Nintendo Switch 2 Game-Key Cards Information from Nintendo [Not regular games]

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Game-key cards are different from regular game cards, because they don't contain the full game data. Instead, the game-key card is your "key" to downloading the full game to your system via the internet.

After it's downloaded, you can play the game by inserting the game-key card into your system and starting it up like a standard physical game card.

This might be a deal breaker for me. I know there aren't many of us left, but as someone who has almost exclusively bought physical games, and has a sizeable Nintendo Switch collection.

They finally killed off physical.
 
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This might be a deal breaker for me. I know there aren't many of us left, but as someone who has almost exclusively bought physical games, and has a sizeable Nintendo Switch collection, this might be a deal breaker for me.

They finally killed off physical.

Deal breaker for me.

Fuck it. I'm selling my Switch and all my games with it tonight.

Fuck Nintendo
 
Hopefully it's only on a few games, and at least the packaging reflects it pretty strongly. Kinda like some Switch 1 games

71OlW1WxPKL.jpg


(Hopefully!)
 
Damn, it's just a river of shit news following the Switch 2 Direct. 90 euro games. Games not on cart but keys instead. Absolutely fucking bullshit. Physical gaming is dead. What a travesty 😳
 
Also, forget about preservation and being able to play your old games in the future.

Kids today won't be able to do the same things we can do with our NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, Playstation, etc. Meaning, being able to play our old games. From now on everything will be tethered on some online DRM or subscription. I doubt these "keys" will be functional a couple of generations after Switch 2.
 
I'm almost starting to hope that humanity will experience a massive solarstorm that fries internet for a year so that we can see how dependent we are on it for everything.
 



This might be a deal breaker for me. I know there aren't many of us left, but as someone who has almost exclusively bought physical games, and has a sizeable Nintendo Switch collection.

They finally killed off physical.
Did you read what the website says ?
Yeah, it appears not. That is about what they announced last week and not about physical games.

That being said I bet a lot of SW2 games won't be on the cart fully.
 
This isn't much different to some Switch games. AC Black Flag for instance sells a box with just the code in it, there is a much rarer physical version of it.

It's definitely e-waste though.
 
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So yeah, sorry I just realized this may not be every game....but ya know consider the size of existing Switch games, and how these carts already seem to be a similar form factor, but also have faster data transfer speeds which means they'll cost more to make....we're probably going to see very few actual games on carts.
 
btw, digital is inevitable. I've been digital on pc for ~20 years. They haven't sold phsyical pc games in forever. Pcgaming is reportedly bigger than ever.
 
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If that's true....then that 256gb card is waaaaayyyy too small. That was the sole benefit of physical Switch games, as they were on the cart and didn't have to be installed. Saved on storage space.

Heck, I just bought a 2 tb expansion card for my XSX because everything has to be installed
 

"Game-key cards are different from regular game cards, because they don't contain the full game data. Instead, the game-key card is your "key" to downloading the full game to your system via the internet.
After it's downloaded, you can play the game by inserting the game-key card into your system and starting it up like a standard physical game card."

"How it works
Step 1: Insert the game-key card into the system.
Step 2: Download the game.
Step 3: Play the game."

What's the point of this? Is this what the Mario Kart World bundle will be, where you can only play the downloaded digital copy if the key is inserted?
 

"Game-key cards are different from regular game cards, because they don't contain the full game data. Instead, the game-key card is your "key" to downloading the full game to your system via the internet.
After it's downloaded, you can play the game by inserting the game-key card into your system and starting it up like a standard physical game card."

"How it works
Step 1: Insert the game-key card into the system.
Step 2: Download the game.
Step 3: Play the game."

What's the point of this? Is this what the Mario Kart World bundle will be, where you can only play the downloaded digital copy if the key is inserted?
Maybe so that you can play even if you don't have internet to verify the license?
 

"Game-key cards are different from regular game cards, because they don't contain the full game data. Instead, the game-key card is your "key" to downloading the full game to your system via the internet.
After it's downloaded, you can play the game by inserting the game-key card into your system and starting it up like a standard physical game card."

"How it works
Step 1: Insert the game-key card into the system.
Step 2: Download the game.
Step 3: Play the game."

What's the point of this? Is this what the Mario Kart World bundle will be, where you can only play the downloaded digital copy if the key is inserted?

It'll just be the regular digital version. They're not putting a cart in there if they don't have to.
 
Im probably gonna get smashed for this, but i understand their decision to keep games digital. I blame the pirates who forced their hand instead. Game preservation is one thing, but i assume there were a large group of people abusing that. Anyway, Nintendo has tried to compromise by allowing game sharing. Was there really any other option for them?
 
Wow...that's shit given they're going to charge $10 more than digital. Unless I'm reading this wrong, and it's a separate priced thing for certain games.

What I'd actually want with that $10 is they put the money into a card that can store the whole game.
 
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It seems the Game Key card is an alternative and will clearly marked like so:
bee-gamekeycard-art-en

For comparison, here's a game box that doesn't have that signage:
m5Eg4zQ.jpeg
 
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What's the point of this? Is this what the Mario Kart World bundle will be, where you can only play the downloaded digital copy if the key is inserted?

Depends on whether it can only be activated once or not. Better than having a code you redeem and cannot sell at a later date.
 
Man, Nintendo really like so fuck it up their next gen,

N64 - Amazing
NGC - Bad
Wii - Amazig
Wii U - Pure Trash
Switch - Great
Switch "2" - its not looking that great.
 
this is literally the exact same as the already existing games on Switch 1 or other consoles that aren't complete on disc... wtf are people surprised by here exactly?
 
Is this for all boxed games or just the odd game that is too big for the normal game cards?
 
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Hopefully it's only on a few games, and at least the packaging reflects it pretty strongly. Kinda like some Switch 1 games

71OlW1WxPKL.jpg


(Hopefully!)
Spot on. This is all I believe this is. Releases like this will be labelled with the Game-Key Card disclaimer.
 
I understand why some are upset about this, but these key cards also enables the following:
  • Games that are larger than what the cartridge supports
  • The ability to share/sell these games, because they are not tied to a digital download code
  • Able to play digital games without the internet, so you are not worried about a license needing to sync. Once downloaded to your system, you are good to go

I see what they are trying to do, but I also see why those who prefer physical games do not like this. However, I would say that they are trying to solve issues that digital only has with this. But it still does not solve the fear of the servers going away and not being able to download the games in the future.
 
So basically what you're saying is any game that is large in size you don't want coming to switch because it won't fit on any physical media?
 
So a digital game with the hassle of having to insert the card every time? No thanks!

This is the beginning of a very shitty future for video games. Next gen from Sony and Microsoft (if there's one), it's going to be crazy. The abuse is overwhelming!
 
Man, Nintendo really like so fuck it up their next gen,

N64 - Amazing
NGC - Bad
Wii - Amazig
Wii U - Pure Trash
Switch - Great
Switch "2" - its not looking that great.
Litterally the only thing that sucks is the $80 pricing of MK. Otherwise the pricing of the console is in line with what it's capable of doing and the launch lineup is solid.

This solves the problem of 150GB file size games for a cart based handheld.
What's not looking so great?
 
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Come back to "Why not put a code in the box?"
... because it's sold in a box and customers expect a cart.

And then there's no code to mess with. Easier for the customer I would think.

More secure too Someone can't steal the code. And the customer has to try to convince Nintendo or retail that their code was stolen.

all in all might add up to 100000 fewer support calls.

LOngshot: key-card isn't attached to an account? Works like a regular cartridge. If you give it to a friend you can't play the game. (haven't read the info on this so just taking a guess.)
 
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