Switch 2 and the Game Key Card Controversy! Physical media continues to death spiral

I mean this seems like the best compromise on the spectrum of just codes on a piece of paper vs full data game card

You still essentially get all the tangible physical aspects + resellability.
But you are also totally at Nintendo's whims. If they decide later that these can't be shared, they could prevent them from being used more than once. If they decide your copy has been played in too many Switches, they could turn the card off. When they eventually turn off the Switch 2 eShop, you now just have a piece of plastic.

One of the reasons that people don't like digital downloads is that they don't trust Nintendo to not take away their license to play the game they paid for. I don't think having a physical item where that can still happen is going to change too many people's minds.
 
I think most gamers don't have a problem downloading/streaming movies or music. What is it about digital games that freaks everyone out vs other forms of media?

I'm not advocating for the death of physical media, I like having a choice…but rather interested in why games in general are thought about differently vs other forms of media.
If I buy a product, its value is reflected. I'm not going to spend $80 on air...
 
Physical is dead. Deal with it.
it is not. deal with it
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It's cheaper and better. And all the doomer myths surrounding it are false.
It's only dying because of people like you who gave up and are too lazy go go pick up a game in a po box
 
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Most physical games now practically require patching or updates.
that's just not true. The website clearly shows that MAJORITY are playable straight offline from the disc.
But is the disc preventing you from patching the fucking game? what kind of stupid argument is that?

I will expand your view:
-Physical - You install the game, update and then can play it offline because disc is an authorization. Or you can play 1.0. CHOICES
-digital? You rely purely on PSN. You need to be online to play the game at least after some time
 
I will
Donald Trump Rnc GIF by Election 2016

buy a game which will be sold this way.
I'm certain I will never be that certain, but I AM going to purchase the Switch physical version of Suikoden 1&2. This might be an unusual compromise as long as the Switch game cards abound. 🤔
 
Most physical games now practically require patching or updates.
The site literally shows which games work perfectly fine without any updates and that seems to be the majority, or are you being daft on purpose. It's clearly there, even a blind man can see it.
 
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I'm not a fan of these key-cards but the alternative is digital-only through a Nintendo account. Most third parties will never return to real game cards now that this is an option. It would be nice if the microSD data can be backed up to a PC/local storage as an alternative to redownloading.
 
If I buy a product, its value is reflected. I'm not going to spend $80 on air...
Totally get that, but you kinda sidestepped my question. Generally speaking, why doesn't that logic apply to Netflix or Spotify? You're paying for access there too, and no one calls it "buying air." What makes games feel different?
 
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Often new release of games are sold out (like Clair Obscure) or the PS5 disc drive is. They purposefully want to kill it because of their globalist agenda
So you think Clair Obscur PS5 physical sold out because of a globalist agenda.

One alternative possibility is that demand was higher than expected.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see whether Kepler decide to publish and distribute more physical copies, or whether they choose to leave all that money on the table so they can continue to serve their globalist agenda.
 
It's the lesser evil and if I had to pick on someone it would be Microsoft for being very aggressive with their switch to 100% digital and not offering their big new games in physical format (like the PS version of Forza Horizon or Avowed).

With a Key Card can still get all the important advantages of owning physical releases. And yes, it sucks to have to download the entire game, but it's not that far from the current state of the gaming market. Day 1 patches in many cases have become almost complete redownloads, because the disc (or cart) copy was manufactured based on a version very different from the final build.
 
I've been digital since 2009 with the psp go, but digital got started for the hobby before that through things like Steam, and EA Origin.
 
The saddest part of all this discussion is people (for some reason) defending digital and attacking anyone that prefers physical media and are not do whatever big corporations wants to do. It is baffling and sad, imagine defending paying 60-80 bucks for a digital license.

For me the Switch 2 fall really fast from "As soon as they announce it, I will get it" to "Nah, skip". Prices and this crap. Yes, it is way better than a code that it is applied to your account, but is it still terrible. Not actually having your games may be more comfy, but is it still bad because you dont own anything. If they want to replace the product, you are dont for. If they want to update the Terms of Service of the services and you dont want to accept it, good bye to your downloads. You broke some arbitrary rules that can change whenever they want? Ban, and you lose your access too. Want to enjoy some classic games in a decade or more? See if the servers are up and with the data, other wise you are screw too.

