They are significantly better than the digital code in a physical box games that they are replacing. They let you share those games with friends too.
There are no downsides. People just got outraged because they mistakenly thought that ALL Switch 2 games were on them.
It lacks the main benefit of a digital game: not needing to keep the card with you.
It lacks the main benefit of a physical game: not needing an internet connection, which also means these fake cartridges will stop working once servers shut down
It captures the vibe of having a physical card, which I appreciate, but that’s about it. Otherwise it’s worthless.
If you want a fully digital copy just buy the digital copy. Those aren’t going anywhere.
These ones are for games that were sold at retail, in a box, but just had a digital code that made it no different to buying the game digitally. They had no reason to exist. Now they do. They give these games some of the benefits of physical copies.
They don’t stop working once servers are shut down btw. 100% false. You only ever need an internet connection the first time you run the game after downloading it. Source: Nintendo directly:
An internet connection is only required when you launch the game for the first time. After this, the game can be started even without an internet connection.
You can’t gift, sell, share, or play that game on a new device once the servers shut down.
I’m generally in favor, provided the licenses transfer properly when you sell it, while the game remains until someone else inserts the card.
It is less bad than code-in-a-box. That’s not a high bar, but it is less bad.
There are two main reasons to buy physical:
Ability to share, trade, and resell your games. These key cards still support this, whereas code-in-a-box did not. So, slightly better.
Then there’s the peace of mind that your games will still work in the distant future. I think if you ask most people who primarily buy physical, myself included, we’ll say this is the main appeal of physical games, and the big reason why key cards don’t feel acceptable.
Some day when the servers eventually go offline, these key cards will become bricks. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when. We have no idea how long Nintendo will support them for, and they’re not going to hard commit a timetable out loud for us. But we know it can’t be forever.
But even for standard physical games, there is some uncertainty regarding their long-term future that I’m not sure people realize. When those servers eventually go online, your cartridge only has 1.0 on it, you won’t be able to get patches. That’s better than a brick, but for a lot of games that’s probably not the version you want to play.
And then the even darker concern is bit rot. No form of physical media is permanent. Every disc and every cartridge will eventually degrade. Worse yet is that for many forms of media, we don’t even know how long they’re set to last for, we only find out once some of them start to fail. Cartridges are generally better than discs, but beyond that we truly have no idea how long Switch cartridges should be expected to last.
What’s stopping the key on that cart locking to the account of the first user when you download the game?
Have they said that won’t happen?
Yes
Mh, not sure how I feel about these. On one hand, as someone who mostly buys games secondhand, I appreciate they can be resold unlike actual digital releases. But what’s going to happen in 15-20 years when Nintendo pulls the plug on the Switch servers and eShop? Won’t these stop working? So at that point it’s just a piece of plastic whereas physical cartridges would still let you play games. Feel free to correct me if I’m misunderstanding how they work!
