Nobody is buying the Disgaea 7 Collectors Edition on Switch 2, it's a Game Key Card

jshackles

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NIS are re-releasing a Switch 2 edition of Disgaea 7, and they've made a $100 collector's edition that comes with a cheap fan and cheap plastic solar cat toy - but it seems the biggest reason it's not selling is that the game itself is coming on a Game Key Card.

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These special edition games usually are limited quantity and sell out sometimes within days or even hours. This collector's edition has been sitting at 100% stock for the past few hours.

Seems like the people / collectors who would want to purchase something like this probably don't like the idea of getting a cartridge without the game on it.
 
Surprised more people aren't talking about this to be fair. The vast majority of third party support the Switch 2 has received so far are on Game Key Cards. Physical sales will tank, digital sales will rise, and the next Nintendo console will be digital only. It's only a matter of time.

Just consider the Switch 2 a digital console with physical backwards compatibility to ease the pain now.
 

NIS are re-releasing a Switch 2 edition of Disgaea 7, and they've made a $100 collector's edition that comes with a cheap fan and cheap plastic solar cat toy - but it seems the biggest reason it's not selling is that the game itself is coming on a Game Key Card.

EcNPnFp.png


These special edition games usually are limited quantity and sell out sometimes within days or even hours. This collector's edition has been sitting at 100% stock for the past few hours.

Seems like the people / collectors who would want to purchase something like this probably don't like the idea of getting a cartridge without the game on it.
Meanwhile Cyberpunk 2077 is topping the charts on Switch 2. Publishers need to stop being cheap; there is no excuse for a fucking Disgaea game to be a Game Key card.
 
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Surprised more people aren't talking about this to be fair. The vast majority of third party support the Switch 2 has received so far are on Game Key Cards. Physical sales will tank, digital sales will rise, and the next Nintendo console will be digital only. It's only a matter of time.

Just consider the Switch 2 a digital console with physical backwards compatibility to ease the pain now.
I've tried to tell people.
 
Physical sales will tank, digital sales will rise, and the next Nintendo console will be digital only. It's only a matter of time.

That's most likely what Nintendo want. It's the reason why they've priced they're digital games cheaper than the physical copies.
 
Hmm, being a shitty collector's edition probably has a lot to do with it, but collectors specifically are more than likely not going to appreciate the game key. Bad choice for a game like this.

Everyone knows that physical media is in decline, but this isn't the poster child for that.
 
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I didn't even know this existed.. thanks for the heads up I just bought 3.

Game key are like disc that just act as keys that have been a thing since last gen.
 
I thought generally collectors edition including some statue or book etc comes without a game.
I am surprised they even included the game.
 
The key card is no doubt a big deterrent, but it's also a bare bones set for a game most major Disgaea fans will already own with Limited Run tier bonus items.

I know most here believe in the conspiracy theory that Nintendo is secretly using key cards to push everyone to digital, but it's more a case of publishers being cheap because the carts are expensive and don't yet come in a good range of lower cost storage sizes. Nintendo themselves are still putting everything on cart for their physical releases and I think Cyberpunk is a good example of a game doing disproportionately well compared to other launch titles in part because they chose to eat the cost.

If I'm buying a game on a key card, it's going to need to be at a bargain bin price. I never bought the Switch games that were effectively the same thing.
 
What's the manufacturing cost difference between a normal cartridge and a game key?
Normal cartridges are reported to cost $16. Game Key Cards are "significantly less", but no specific info yet on that. Based on the chips that are inside them, the cost is estimated to be about $2 - $3.
 
What's the manufacturing cost difference between a normal cartridge and a game key?

I think I read the 64GB carts are ~$24 and we also saw rumors stating that was the only size available (this could be false). That is part of the reason Cyberpunk 2077 is a full priced game, not that it could have used a smaller cart. You'd have to guess a Game Key Cart is less than a dollar. If the available size rumor is true, it is no surprise publishers are opting for Game Key Carts when their games are a fraction of the size like Disgaea or Bravely Default. And speaking of Cyberpunk 2077, is it the only 3rd party game that isn't a Game Key Cart?
 
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I found on Google Guardians of Azuma, doesn't have a game key card mention on it
It's also a cross-gen game. Like the Zelda re-releases, it's a Switch 1 cartridge with a free on-cart Switch 2 upgrade.
 
I found on Google Guardians of Azuma, doesn't have a game key card mention on it



Interesting that this thread says it's a 64GB card. It does contain both SW1 and SW2 versions of the game, but

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma file size for Nintendo Switch 2 is 18.1GB. For comparison, the Switch 1 version is 5.8GB.

