The only time I have an issue with it is when there are games that are well under 64GB and they make it a Game Key card anyway.

For stuff like the FFVII Remake Trilogy where the games are just too big to fit on that card, I understand.

But for games that can easily fit on those 64GB cartridges, I think it's BS.

In general, yeah I don't really like it. But I also think it's nowhere near as big of a deal or stink as everyone makes it out to be.

Phyiscal games not being on the actual format and needing a mandatory download just to be played has been a thing since the PS4/Xbox One. Nintendo's just jumping on the wagon 12 years later.

Like it or not, digital media rules the roost now and physical media is dying. Not just for video games, it's ALL entertainment media. Music is streamed through platforms like Spotify and Apple Music now. Cars don't even come with cassette tape or CD drives anymore. You have to stream the music through Bluetooth. People don't use DVD or Blu Ray anymore; if they want to watch a specific movie or TV show, they stream it through Wi-Fi on Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Max, Tubi, whatever streaming service they have; Sony reported recently that a whopping 76% of PS5 software purchases are digital! That's THREE QUARTERS of PS5 software! Even Nintendo is starting to report that over half their software sales are digital.

It's a digital world now, simple as that. Love it or hate it. This is just the natural evolution of it.
Yes, I'd rather have the full game on the cartridge, and it really sucks when that's not the case, especially when it's smaller games that can easily fit on the cartridge. But the way I see it, Game Key cards are still a hell of a lot better than just having a code on the box and is at least SOME form of physical media.
You realize that out of all the hardware makers, Nintendo is the only one that DOESN'T have a digital edition? Well, it's only a matter of time before that happens. Either with Switch 3, or maybe even Switch 2 Lite or Switch 2 OLED; Hell, they may even introduce a Switch 2 Digital as early as this year or next year as a means of countering the RAM costs and tariffs so that they can still have an SKU at $450... Maybe even $400! And if that happens, that's going to accelerate Nintendo's shift towards digital even further, which means those Game Key cards are going to become a lot more frequent.

So, for those who don't like it, me included, and especially those who HATE it. I don't know what else to tell you other than: Tough shit. That's the world we live in now.

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.

I'm willing to buy Key Cards but mostly on a sale. Only exemption is the RE Generation pack since that's limited. Other games I'll wait for discounts. Most of the time physical games will go on sales faster and cheaper than digital, so I'll buy the key card games on sale to save more money than buying 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).

Basically GKC serves no purpose, and combines digital and physical in the worst way. You get the downsides of both without the upsides of either. It's a physical product that you don't actually get physically because there's nothing in it so you still have to download it.

So you can't save space on the system / SD card by buying physical because it's still a full download. And you don't get the convenience of just selecting a digital game to play on the screen because you have to have the card in the system to play it even though it's a digital download. And for those that care about physical ownership (personally I don't as digital is way more convenient) GKC doesn't even apply because the game isn't even on the card and the whole point of physical ownership is that you have the actual game physically available to you and not as an IOU download code.

It really is easy to understand why everyone hates GKCs.

I mean the natural problem GKCs solves is the ability to resell them, unlike digital games. When I was a poor college student, I would never buy digital games because I wanted to resell them, even though I would prefer digital because I don't like carrying physical media and I am not a collector. I would even rent games often from one of the few movie rental stores left in the mid-2010s.

Of course Nintendo could have made a digital license that can be resold. Though I think some people also like having box art and a physical card, even if nothing is on it. 

I think game platform owners should really tap into the used market by allowing digital resales. 1. It convinces more people to go digital, which saves the publishers money as retailers + physical costs take like 20-40% of a sale. 2. Platform owners can get the 13% or more that Ebay and Gamestop get from the used game market. 3. It helps spread the IP and used purchasers might buy new titles if they enjoy the title enough. This also applies to piracy. They can think of the discounted resale as a marketing/referral reward. 

I think at this point multiple people have given quite in-depth explanations as to why they don't like GKCs. What exactly is it that is still unclear to you? (Genuine question, I guess many posters would be happy to give further reasoning). 

People are afraid of an all digital future, which is coming.  It isnt a criticism, they are entitled to wanting physical.  GKC is simply a step in direction they dont like.  

Do you remember the Wiiware digital store? Do you remember the DSi ware store? They were primitive and the games they had were very small, but they existed. And now, if I want to redownload "Megaman 9" for my Wii, I cannot. The WiiU and 3DS stores cannot purchase new games, so being unable to download anything anymore is coming.

Digital services go down, it happens. That's why physical ownership is so important. You cannot honor a digital purchase if the servers are down. Unless you have a backup, you lose access to the game forever in any official way. 

Pretty sure you actually can still download Wiiware and DSIWare titles you purchased in the past, just not purchase new ones, similar to the X360.

Friendly reminder that you can still download all your games from all the mainstream digital storefronts. Including old ones like DSi and PSP. | Famiboards

It won't last forever, one day the ability to download your digital DSi/Wii/PSP games will end but so far we're still going strong. I think Original Xbox may be the only console where you can no longer access purchased titles (but I can't 100% confirm this.)

GKC and Switch 2 digital games won't be redownloadable forever but hopefully they manage the 20+ years that previous consoles have and possibly longer.

It's worth noting physical media also has an expiry date, it may be many decades but eventually they will no longer work too.