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Forums - Nintendo - Why Are Game-Key Cards So Controversial?

 

A new game releases on NS2!… but it’s a GKC.

What difference does it make? I’m buying. 2 7.41%
 
Eh, I’ll still buy. 3 11.11%
 
Hm… I’ll think on it. 2 7.41%
 
I’ll pass. 5 18.52%
 
Immediate no. 15 55.56%
 
Total:27
Cerebralbore101 said:

Doesitplay.org shows that 69% of PS5 games play just fine off a disc, without the need for critical updates. 

That still means about a third of games don't, which is a pretty significant issue.



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curl-6 said:
Cerebralbore101 said:

Doesitplay.org shows that 69% of PS5 games play just fine off a disc, without the need for critical updates. 

That still means about a third of games don't, which is a pretty significant issue.

Keep in mind that any game with any sort of online multiplayer component would fail doesitplay's standards. Halo 2 would fail for example. Once you account for that it's probably something like 1/5th of games aren't properly on the disc/cart. Otherwise, I agree that it is slowly becoming a problem. 

Last edited by Cerebralbore101 - 13 hours ago

Cerebralbore101 said:
curl-6 said:

That still means about a third of games don't, which is a pretty significant issue.

Keep in mind that any game with any sort of online multiplayer component would fail doesitplay's standards. Halo 2 would fail for example. Once you account for that it's probably something like 1/5th of games aren't properly on the disc/cart. 

It's still the case that games not being fully on the disc/card was a thing long before Switch 2 arrived, it was just done sneakily instead of openly.



curl-6 said:
Cerebralbore101 said:

Keep in mind that any game with any sort of online multiplayer component would fail doesitplay's standards. Halo 2 would fail for example. Once you account for that it's probably something like 1/5th of games aren't properly on the disc/cart. 

It's still the case that games not being fully on the disc/card was a thing long before Switch 2 arrived, it was just done sneakily instead of openly.

True. But it was never to this ridiculous amount before. It's almost entirely 3rd party games so it's not a Nintendo problem but a 3rd party problem. Man I wish Rol were here. He would dismantle so many digital kids. 



firebush03 said:
Wman1996 said:

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.

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).

Read my post. I literally explained why Game Key Cards are shit.

https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=9639429

Stop ignoring legitimate comments and failing to formulate an appropriate rebuttal.

Wman1996 said:

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.

Nintendo didn't need to make carts under 64GB as they literally already exist.
They are called Switch 1 carts.

Switch 1 and Switch 2 carts are forwards and backwards compatible with the Switch 2 and Switch 1. - Hence why we have Switch 2 games (Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Metroid Prime 4, Pokemon Legends Z-A, Animal Crossing and dozens more) that function perfectly fine in the Switch 1.
And is also why the Switch 2 can run all Switch 1 game carts.

If bandwidth/transfer rates are the issue, there is actually a simple solution.

Make a swap file/page file on the internal SSD. - A technology that has literally god damn existed for almost 70 years. 

It's publisher/developers maximizing profit at the consumers expense, that is all there is to it... It's up to us to say "no" and vote with our wallets.

Screw Game Key Cards. If they aren't going to be cheaper for the added inconvenience, then they deserve to fail.

Last edited by Pemalite - 13 hours ago


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Sure, nothing lasts forever, but physical copies are still durable goods. They'll last a lifetime if you take care of them. I have video games, CDs, and DVDs that are 20-30+ years old at this point and they all still work perfectly fine. Hell, I have books that are way older than I am, including an old Time-Life science book from 1955. People who downplay physical seem to think physical copies only last a few years before they start to obviously degrade, and that simply ain't true. There's plenty of good reasons why physical is still preferred by many. Even beyond the durability of physical goods, there's the fact that you own physical copies (regardless of what some might say) and because they're tangible property there's a second-hand market. Being able to lend, gift, or sell your copies at one's own discretion is an amazing thing.

