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[Plies]

Now in the day with the Switch 2, purchasing a retail copy for games a key code would come with it.
My question is how do makes control the use of the game especially if its an offline game (single payer) if people just rent it to a friend. Do the makers know if you simply use it offline. Or is the set of codes the same for all copies?

 

[jshackles]

It's a cartridge with a unique code stamped on it. When you put it in your Switch 2, it prompts you to install the WHOLE game from the eShop. After the game is installed online, you can launch it as long as you have the cartridge in your system. If you take the cartridge out and try to launch the game, you'll get an error saying you have to insert the cartridge.

If you loan it a friend, then they'll have the exact same experience.

Nintendo would definitely know if 1,000 people downloaded the game from the eShop using the same physical cartridge. They also have the ability to disable it remotely (ie, no more downloading the game from that one specific copy), though to my knowledge this hasn't happened yet.

 

[Mr Hyde]

You only need internet connection when you download it the first time. You must have the cartridge inside Switch 2 if you want to play. You can sell and trade the game if you want. The game is not tied to your account like digital download code would. Simply put, it works exactly like a cartridge, except it's a digital license that takes up space on your internal storage.

 

[Plies]

You can sell and trade the game if you want.

I can give it to a friend with no issues?

 

[Tommi84]

I can give it to a friend with no issues?

Yes, but only the person having the key card can play it

 

[Mr Hyde]

I can give it to a friend with no issues?

Yes.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

They are keeping the industry from going full digital-only.

 

[Plies]

They are keeping the industry from going full digital-only.

Sony and Microsoft will go full digital next generation?

 

[Ceadeus]

It's a cartridge with a unique code stamped on it. When you put it in your Switch 2, it prompts you to install the WHOLE game from the eShop. After the game is installed online, you can launch it as long as you have the cartridge in your system. If you take the cartridge out and try to launch the game, you'll get an error saying you have to insert the cartridge.

If you loan it a friend, then they'll have the exact same experience.

Nintendo would definitely know if 1,000 people downloaded the game from the eShop using the same physical cartridge. They also have the ability to disable it remotely (ie, no more downloading the game from that one specific copy), though to my knowledge this hasn't happened yet.

god damn it's GARBAGE..

NOBODY likes it..

edit : some of these game are 50GB+. Now, the switch 2 is 256. The equation is quite simple.. : it sucks!

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Sony and Microsoft will go full digital next generation?

And probably Nintendo as well...

 

[mèx]

The way this works is that every time you buy one, a giant Nintendo-shaped dildo gets rammed up into your butthole. It's a surprise Nintendo Direct delivered directly to you.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

The way this works is that every time you buy one, a giant Nintendo-shaped dildo gets rammed up into your butthole. It's a surprise Nintendo Direct delivered directly to you.

Without it you'll just get air fucked from now on.

 

[Plies]

The way this works is that every time you buy one, a giant Nintendo-shaped dildo gets rammed up into your butthole.

I am a dildo expert, for sure.

 

[Syphon Filter]

You only need internet connection when you download it the first time. You must have the cartridge inside Switch 2 if you want to play. You can sell and trade the game if you want. The game is not tied to your account like digital download code would. Simply put, it works exactly like a cartridge, except it's a digital license that takes up space on your internal storage.

They are keeping the industry from going full digital-only.

you dont own key cards since it needs an internet connection to work. when the servers are shut down eventually that card wont work anymore.

 

[ReBurn]

People: We wish we could sell our digital games.

Nintendo: Introduces game key cards.

People:

 

[Fbh]

It's basically a digital game except that the "access rights" of it aren't tied to you account but rather to a physical cartridge, so it retains some of the benefits of physical media like being able to trade it, lend/borrow it, resell it, buy it used, etc.
You can lend it to 5 friends and all 5 friends will be able to download the game, but only the person with the physical cartridge will be able to launch and play the game. In that sense it's similar to any other physical games, you can also lend your Ps5 discs to your friends and they'll be able to install the game on their console....but only the people with the actual disc can play it.

 

[Plies]

It's basically a digital game except that the "access rights" of it aren't tied to you account but rather to a physical cartridge, so it retains some of the benefits of physical media like being able to trade it, lend/borrow it, resell it, buy it used, etc.
You can lend it to 5 friends and all 5 friends will be able to download the game, but only the person with the physical cartridge will be able to launch and play the game. In that sense it's similar to any other physical games, you can also lend your Ps5 discs to your friends and they'll be able to install the game on their console....but only the people with the actual disc can play it.

So, if the Nintendo Online store goes down in the future, you won't be able to play the key card game?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

It works the same way as a disc works on PS and Xbox

Put disc in, you are allowed to launch the game. Take disc out, you aren't allowed to launch the game

Many Xbox games and a small number of PS games (around 10%) contain no game data on the disc at all, so they are basically already game key cards

 

[Unknown Soldier]

So, if the Nintendo Online store goes down in the future, you won't be able to play the key card game?

