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Forums - Nintendo - Game Key Cards 1 Year In

There are definitely a bunch of games that I would have purchased if they had physical releases.  Resident Evil, Oblivion, Final Fantasy and Cronos to name a few.  I don't really consider myself as missing out on these key card titles because I most likely won't have the time to play them all anyway.  As far as a guy that keeps all my media physical and has a small collection of games that I really am fond of, it's too bad they 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 purposefully 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 being a key card that is a quite unpopular format.  So, you get to take hours of downtime to dl a game that takes up a goodly portion of the storage...and still have to carry the cartridges with you to "unlock 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.



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I own switch 2 since last Christmas. I own 3 games: Metroid prime 4, Donkey Kong bananza and Cyberpunk.



JRPGfan said:

The big reason people dislike them is because 10-15 years down the line, Nintendo might not have the download options ect.
Meaning the key card becomes juist plastic junk, at that point.

However the counter argument is this:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY16S5x3dHc

The same thing happens with games that are on the Cartridge as well.
New firmware makes it so, you cannot play a offline game, if your system knows that there are patches to it, without updates.
Essentially bricking the game, if you cannot download the patch (which 20years down the line, you might not be able too).

*edit:
This is bad for game preservation.
Afaik, Xbox does the same thing.... I think only the PS5 of the 3 consoles actually values allowing you to play a game, where you have the intire game on disc, if in future say there is no way to download patches ect.

Not sure if serious or not, but just because they are worsening the offline experience for regular cartridges does not justify the existing issues of game key cards. 

Seriously, the longer I hear about the Switch 2, the less I want to buy it. You should be able to play even if not fully updated, moreso for a handheld, which it will find itself in places with no internet. 



You know it deserves the GOTY.

Come join The 2018 Obscure Game Monthly Review Thread.

I see nothing wrong with game key cards. They are a happy medium between digital and physical. Yes, I need to download them. But my purchases aren't forever tied to an account. I live in a two child, two parent household with two Switch 2s and three Switches. Trying to manage family sharing on Nintendo's system is a nightmare. Having to renew every 14 days, having to have the systems next to each other. Game Key Cards just let me take it out and put it in another Switch 2 and just not worry about it.

Physical >> GKC >> Digital