Lending some credence to that cart size rumor.
 
It's also a cross-gen game. Like the Zelda re-releases, it's a Switch 1 cartridge with a free on-cart Switch 2 upgrade.
Is it possible that this could be a half-way solution until card prices come down?

Pubs could release games on "Red" Switch 1 carts that includes a free on-cart upgrade? At least for games that also have Switch 1 editions.
 
The Game Key scheme has to be one of the worst initiatives of this generation.
It's situational. I don't mind game key cards one bit under normal circumstances because at least Nintendo is being up front about what you're getting whereas other companies release (sometimes) 80gb of garbage on a disc that requires a 30gb day one patch to actually function.

The issue is these companies have the balls to charge $100 for a collectors edition thats a game key cart.
 
Good, I hope all of these key cards crash and burn.

I know fully well we're heading into a digital-only future where we'll never again own games. I'll just cut drastically down on games I purchase, and I'll just have to be ok with that.
 
I really hope most Switch 2 owners will reject this practice. This devalues the physical media by alot.

If it's an option between a keycard or digital, you might as well go digital, since a keycard is just a license and requires authentication online. Plus you avoid taxes from a physical retailer.

It's really meant to push people into digital.
 
I have all the collectors editions in this series and I have all the games (physical and digital) back to the ps2 debut. I also have all the double jump books that were released when strategy guides were a thing (double jump made awesome guides).

I would consider myself a deep collector when it comes to the games industry in general.

I DO NOT own this collectors edition and I will not buy it. I don't need another digital copy of the game (already have that on ps5 and pc).

These smaller publishers are about to FA&FO with their approach to releasing collectors editions sans physical copies of the games.
 
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As a physical Switch collector Key cards are the biggest turn off for me. It sucks so hard. I really hope Cyberpunks sales success shows the way for other third party pubs. And that cartridges soon comes in different sizes and that Nintendo subsidies some of the cost. This is bullshit!
 
Publishers are going to look at the numbers for normal releases and not justify the huge difference in margins. It's Nintendo's fault there, mainly, for opening it up as a default option.

For a collector's edition though there's no excuse.
 
I really hope most Switch 2 owners will reject this practice. This devalues the physical media by alot.

If it's an option between a keycard or digital, you might as well go digital, since a keycard is just a license and requires authentication online. Plus you avoid taxes from a physical retailer.

It's really meant to push people into digital.

In the US, that's dependent on State. While GKCs don't help with preservation, I'd rather purchase that option than digital for games I'm taking a flier on as they can be resold. It also helps keep a retail presence which is important for both Nintendo and Publishers and that's a big reason why a lot of retail has stopped allocating space to Xbox. The game size and cost of carts does need to get sorted out. I can't imagine every buying a collectors edition that doesn't contain the actual game as that seems antithetical.
 
Yeah, all of this sucks. I went from my high hopes of Switch 2 carrying physical at least one more generation, to realizing at launch only two games (I think) are actually on the cart, with 100% of everything else on a game key card. Rug pull!
 
Surprised more people aren't talking about this to be fair. The vast majority of third party support the Switch 2 has received so far are on Game Key Cards. Physical sales will tank, digital sales will rise, and the next Nintendo console will be digital only. It's only a matter of time.

Just consider the Switch 2 a digital console with physical backwards compatibility to ease the pain now.
Surprised so many are. Switch practically from day one had games that required half to be downloaded. Only got worse as the gen went on.
 
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Publishers are going to look at the numbers for normal releases and not justify the huge difference in margins. It's Nintendo's fault there, mainly, for opening it up as a default option.

For a collector's edition though there's no excuse.

I'd be more cynical and replace "fault" with "by design".
 
The game key cards absolutely deserve to fail. But I can't be too mad at NIS, because it's Disgaea 7 with exclusive content (at least I think it is), and I'm glad they put the effort into making the Switch 2 version interesting.

Digitally, at least.
 
How many times are you going to post pics of Switch 1 games requiring a download, pretending it was always like this (while it wasn't) ?
How many times do we need to repeat that it now affects nearly every single third party game out there, and that it wasn't like this on Switch 1 ?
All of these Game Key Card releases on Switch 2 have proper cartridge releases on Switch 1.

Stop pretending you don't understand the obvious, and huge difference between Switch 1 and Switch 2 situation. This is pure denial. This is a disservice to Switch 2 owners, and it is annoying. We get it : you don't give a shit and you absolutely need to defend Nintendo. But you can also not post, rather than spreading bullshit.
 
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