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Nintendo survey seeks feedback on controversial game-key cards, physical and digital purchases | VGC (www.videogameschronicle.com)
submitted 1 week ago by theangriestbird@beehaw.org to c/gaming@beehaw.org
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[-] slauraure@beehaw.org 6 points 6 days ago

Game key cards are just digital games with added plastic. Sure you can resell/lend them but that is as far as any benefit goes.

In 10 years from now if you pop one of these in your console for some nostalgia you’ll be met with shut down download servers and disappointment.

[-] bilb@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 days ago

Competing with their own old games has probably been a nuisance for them and anything that makes playing their old games more difficult is probably welcome.

[-] TehPers@beehaw.org 2 points 5 days ago

Is there any technical reason you couldn't save a game with its license, in its entirety, to a SD card? Skip the cartridges, and if people want to resell, they can export their license + game files to a SD card and sell that instead.

None of this seems to be an issue on PC. I can copy game files onto an external drive and load them on another PC. Even for games with DRM, it's usually not an issue as long as any required software is installed and the game files are copied to the right location.

For Nintendo's DRM, export the license (unlink it from the account), then the other user can link the license to their account and use the files on the drive.

[-] J_on_LemmyML@lemmy.ml 2 points 6 days ago

I’m torn on them, Sure they can be resold but ultimately a waste of materials if they’re just digital downloads.

I’m trying to prioritise physical cards(with actual data on, Like Cyberpunk) this generation where I can. Most games I complete once and never touch so being able to sell is nice.

[-] missingno@fedia.io 11 points 1 week ago

I'm choosing to interpret this as a sign that they are aware of the controversy and are open to considering alternatives. If they're asking for feedback, that means there's a chance they'll act on it.

The part I find strange about all this is that apparently Switch 2 titles just can't use smaller ROM sizes, and that's why certain third parties don't want to pay increased manufacturing costs to put smaller titles on larger cartridges. But... why are they apparently not able to use smaller carts?

We're seeing cross-gen releases where the Switch 1 version is on the cart and the Switch 2 version is not. They've even got dual-mode carts for games that contain the Switch 1 base game and Switch 2 upgrade DLC. These smaller carts exist and the Switch 2 can read them. So I'm puzzled as to why they can't use these same carts for Switch 2 games.

[-] Geodad@beehaw.org 9 points 1 week ago

I won't buy a game that isn't a physical cartridge.

I specifically returned some Switch games because only half of the compilation was physical and the rest were digital downloads.

[-] theangriestbird@beehaw.org 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I find this interesting. Do you take this tack with ALL games? Do you play on anything besides Switch? Personally, I am mostly digital with all of my game purchases these days. I understand the desire to feel like the publisher can't take the game away from you, but I also feel like it's a bit pointless these days given how many games need Day 1 patches to run properly. Physical games end up just being a physical license to download the digital game. In this light, I tend to prefer the convenience of digital. I don't have to swap out cartridges, and I don't have to worry about storing a physical item.

[-] Dreaming_Novaling@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 week ago

Yeah, but physical cartridges can be sold or given away to others if you no longer want the game or didn't like it. You can make eternal backups with tools and help others, as we know that media doesn't last forever. You OWN the game. I have a couple digital games, but my family has box upon box of physical games. It's the fact that if you ever get these consoles later in life, you'll never be able to play the game because support will be cut for your console. So if a game is digital/keycard only, it's lifespan is only as long as the support. As someone who has been playing several of my mom's old PS1-3 and GC games, I'd be devastated if I could never play those old games due to bullshit like the keycards.

And if game companies can't make a game without any major bugs on day 1, then maybe they should take more time to make a quality game. Minor bugs are fine, but something game breaking shouldn't be brushed off and treated like a standard.

I'm already upset thinking about games we bought in the past that we might've not realized won't work without Internet. This shouldn't become a norm.

[-] accideath@feddit.org 1 points 5 days ago

Old PlayStation and Nintendo consoles specifically taught me to not care about physical games though, because it is incredibly easy to softmod them and still play anything you like, even after you can’t buy the games anymore…

[-] DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago

Make a switch cartridge that is larger than what is currently being offered

[-] J_on_LemmyML@lemmy.ml 1 points 6 days ago

They offer up to 64GB which many games don’t even come close to. As far as I’m aware Nintendo offer 16,32 or 64 to publishers.

[-] slauraure@beehaw.org 1 points 6 days ago

I thought the problem was that they only offer 64GB for Switch 2 and it has a per unit cost of 16 USD for 3rd party publisher. This seriously eats at the margins per unit especially for cheaper titles and makes them opt for the key cards instead.

Smaller games could fit on smaller and cheaper cartridges and bigger games will fill the whole cartridge and require additional downloads to be playable.

[-] IrritableOcelot@beehaw.org 2 points 4 days ago

My understanding is that they offer them all, but publishers havent been able to reliably get 8 or 16gb cards. Whether thats Nintendo being shady or some legitimate supply issue, I don't know.

[-] slauraure@beehaw.org 1 points 4 days ago

That sounds plausible. I guess we’ll see if real physical games start popping up soon.

[-] redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago

I like this but make the cards out of metal and laser etch the key in text and QR

this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2025
42 points (97.7% liked)

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