Like DF stated, if this is the start of a new generations, and knowing that companies WILL DO anything they can to improve their bottom line, we are in for an awful new generation. And the sad part is that people will stand in ovation and clap.
 
The saddest part of all this discussion is people (for some reason) defending digital and attacking anyone that prefers physical media and are not do whatever big corporations wants to do. It is baffling and sad, imagine defending paying 60-80 bucks for a digital license.

For me the Switch 2 fall really fast from "As soon as they announce it, I will get it" to "Nah, skip". Prices and this crap. Yes, it is way better than a code that it is applied to your account, but is it still terrible. Not actually having your games may be more comfy, but is it still bad because you dont own anything. If they want to replace the product, you are dont for. If they want to update the Terms of Service of the services and you dont want to accept it, good bye to your downloads. You broke some arbitrary rules that can change whenever they want? Ban, and you lose your access too. Want to enjoy some classic games in a decade or more? See if the servers are up and with the data, other wise you are screw too.

Like DF stated, if this is the start of a new generations, and knowing that companies WILL DO anything they can to improve their bottom line, we are in for an awful new generation. And the sad part is that people will stand in ovation and clap.
Amen. I'm sorry for putting it like this, but I can't help but think people who would defend these practices are stupid, and/or have little self respect. It's not just a matter of wanting a piece of plastic for my video games. It's about wanting to maintain ownership of the things I spend my hard earned money on. These greedy corporations love the idea that there are so people out there willing to throw money at them, and get nothing back in a physical sense. They get more, and we get less, that's the straight up fact of the matter.

I'll have more respect for someone who buys digital, and at least knows they're getting screwed, but says it just suits their lifestyle better or something. Just don't try and tell me it's "better", or some other BS.

Some people try to justify digital being better because "good, stop wasting plastic", and I can't help but roll my eyes at this dumb reason. For one thing, anyone buying physical is probably taking care of it better and making sure it doesn't become waste anytime soon a lot better than most things that do become waste. There are so many businesses that go through wasteful use of resources a lot more than some video games. I work in a hospital, and they are constantly wasting garbage bags on trash bins that barely have anything in them. You got little plastic instrument pieces that doctors and nurses uses that probably go in the trash by the hundreds daily for a single building. Video games cases are sitting on my shelf, and not going anywhere, especially not in the trash, so this excuse is such bull shit. Not to mention that these game key cards do nothing to save on resources. Simply saving the publishers executives more money for their next yacht most likely, and offloading it to the paying customer because they're the one who has to buy another SD card because the Switch 2 barely has space to fill up with digital games.

I can totally understand your sentiment about interesting in falling for the Switch 2 fast with this news. I was getting there myself. April was just a whirlwind of crazy news and BS regarding the console...but I still decided it was worth getting because not every game is using the game key cards. It'll still have games I want, even with that shitty practice. It is crazy though how the Switch 2 went from showing so well during it's April 2nd direct to me...to constant bad news.
 
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The saddest part of all this discussion is people (for some reason) defending digital and attacking anyone that prefers physical media and are not do whatever big corporations wants to do. It is baffling and sad, imagine defending paying 60-80 bucks for a digital license.

For me the Switch 2 fall really fast from "As soon as they announce it, I will get it" to "Nah, skip". Prices and this crap. Yes, it is way better than a code that it is applied to your account, but is it still terrible. Not actually having your games may be more comfy, but is it still bad because you dont own anything. If they want to replace the product, you are dont for. If they want to update the Terms of Service of the services and you dont want to accept it, good bye to your downloads. You broke some arbitrary rules that can change whenever they want? Ban, and you lose your access too. Want to enjoy some classic games in a decade or more? See if the servers are up and with the data, other wise you are screw too.

Like DF stated, if this is the start of a new generations, and knowing that companies WILL DO anything they can to improve their bottom line, we are in for an awful new generation. And the sad part is that people will stand in ovation and clap.

