Digital makes possible what I think of as the long-platform. Steam and other services have been 'long-platforms.' These are gaming platforms that don't follow generations, but exist indefinitely and continuously. If you bought a Steam game in 2004, you can play it in 2026, and have been able to play it without being interrupted in these 22 years. On its original hardware, or on updated hardware. That's the value of digital. This would not be possible if PC were restricted to physical media. Physical games of that era are far less playeable now, without having to go through a bunch of work, than Steam. Hell, most current PC's don't even have optical drives.
Consoles are merging into this, because the idea of a dedicated console has mostly outlived its value. It's not the 1980's - early 2000's anymore. Non-console gaming has become a lot more seamless than its been in the past. This generation has shown how obsolete consoles are with so few exclusives that there have been, almost six years into it.
The reason why people are really bothered by GKC, is that Nintendo - a company that should've been immune to this, is embracing the digital future because it profits them to cut out retailers and to have near-total control (outside of piracy) over the distribution of their games. GKC is a stepping stone to this eventual goal.
