There are definitely a bunch of games that I would have purchased if they had physical releases instead of crappy key cards. Resident Evil, Oblivion, Final Fantasy, Pragmata and Cronos to name a few. I don't really consider myself as missing out by boycotting these key card titles because I most likely won't have the time to play them all anyway. However, as far as a guy that keeps all my media physical and has a small collection of games starting with the Coleco Vision and NES up to present, it's too bad those titles won't be a part of that library.
I understand the issue with the cost of the game carts and also the storage limitations, and I feel that is an oversight on Nintendo's behalf that should have been thought better of and reworked before Sw2 released. Despite those hurdles, Cyberpunk and Indiana have shown that, within reason, it can be done with talent and care. I purchased those two games not knowing if I'll ever actually play them. I bought them solely to support quality games with physical releases.
I see no arguably good purpose for the key card. Who actually cares about the measly amount of coin you'll get back for trading the used game in, especially as key cards are quite an unpopular format. So, you take hours to dl a game that takes up a goodly portion of your storage...and still have to carry the cartridges with you to "unlock" and play it. It is arguably a better idea just to purchase the digital format and not have to dick around with the worthless cartridges.
After the onslaught of game announcements the past couple weeks, you can bet that if there is a physical option for any of them, that's where my dollars will be spent.
Edit. after the Oblivion physical edition announcement, that game got my purchase. Gotta put our money where our mouths are.
Last edited by Kwaidd - on 10 July 2026
