Nintendo Switch2 game key carts are worse then some of you know for the consumer. forget about price, usability is degraded.
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Remember when you use to buy a Switch game and the game would atleast partially before updates, be on the cartridge?
Well imagine buying a key cart for your Switch2 and, you have to download the game from their servers from scratch. The game doesn't download itself to the cartridge, but onto your Switch 2 consoles internal memory.
Now imagine getting a bad update and trying to delete some data including the update, just to play with the original games version.
physical Key cart games are treated just like they are digital which means you can't revert the update.
Even if the game is saved onto your Switch's internal you cannot legally play a key cart game, without the key carts inserted in your switch.
The game data is not stored on the key cartridge but on your switch's internal memory.
$80 $70 Nintendo Switch 2 carts
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Remember when you use to buy a Switch game and the game would atleast partially before updates, be on the cartridge?
Well imagine buying a key cart for your Switch2 and, you have to download the game from their servers from scratch. The game doesn't download itself to the cartridge, but onto your Switch 2 consoles internal memory.
Now imagine getting a bad update and trying to delete some data including the update, just to play with the original games version.
physical Key cart games are treated just like they are digital which means you can't revert the update.
Even if the game is saved onto your Switch's internal you cannot legally play a key cart game, without the key carts inserted in your switch.
The game data is not stored on the key cartridge but on your switch's internal memory.
$80 $70 Nintendo Switch 2 carts
"Oh noooo I can't downgrade from an update, which all modern games need 'cause they all come out broken and unfinished".
Game key cards are a fix for the previous problem, which was one time game codes that get account locked after one use.
Yeah it sucks you have to download the game, but you can SELL your old game key cards and buy them second hand. This is the closest we're getting to selling digital games, get used to it.
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"Oh noooo I can't downgrade from an update, which all modern games need 'cause they all come out broken and unfinished".
Game key cards are a fix for the previous problem, which was one time game codes that get account locked after one use.
Yeah it sucks you have to download the game, but you can SELL your old game key cards and buy them second hand. This is the closest we're getting to selling digital games, get used to it.
To be fair I was talking about degrading from bad updates not just any update. Also, what I think is the most notable detail is that these physical key carts are treated as if you bought a game on the eshop, and downloads the game on your Switch. Not even onto the cart itself.
Do these key carts even have any internal storage on it at all? Probably does, for confirmation purposes.
It really is just e-waste. Because look at what Nintendo has degraded physical media into. Might as well just buy it on the eshop just so you can play the game without worrying abut having the cart in the console. Since the key cart is literally not much different from the digital.
If they don't restrict the key cart to one switch via a license, you might be right about selling digital games. Tbh I would prefer to sell a physical game, on the cart knowing that the game would always be available.
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Remember when you use to buy a Switch game and the game would atleast partially before updates, be on the cartridge?
Well imagine buying a key cart for your Switch2 and, you have to download the game from their servers from scratch. The game doesn't download itself to the cartridge, but onto your Switch 2 consoles internal memory.
Now imagine getting a bad update and trying to delete some data including the update, just to play with the original games version.
physical Key cart games are treated just like they are digital which means you can't revert the update.
Even if the game is saved onto your Switch's internal you cannot legally play a key cart game, without the key carts inserted in your switch.
The game data is not stored on the key cartridge but on your switch's internal memory.
$80 $70 Nintendo Switch 2 carts
I don't sell my games, so I see zero point in game key carts anyway. All I want is those to be identified so I know that if I want these particular games I don't buy the useless cart version.
Incidentally I absolutely never had to return to the base unpatched version of a game on Switch, and I have quite a few of them.
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Remember when you use to buy a Switch game and the game would atleast partially before updates, be on the cartridge?
Well imagine buying a key cart for your Switch2 and, you have to download the game from their servers from scratch. The game doesn't download itself to the cartridge, but onto your Switch 2 consoles internal memory.
Now imagine getting a bad update and trying to delete some data including the update, just to play with the original games version.
physical Key cart games are treated just like they are digital which means you can't revert the update.
Even if the game is saved onto your Switch's internal you cannot legally play a key cart game, without the key carts inserted in your switch.
The game data is not stored on the key cartridge but on your switch's internal memory.
$80 $70 Nintendo Switch 2 carts
The opposite can also be said. People have always been complaining you can't trade digital games.
Now you can. It's a digital game that's not attached to your account, but to the physical card, it can easily be sold again.
While certainly not as good as a true physical game, it's way better than the alternative: a full digital catalogue tied to your account.