Meanwhile, your ability to maintain a digital library, especially on console, is up to luck and the whims of the one running the digital store. If you lose a digital copy for any reason, your ability to re-download that game is contingent on the digital storefront you got it from still being accessible in some way. Multiple consoles have had their digital stores completely shuttered. The thing that radicalized me against digital (which I was already skeptical of beforehand) was when I discovered my Halo 2 DLC maps were no longer on my hard drive. This was some months after the OXbox servers were shut off (I was going to play some local MP, which was still an option), leaving me unable to re-download the maps, but fortunately there was a physical option where all but the last two DLC maps were released on disc. Sure, the industry has gotten better about this in more recent years, but why should I trust them to ensure any digital copies will still be available to me in another 20 years? This will become even worse if the industry tries to force streaming as the default. You'll have to subscribe to everything, and if a game is pulled from the service, it's gone-gone, possibly for good. Think of all the countless titles removed from streaming services, some of which aren't available on any of them.

Simply "buying" certain games also becomes more difficult with digital. Games get delisted all the time and have been for quite some time. Some return, but many do not and may never. And since as mentioned sometimes entire digital stores get shuttered, that means the games on them become unable to buy if that was the only place to get them and you never got them when the getting was good. The only way to get those games is physically, assuming they ever got a physical release to begin with. But if a game did get a physical release, then those copies still exist, and the second-hand market makes it possible to find and purchase most games long after they've gone out-of-print. There's still a thriving used games market, something utterly impossible with digital. I can still buy a copy of the Batman: The Video Game for the NES, which was never re-released on any other platform at any point in the past 35 years. Meanwhile, go try to find a copy of Gradius Rebirth without resorting to piracy. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Game key cards are basically the worst of both worlds. They take up space like physical, but don't have the game on them. They're just digital downloads with extra steps, essentially just glorified versions of those little gift card things with a download code on the back. Except you need to keep it just to boot up the game. Like, what's the point? Might as well just "buy" a digital copy from the Nintendo e-shop.


As an aside, I can't help but notice people constantly complain about concepts of ownership steadily eroding. They lament things that were once products becoming services, one-time purchases becoming subscriptions. But they also help that future along. They'd trade just about anything for even a marginal increase in perceived "convenience." I mean, we all know how going to the store to buy things is sooooo hard, and having to take personal responsibility for the things they own is even harder. Well, all your favorite Mega Corps will gladly relieve you of the burden having to own anything or do anything aside from being a passive consumer that never has to get off the couch, laughing all the way to the bank in the process, because they know their customers will take a worse deal if it involves less effort on their part, and that there's no shortage of people who really are happy owning nothing.

Sometimes the path of least resistance isn't the best path. And as Joni Mitchell once said, you don't know what you got 'til it's gone. I'd rather have a hard copy that I actually own that trust the publishers to ensure the games I want to play, the movies & shows I want to see, the music I want to listen to, and the books I want to read will forever be accessible from my account. Unless the laws regarding digital media change (which probably isn't happening any time soon), I am absolutely prepared to stop buying new video games if physical stops being an option, and I will go to my grave believing that the Internet was the worst thing to happen to video games.



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In accordance to the VGC forum rules, §8.5, I hereby exercise my right to demand to be left alone regarding the subject of the effects of the pandemic on video game sales (i.e., "COVID bump").

The oldest book I own is from the 1930s. It's still in good condition . Oldest game I own is from 1982. It still works. Some digital stuff I played and spent money on no longer exist.  Not even to re-download . Give me real physical. GKC can fuck right off.



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

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.



Mr.GameCrazy said:

The problem I have with game-key cards is that unlike an actual game card, there's no game data in the game-key card. You'll have to download the entire game to your system when you first put one in. It kinda defeats the purpose of getting physical copies on the Switch 2 in that format because you won't save any storage with them, making them digital games by proxy.

The problem with digital is eating up storage space.  

The problem with physical is having to carry cartridges around.

Game Key Cards - combine the worst aspects of both 

Digital doesn't personally bother me.  Emulation continues to get better, thus I don't feel the need to hold onto my old systems.



“Consoles are great… if you like paying extra for features PCs had in 2005.”