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Norion on 11 May 2025
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Soundwave said:
JackHandy said:

Oh, it's definitely something like the N64. They both went with carts instead of the industry standard, and they both are having to overcome the limitations there within because of it. Now, whether or not it'll ultimately pan out the same is yet to be seen. Personally, I can't imagine it causing N64-like problems. But there are a lot of parallels right now. A lot.  

No it's nothing like that at all. 

The industry standard is DIGITAL DOWNLOADS. The Switch 2 is all about digital downloads. Nintendo is supporting the industry standard and basically making moves to transition to a future where they are only supporting the industry standard (digital only will be Nintendo's future eventually, PS6 likely is also digital only). 

Physical media is on the way out, Nintendo even offering physical games is just a token gesture to a dying audience of people that for whatever reason need to have a physical game. You want that? Fine, pay $20 more for every game then. Why should a publisher eat a $20 cost just because for whatever reason you need to have a game sitting on your shelf. It's an outdated concept. 

N64 carts cost like $30+ (which with inflation would be like $60+ just for the cartridge alone today) back then, these Switch 2 carts probably don't even cost $8 or $9. 

If the N64 had digital downloads back in the day + Game Key Cards for third party games at $49.99 (1997 era pricing) it would've made the system 100x better. System would've had like 5x more games from 3rd parties and cheaper games overall but alas high speed internet was a few years off back then for mass adoption and hard drive storage was still expensive in the late 90s. Even at a physical cost being able to get like a 128MB cartridge back then for say only $8 would've been a godsend to that system. 

You're downplaying the benefits of physical media. With physical copies available there's no risk of a game no longer being available due to being delisted or people no longer being able to play a game cause the digital license was revoked from their accounts. Digital only works well enough on PC but it's a big issue for consoles due to their nature of being walled off gardens with DRM and a single storefront.

Like Forza Horizon 5 just released on the PS5 but it's digital only on there and that means that after it gets delisted in a few years then the only way to play it on Playstation will be to buy a used console that has it while Xbox One or Xbox Series X owners will just need to buy a used physical copy to play it in the future whereas PC gamers will still be able to access it through other means.

Last edited by Norion - on 12 May 2025