Ask PC gamers the same question about Steam

 

[kazuyamishima]

So, if the Nintendo Online store goes down in the future, you won't be able to play the key card game?

That is correct.

It works the same way as a disc works on PS and Xbox

This is not correct.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

This is not correct.

It is correct. Game publishers aren't obligated to put any game data on the disc. Most do, at least on PS

But if you were to buy Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PS5, you'll soon find that your disc is a game key card since there's no game data on the disc. The entire game must be downloaded from PSN for you to play it

 

[kazuyamishima]

It is correct. Game publishers aren't obligated to put any game data on the disc. Most do, at least on PS

But if you were to buy Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PS5, you'll soon find that your disc is a game key card since there's no game data on the disc. The entire game must be downloaded from PSN for you to play it

A very small percentage of PS5 and Xbox Series X games don't have the complete data or any at all on the disc, I think is less than 2%. Around 98% of the games can be installed without internet connection.

All game key card games need to be downloaded online.

 

[T8SC]

If you take Marvin's, you should be able to unlock the doors in the hall with it.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

A very small percentage of PS5 and Xbox Series X games don't have the complete data or any at all on the disc, I think is less than 2%. Around 98% of the games can be installed without internet connection.

All game key card games need to be downloaded online.

Your numbers are wrong

DoesItPlay? - Home

Working to ensure games remain accessible now and always!

www.doesitplay.org

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

you dont own key cards since it needs an internet connection to work. when the servers are shut down eventually that card wont work anymore.

It'll work just fine if it's still on my internal memory or SD card, just like most of your Blu Ray games will.

 

[Fbh]

So, if the Nintendo Online store goes down in the future, you won't be able to play the key card game?

I assume that if you already downloaded the game data into your console then you will still be able to play the game even if the servers go offline. But you won't be able to use the key card to redownload the data if you ever delete it, or to download the game on a different console.

Though I think it's worth keeping in mind that you can still redownload digital Wii games, a console that's almost 20 years old. Unless Nintendo goes out of business, I'd assume the point at which Switch 2 game can no longer be re-downloaded is literally decades away.

 

[xrnzaaas]

A very small percentage of PS5 and Xbox Series X games don't have the complete data or any at all on the disc, I think is less than 2%. Around 98% of the games can be installed without internet connection.

All game key card games need to be downloaded online.

This is a much bigger issue. A lot of new games coming don't have final builds on disc, it's just some build from when they had to print the blurays. They can be incomplete (also due to their size if it doesn't fit on a single disc) or with old/flawed builds, in many cases making them borderline unplayable. Plus some games require you to update if you want to run them... all it takes is go online even once and the requirement of downloading patches for that particular game will be remembered by the system.

Not to mention devs don't pay attention to patch sizes anymore. Stalker 2 is one of the worst offenders here - small patches can be 30-40 gigs, big patches basically force you to redownload the game (100+ gigs).

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

I mean it's self-explanatory based on what they're called and the mere fact they exist vs actual game carts. Also you could just Google it, bro

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

So, if the Nintendo Online store goes down in the future, you won't be able to play the key card game?

You can literally still download original Wii games from the Shop channel. In September 2025. I honestly don't think it's a concern, if that's like the final straw last hill argument people who are against digital are falling on their sword for. Buying physical games is a complete joke nowadays. Not to mention every game gets patches and updates and you don't actually normally even use the data from the cart. I occasionally still buy physical for special occasions but yikes, it is bleak. I'd say it'll be basically gone in the next 5 years. And the hassle/ use of it all is pretty hard to argue at this point.

 

[simpatico]

Just like a Switch game with a large mandatory download. It'll feel no different.

 

[Evil Calvin]

It's no different than buying a disc physical copy for the Xbox or PS5. You need the disc inserted. It downloads and installs the game. You need the disc in the console to play the game.

Same exact thing really, as most games are not on the discs these days.

 

[Dacvak]

My friend has a game on a key card, and I would have never guessed it wasn't a real game card. You insert it in the Switch, it automatically downloads the game, and then it functions the same as any other normal game card.

The big fear is that someday Nintendo will turn off their servers, which would mean you wouldn't be able to install that game on a new console, and you'll only be able to play it on a Switch that had it installed already.

 

[diffusionx]

It's exactly the same thing as any physical game on PS5 or Xbox that requires a download before you play, just in Switch 2 cart form.

When I see all the whining over the game key cards, I'm thinking that this whole game community thing maybe isn't for me anymore.

 

[bender]

I can give it to a friend with no issues?

Only if you have a friend...who has a Switch 2 to play.

 

[KungFucius]

They are shit. Assholes should have designed something you could xfer the license off of, and to your account and then back. Bonus points if it stored the actual patched game.

 

[Lokaum D+]

its physical DRM

 

[MrCunningham]

They are keeping the industry from going full digital-only.

It was Nintendo's 'Hail Mary' to the retail monster known as Wal-Mart.