Update: I phoned Nintendo directly (har har) to ask them what the go was.

The rep I spoke to confessed he didn't know and found it confusing and unclear himself, and said he had to speak to his superiors.

After 5 minutes on hold, he returned to inform me it was "most likely" just a code in a box.

Thanks man.

And yeah, it is a bit of a bizarre situation when even Nintendo reps seem to be in the dark and can't give a definitive answer.

I thought Nintendo made it clear that Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna can is a physical standalone game with a download code for the rest of Xenoblade Chronicle 2's DLC.

Until it is released who knows.

Nintendo has done the code in boxes thing in Japan, this maybe a other case of that. Although given the lush I would think it would have to have some sort of stand alone cartridge. Yet you never know what they consider.

One day this obsession with plastic will end and I will celebrate.

Well, you can always just celebrate now, since you can purchase anything you want digitally anyways. 

I'm going to cancel my pre-order if there is no cartridge... But I will wait for a definitive answer.

It's also bizarre that we live in a time where we are unsure if a physical version is actually a physical version... Man I dread the day that physical is no longer an option. 

My code in a box! My code in a box giirrl. This is what stopped me from buying the "physical" edition of Minecraft on the Vita. Why even bother?

If they were really charging $10 extra for nothing more than an empty case, there would be a large number of pissed off people.

Agreed. This "download code in a box" thing is ridiculous and should not exist.