Nintendo files patent for stationary game console without optical disk

An example system includes an internal hard disk drive storing a program and/or data, a communication unit transmitting/receiving a program and/or data via a network, and a processor executing a program stored in the hard disk drive to perform game processing. The example system is not provided with an optical disk drive for reading out a program and/or data from an optical disk.

This would be a pretty big step for Nintendo. Could the NX end up being a platform where digital is the focus? I don't know that they'd go digital-only with a new console, but Nintendo has done crazier things!