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Forums - Nintendo - Switch 2 should have used PS5 strategy regarding physical media

Nintendo should just do what Switch 1 did and offer more sizes. Some games are small so they should at least offer 8-16-32 and 64GB carts. Switch 1 ranged from 1GB to 32GB.



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

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That's what you think but they didnt

 They even showed the difference in read speeds. Remember star wars outlaws prior to switch 2 is an only next gen game..the game engine was updated to work with series s,x and ps5 SSD in mind. 

All of them have SSD speeds far greater then switch 2 catridge speeds and switch 2 internal.  Therefore they are not wrong. Even digital foundry tested it out and the devs weren't lying. People have to accept that Nintendo made a mistake here when they designed the switch 2.  It's not always the devs faultm

olStoppable said:

dane007 said:

You are forgetting that st

ar wars outlaws dev said that the physical catridge was too slow to stream the game textures compared to the switch 2 internal SSD which is why they use gkc. It's not all about the game being too big cause star wars outlaws was only a 20gb game. 

Ff7 remake has already been compressed from he PS5 version which was over 100gb. To 89 for switch 2. The game has a lot fo CGI from memory and pre rendered cutscenes which is why the game is big in size.

The Star Wars developer lied.



RolStoppable said:

1. So far there's no public information for how much Switch 2 game cards would cost to produce if there were different sizes. The one-size-fits-all 64 GB approach may come down to achieving lower massproduction costs, just like it's common that low capacity SD cards from various manufacturers were eventually phased out because their production became more expensive than high capacity cards due to the volume of production.

Also, you pay $10 more for digital versions this generation. You don't pay more for a physical game because it uses only a fraction of the game card's capacity, so from a consumer's point of view, it makes no difference how much space of the game card is being used.

2. Entirely wrong because digital and physical versions of the same game cost the same in the USA. It's only in Europe where the MSRP for physical games is €10 higher than for its digital counterpart, but that was a Nintendo decision based on European retailers routinely undercutting digital prices in the past, making digital versions more expensive and a worse deal. So when European retailers now undercut the MSRP for physical Switch 2 games by €10 (and that's what they already do), then digital and physical cost the same.

3. Compression rates of less than 2:1 leave a lot of room for improvement. A 3:1 ratio is definitely doable.

1. True, but solvable by the premise of my thread: instead of using expensive proprietary media, they could have used mass-market microSD cards, which are already fairly inexpensive, and relied on system storage to install and play the games, similar to the PS5

2. This answer is purely speculative. If we're speculating, I foresee that an increase in fixed production costs for physical media will prevent physical games from decreasing in price as they once did, since physical retailers already operate on thinner profit margins. I don't think we will ever see physical Switch 2 games being sold for 30 USD even many years ahead, at least not for true physical games, maybe for GKC

3. Based on...?



dane007 said:

That's what you think but they didnt

 They even showed the difference in read speeds. Remember star wars outlaws prior to switch 2 is an only next gen game..the game engine was updated to work with series s,x and ps5 SSD in mind. 

All of them have SSD speeds far greater then switch 2 catridge speeds and switch 2 internal.  Therefore they are not wrong. Even digital foundry tested it out and the devs weren't lying. People have to accept that Nintendo made a mistake here when they designed the switch 2.  It's not always the devs faultm

Did Cyberpunk 2077's physical version on Switch 2 have massive texture streaming problems?



Legend11 correctly predicted that GTA IV will outsell Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I was wrong.

Kyuu said:

This would either reduce Nintendo's profit margins or lead to a price increase. Not ideal scenarios for Nintendo.

Still better than more expensive games for consumers, but this is just a case where perception of price matters more than long-term prices I believe. Just like PC gaming is less expensive because games are cheaper and services like only playing are free, but people still think consoles are the budget option because of lower entry price 



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IcaroRibeiro said:
RolStoppable said:

1. So far there's no public information for how much Switch 2 game cards would cost to produce if there were different sizes. The one-size-fits-all 64 GB approach may come down to achieving lower massproduction costs, just like it's common that low capacity SD cards from various manufacturers were eventually phased out because their production became more expensive than high capacity cards due to the volume of production.

Also, you pay $10 more for digital versions this generation. You don't pay more for a physical game because it uses only a fraction of the game card's capacity, so from a consumer's point of view, it makes no difference how much space of the game card is being used.

2. Entirely wrong because digital and physical versions of the same game cost the same in the USA. It's only in Europe where the MSRP for physical games is €10 higher than for its digital counterpart, but that was a Nintendo decision based on European retailers routinely undercutting digital prices in the past, making digital versions more expensive and a worse deal. So when European retailers now undercut the MSRP for physical Switch 2 games by €10 (and that's what they already do), then digital and physical cost the same.