If we're going towards that doomsday narrative, those console makers can also update their TOS and release an update which render your disc unreadable. Or current gen peripherals/disc not working on next gen consoles, to make players buy new controllers and re-buy same games on next gen consoles.We're already there with Sony making DualShock4 incompatible with PS5.

Consoles are closed system with pure DRM. Console players accepted that themselves the moment they play on consoles. Nobody force them.
 
They get more, and we get less, that's the straight up fact of the matter.

Man, you got me there, but even if I sound like "old man screams at the clouds", I have been thinking a lot about this lately. Remember when they phones had headphone jack, Android had this lights that let you know if you had unread notifications from Facebook (blue) Whastapp (green) or other (white, and usually in my case was clash of clans). On gaming is even worse: we had full manuals that you can use to refresh your memories on controls, getting lore, etc. Or hidding secrets like celebrities as secret characters? Today it either a shop event or a battlepass, but either way grab them fast because we are removing it.

Some people try to justify digital being better because "good, stop wasting plastic", and I can't help but roll my eyes at this dumb reason.

Yeah, and it is a bad one. Servers consume a lot of water an energy. It is like people saying writing on an Ipad is better than a book because they save "threes", this is just totally wrong.

but I still decided it was worth getting because not every game is using the game key cards.

I understand, I personally will skip it, but not only because of this, but the abusive prices they are imposing in my region (600+ for the console only), I could afford it, but Im not going to support this. I was also going for the "buy the console, skip the digital only)

If we're going towards that doomsday narrative, those console makers can also update their TOS and release an update which render your disc unreadable.

Even if that is possible, I can always just press the "lol, no" on the agreement and skip the update. Yes I would lose the online store and possibilities (which sucks ofc), but I wont lose my games. Worse case scenario of a "sneak" update, I can always rollback to an older version because the console homebrew scene is incredible. I mean, no too long ago someone posted here a new port of Wipe out for the Dreamcast, and the OG Xbox Live is back online thanks to the efforts of community. Yes, stuff would be lost (like store or official online capabilities), but my I woudl still keep my games, except ofc the ones that I purchased digitally. Those are lost until I accept the TOS and have my access to the store.

Or current gen peripherals/disc not working on next gen consoles, to make players buy new controllers and re-buy same games on next gen consoles.We're already there with Sony making DualShock4 incompatible with PS5.

Peripherals working on newer generations are always the exception, not the rule. I can only think of the PS1 on the PS2, the GBC and the Wii (these two cases, iirc practically had their predecesor built inside the console) and the Switch 1 and 2 (same architecture).

And on PC is also a new thing, and something we will have to see how Windows 11 works with this. Back in the day, using a PS3 controller on PC was a hassle, and Nintendo didnt put USB on their controllers. Microsoft also has issues: a couple of years ago I tried to plug in my wireless receptor for my Xbox 360 and it just didnt want to work on my Windows 10. Thankfully I moved later to linux and it worked without and issue (even on the Steam Deck).

We have to thanks Steam for many of the compatibility on PC, but I always say that we should be cautios about over-loveing/depending on Valve, GabeN loves games and gamers, but he is not forever, and we dont know who will be the next CEO (or the next, or the next) and that guy will see he has like 65% of PC game purchases and fanatics that would kill themselves for them. This can end really bad
 
I cant speak for games
But i feel 4K Blu/Blu ray movies will end up like vinyls. Expensive and harder to find- but will cater to a select home theater enthusiast for the best possible playback. (Not streamed)

I am gaming physical all the way and will go out of my way to continue that path. That being said - gaming is the same either or. People are giving up ownership over convenience. Even if the disk doesnt hold the full game as seen recently- you still own it - can be traded, borrowed, given to others in the same household.
 
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I honestly consider this absolutely no different than if, say, Ubisoft puts 8GB onto an 8GB Switch card, and makes you download 17GB more. But in the case of these keys...it seems like better pricing for the consumer, honestly.
 
I present to you the 5 immortal truths:

  1. VR is the future of gaming
  2. Nintendo is doomed
  3. PC gaming is dying
  4. Mobile gaming is the future
  5. Physical games are dead
 
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