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The opposite can also be said. People have always been complaining you can't trade digital games.
Now you can. It's a digital game that's not attached to your account, but to the physical card, it can easily be sold again.
While certainly not as good as a true physical game, it's way better than the alternative: a full digital catalogue tied to your account.
Is it really that much worse? Think about it long and hard.
Ewaste is a bigger problem than the inability to resell or trade digital games (in my opinion, at least). One can be solved fully digitally, while the other cannot.
Besides, Steam did it properly with Family Sharing when it was a thing.
This to me feels like Nintendo wants a stronger grip on digital key redistributions by adding a physical element into it to screw over key and account resellers. People are much less likely to sell a physical item when compared to a fully digital one.
Sending something physical is more time consuming and just more costly in general. I could always share a code via a message or an image to a friend, whereas with game cards I'd have to mail it over.
Now, only time will tell if game key cards will affect digital key sales (and their overall existence), but knowing Nintendo, it probably will.
And also - the whole point of "having a game catalog tied to your account fully digitally" is moot anyways if the game itself has to be downloaded anyway.
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I don't sell my games, so I see zero point in game key carts anyway. All I want is those to be identified so I know that if I want these particular games I don't buy the useless cart version.
Incidentally I absolutely never had to return to the base unpatched version of a game on Switch, and I have quite a few of them.
It's a speed runner issue more than anything (the update thing)
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It's a speed runner issue more than anything (the update thing)
Yeah, I guess for those wanting an exploit that was patched out it could be useful. That's not the use case I expect from the term "bad update" though.
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Remember when you use to buy a Switch game and the game would atleast partially before updates, be on the cartridge?
Well imagine buying a key cart for your Switch2 and, you have to download the game from their servers from scratch. The game doesn't download itself to the cartridge, but onto your Switch 2 consoles internal memory.
Now imagine getting a bad update and trying to delete some data including the update, just to play with the original games version.
physical Key cart games are treated just like they are digital which means you can't revert the update.
Even if the game is saved onto your Switch's internal you cannot legally play a key cart game, without the key carts inserted in your switch.
The game data is not stored on the key cartridge but on your switch's internal memory.
$80 $70 Nintendo Switch 2 carts
Everything has pros and cons. Currently there are physical collector editions, that don't actually have a game on disc, just a download code. Similarly, some collections are sold with one game on disk, rest a downloadable code. These codes are one-use only and can't be sold again.
Game key carts solve that problem. Instead of just putting a one-time code, they can use game-key cart, which people can use multiple times.
As for games installing on internal memory instead of the cart, yes, it works like all other downloads. The game that have partial data on disc, or any update that's downloaded. Or every single PS / Xbox game because they can't run directly from optical drive, so you have to copy the full data, download the updates, and still can't play without the disc.
You shouldn't think of a "digital" game. Those who want digital will just download digital. You should think of it as a physical game that has very little data on cart and rest is all a download (like Doom: Dark Ages shared below, just 85MB on disk, rest is a download)
The biggest con IMO is that some companies who were willing to release a cart with full or partial data may decide to go for the game-key cart since it's a official thing now, and average people buying it may not see any difference. So, I hope the collectors vote with wallet and ask the publishers to release full game on disk instead of using game-key carts.
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Yeah, I guess for those wanting an exploit that was patched out it could be useful. That's not the use case I expect from the term "bad update" though.
And most people with a purpose for those exploits, like speedrunners, will find a way to get a hacked console where these limitations on downgrading don't exist.
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Everything has pros and cons. Currently there are physical collector editions, that don't actually have a game on disc, just a download code. Similarly, some collections are sold with one game on disk, rest a downloadable code. These codes are one-use only and can't be sold again.
Game key carts solve that problem. Instead of just putting a one-time code, they can use game-key cart, which people can use multiple times.
As for games installing on internal memory instead of the cart, yes, it works like all other downloads. The game that have partial data on disc, or any update that's downloaded. Or every single PS / Xbox game because they can't run directly from optical drive, so you have to copy the full data, download the updates, and still can't play without the disc.
You shouldn't think of a "digital" game. Those who want digital will just download digital. You should think of it as a physical game that has very little data on cart and rest is all a download (like Doom: Dark Ages shared below, just 85MB on disk, rest is a download)
The biggest con IMO is that some companies who were willing to release a cart with full or partial data may decide to go for the game-key cart since it's a official thing now, and average people buying it may not see any difference. So, I hope the collectors vote with wallet and ask the publishers to release full game on disk instead of using game-key carts.
