Why Are Game-Key Cards So Controversial?

[firebush03]

Wman1996 said:

They're a little better than a code in a box. They are a little card instead of a code sheet. And at least you can trade or sell them.
Nintendo and the big publishers are both at fault here. Nintendo is at fault for only making 64 GB Switch 2 Game Cards and some of those huge profitable publishers are at fault for not putting games well under 64 GB (and often more than 5-10 GB) on a proper Game Card ready to go and play.
They suck. I've never bought codes in a box or now Game Key Cards for any video game. At that point I'll just buy digital.

But… nobody is explaining how lol. GKCs are much closer to a physical cartridge than a code-in-box will ever be. Cartridges will full game loaded are just a glorified GKC. It’s literally just a difference in how the system accesses the game (besides other little things e.g. you need to download the game to play it initially). It can be resold, and no, it won’t lose all its functionality once the servers go down (as far as precedent is concerned).