Soundwave said:
This is nothing like the N64. I WISH we had freaking digital download options in the N64 it would've made the system 100x better. N64 carts cost like $30 all-in, Switch 2 carts are maybe $8, the cost isn't close. Physical games are just not feasible in the modern industry, when you can have a digital copy that is free of any shipping/packaging + retailer cut fee that alone right there is like $15 cheaper. Physical games don't make sense in 2025, that's all there is to it. The Switch 2 cartridges are likely not that expensive, but why even bother giving away another $8 of your profit margin plus the packaging cost plus shipping cost plus retail cut cost as well. It doesn't make sense. If high speed internet and mass storage was a thing back in the day, game key cards would've been a GODSEND for the N64. It would've opened the door to $49.99 games + a bunch of games like Resident Evil 3, Metal Gear Solid, etc. etc. would've likely have been possible on the system with no fuss. I wish we have Game Key Cards and digital downloads an option back in the late 90s, it would've given the N64 way better games at a much more affordable cost. |
The issue with digital is no one knows what happens to your digital games once the services shut down.
If game companies effectively let you do whatever you want with your digital data after the generation ends, then I think more people would take up digital gaming. Why can't I simply copy my data to a USB drive and then drag it across easily to a new/second hand console 20-30 years from now if my console dies and I buy a replacement from say ebay/amazon/marketplace? At the end of the generation of a console, they should release firmware that turns off all the DRM nonsense and let us use them like retro console however we wish.