3. Compression rates of less than 2:1 leave a lot of room for improvement. A 3:1 ratio is definitely doable.

1. True, but solvable by the premise of my thread: instead of using expensive proprietary media, they could have used mass-market microSD cards, which are already fairly inexpensive, and relied on system storage to install and play the games, similar to the PS5

2. This answer is purely speculative. If we're speculating, I foresee that an increase in fixed production costs for physical media will prevent physical games from decreasing in price as they once did, since physical retailers already operate on thinner profit margins. I don't think we will ever see physical Switch 2 games being sold for 30 USD even many years ahead, at least not for true physical games, maybe for GKC

3. Based on...?

1. When you say "True", you acknowledge that there's no problem to be solved in the first place.

2. My answer isn't speculative because it cites the facts. But sure, physical games may now bottom out at $40 instead of $30, now that they start with $10 higher prices. Same difference.

3. ...developers who are better at compression than Square-Enix.



Legend11 correctly predicted that GTA IV will outsell Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I was wrong.

Leynos said:

Nintendo should just do what Switch 1 did and offer more sizes. Some games are small so they should at least offer 8-16-32 and 64GB carts. Switch 1 ranged from 1GB to 32GB.

This. They should have 1, 8, 16, 32, 64 and maybe a 4. 96 could be a possibility, but not until later. 

Nintendo wanted to streamline the process I guess and just have 64 GB made which they can afford for their games and coerce most third-party publishers over to digital distribution or the Game Key Cards.  



Lifetime Sales Predictions 

Switch: 161 million (was 73 million, then 96 million, then 113 million, then 125 million, then 144 million, then 151 million, then 156 million)

PS5: 122 million (was 105 million, then 115 million) Xbox Series X/S: 38 million (was 60 million, then 67 million, then 57 million. then 48 million. then 40 million)

Switch 2: 120 million (was 116 million)

PS4: 120 mil (was 100 then 130 million, then 122 million) Xbox One: 51 mil (was 50 then 55 mil)

3DS: 75.5 mil (was 73, then 77 million)

"Let go your earthly tether, enter the void, empty and become wind." - Guru Laghima

RolStoppable said:
HoloDust said:

GKCs are Nintendo's doing, not 3rd party publisher's.

Wouldn't be much better that if instead of them there was slower "game install required" cards on much cheaper media, so that there is actual choice between (something like) premium Game Cartridge (current game cards), Game Cart (install required) and Digital, instead of current Game Cart, GKC (which is glorified Digital) and Digital?

Each publisher is making their own decisions whether to use game-key cards. As such, it's the responsibility of the respective publisher and never Nintendo's. The same logic holds true for code-in-a-box packaging.

Your suggestion is to replace glorified digital with glorified digital. Either way you quickly run into the need to purchase a large micro SD express card when one of the important points of physical games is that that isn't necessary.

Not following your logic here. Or you're claiming that BD games on PS5 are not physical?



It wasnt a stable 30fps for sure and there was pop ins. Some areas did take time to load textures. Cyberpunk 2077 did have massive fps drops in the phantom liberty and had quote a number of drops in the base game on switch 2.  Maybe if they did the way of star wars outlaws from start , it probably produced better results.

Again you are comparing with game like cyberpunk where it was made for Xbox one and PS4 in mind as the lowest hardware option.  Star wars outlaws lowest machine priort to switch 2 was series.

Switch 2 sits between PS4 and series s. Not an apple to apple comparison.

RolStoppable said:

dane007 said:

Did Cyberpunk 2077's physical version on Switch 2 have massive texture streaming problems?



So 145gb ++ to 89 gb compression not good enough 😆. They can only compress so much.

RolStoppable said:
IcaroRibeiro said:

1. True, but solvable by the premise of my thread: instead of using expensive proprietary media, they could have used mass-market microSD cards, which are already fairly inexpensive, and relied on system storage to install and play the games, similar to the PS5

2. This answer is purely speculative. If we're speculating, I foresee that an increase in fixed production costs for physical media will prevent physical games from decreasing in price as they once did, since physical retailers already operate on thinner profit margins. I don't think we will ever see physical Switch 2 games being sold for 30 USD even many years ahead, at least not for true physical games, maybe for GKC

3. Based on...?

1. When you say "True", you acknowledge that there's no problem to be solved in the first place.

2. My answer isn't speculative because it cites the facts. But sure, physical games may now bottom out at $40 instead of $30, now that they start with $10 higher prices. Same difference.

3. ...developers who are better at compression than Square-Enix.