 first came out it only had a 20GB hard drive included. I myself was an offline video gamer until I finally received a broadband connection in 2010. During 2006 – 2010, I played many Xbox 360 games and I only used around 3GB of data. Not only that but I also included quite a bit of music and pictures onto the hard drive too.

That all changed when I finally connected onto Xbox LIVE and saw the wonders of the Marketplace. As a game reviewer, I had to review several Xbox LIVE Arcade games and download them onto the hard drive. From that moment on, the 20GB started to dwindle and I only had 2GB left…

I’m guessing Nintendo’s next console won’t need mandatory installations like the PS3. I remember games like Grand Theft Auto IV, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue ate up my 40GB PS3 back in 2008 very quickly…I’ve now since upgraded the hard drive space on my PS3 but all those mandatory installations quickly used up space.

One thing that might satisfy users is that you can save data onto a SD card. This will expand the amount of space somewhat to maybe 32GB of data. If the new Nintendo console is reportedly going to be visually more impressive than both the PS3 and Xbox 360, then demo downloads, betas and DLC content may be a problem.

The LittleBigPlanet 2 beta I downloaded earlier this year was 2.5GB while demos like God of War 3 and Killzone are 2GB as well. The DLC content I downloaded for Splinter Cell Conviction on Xbox 360 was close to 1GB just for a few extra maps I the graphics are better than the PS3 and Xbox 360, downloads sizes would inevitably be larger.

The information provided by Kotaku is purely speculative for now. Official specs for Nintendo’s next console should be revealed at E3 2011.

If Kotaku’s report turns out to be true, it seems like Nintendo is aiming for the same audience who bought the Wii. Not that this is a bad thing, since the Wii has outsold both the Xbox 360 and PS3.

However, people who download a lot of games, demos, videos, DLC, music, movies, apps and more may want to think twice about purchasing Nintendo’s next console.

Even with SD card support heavy users can eat up 32GB of data fairly quickly…PS3 owners will know this as Gran Turismo 5 already takes 10GB of data alone on installations…

What’s your opinion? Is this a good move for Nintendo if Kotaku’s report turns out to be true?

Let us know.