You shouldn't think of a "digital" game. ... You should think of it as a physical game that has very little data on cart and rest is all a download
So it's a digital game with a physical lockout? All the problems of digital AND The problems of physical, with no true upside from either, how great!
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Remember when you use to buy a Switch game and the game would atleast partially before updates, be on the cartridge?
Well imagine buying a key cart for your Switch2 and, you have to download the game from their servers from scratch. The game doesn't download itself to the cartridge, but onto your Switch 2 consoles internal memory.
Now imagine getting a bad update and trying to delete some data including the update, just to play with the original games version.
physical Key cart games are treated just like they are digital which means you can't revert the update.
Even if the game is saved onto your Switch's internal you cannot legally play a key cart game, without the key carts inserted in your switch.
The game data is not stored on the key cartridge but on your switch's internal memory.
$80 $70 Nintendo Switch 2 carts
Doesn't matter. This sub will still be hype as fuck for bing bang wahoo Mario and the next Legend of Lonk in a few years and it won't come up again.
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Is it really that much worse? Think about it long and hard.
Ewaste is a bigger problem than the inability to resell or trade digital games (in my opinion, at least). One can be solved fully digitally, while the other cannot.
Besides, Steam did it properly with Family Sharing when it was a thing.
This to me feels like Nintendo wants a stronger grip on digital key redistributions by adding a physical element into it to screw over key and account resellers. People are much less likely to sell a physical item when compared to a fully digital one.
Sending something physical is more time consuming and just more costly in general. I could always share a code via a message or an image to a friend, whereas with game cards I'd have to mail it over.
Now, only time will tell if game key cards will affect digital key sales (and their overall existence), but knowing Nintendo, it probably will.
And also - the whole point of "having a game catalog tied to your account fully digitally" is moot anyways if the game itself has to be downloaded anyway.
This to me feels like Nintendo wants a stronger grip on digital key redistributions by adding a physical element into it to screw over key and account resellers. People are much less likely to sell a physical item when compared to a fully digital one.
From what I have heard, every first party Nintendo game is coming out with a game-on-cartridge release while most third party games are key carts.
My take on the situation is that publishers complained about the cost of large capacity Switch 2 cartridges, so Nintendo created Game Key carts for them to use. Once they existed for large size games, why would a publisher not use them for all games? Complaints from a vocal minority that buys the game anyways?
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You shouldn't think of a "digital" game. ... You should think of it as a physical game that has very little data on cart and rest is all a download
So it's a digital game with a physical lockout? All the problems of digital AND The problems of physical, with no true upside from either, how great!
The point is that you can still treat it like a physical game. So there are upsides in that you can borrow it to your friends or resell it.
If it is a game that gets updated often or requires updates to even play it (multiplayer games) then having the game data on the card is next to worthless anyways and just makes publishing the game more difficult because they can't start manufacturing the cards until the game is 100% ready.
Nintendo's audience goes for physical much more than the other consoles, much easier swapping cards than dealing with family sharing, a lot of their adult users collect games, and generally Nintendo games hold their value much more so being able to resell is important. So this is a compromise between what their users want and what they need for modern game development.
Slippery slope for sure if they start doing the same with single player games but there are valid reasons for them to do this, and the alternative is they just start forcing everyone to download all of their games which is even worse. MIG switch would never have been an issue for them if there just weren't game card slots to begin with.
Of course end users should assume the store is going to get shutdown someday and their games will be inaccessible at that time. Nintendo needs to shutdown those stores so that a couple of generations later they can sell everyone the same games for the second/third/fourth time.
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You shouldn't think of a "digital" game. ... You should think of it as a physical game that has very little data on cart and rest is all a download
So it's a digital game with a physical lockout? All the problems of digital AND The problems of physical, with no true upside from either, how great!
The (only) advantage of Game Carts over digital is that you can resell them and lend them to people outside of your (digital) family.
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To be fair I was talking about degrading from bad updates not just any update. Also, what I think is the most notable detail is that these physical key carts are treated as if you bought a game on the eshop, and downloads the game on your Switch. Not even onto the cart itself.
Do these key carts even have any internal storage on it at all? Probably does, for confirmation purposes.
It really is just e-waste. Because look at what Nintendo has degraded physical media into. Might as well just buy it on the eshop just so you can play the game without worrying abut having the cart in the console. Since the key cart is literally not much different from the digital.
If they don't restrict the key cart to one switch via a license, you might be right about selling digital games. Tbh I would prefer to sell a physical game, on the cart knowing that the game would always be available.
You've almost converted me. What do you mean by "bad update"?
