Consumers have been frustrated over Nintendo's new Game-Key Cards for the Switch 2 ever since they were revealed. These physical cartridges that lack game data on them and act more as a digital unlock function have sparked controversy over preservation concerns and desiring full physical retail releases. The endless debates spurred a former Capcom employee to take to social media and attempt to reason why Nintendo is doing this. Masakazu Sugimori, known for composing soundtracks for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Ghost Trick, and Viewtiful Joe, says that Nintendo's methods are significant in reducing piracy.

“It’s unfair that something you bought becomes unplayable when the service ends.” As a player myself, I can understand this perspective, and I sometimes feel the same way. But, well… Do physical items outside of digital products last forever? Most of the time, they don’t, right? Physical things always have a lifespan and will eventually break. Digital products, on the other hand, generally don’t have a lifespan.

According to him, Nintendo's choices in raising game prices allows other publishers, who might be struggling with development costs and inflation to follow Nintendo's lead. By ending support for older games, it provides more jobs in order to port those games to current hardware. Sugimori says that it might be an idealistic viewpoint, but he believes that Nintendo has enough money to be successful regardless of these changes, and that they're doing these things to protect the industry as a whole.

・Keycards 　→ Measures against illegal copying, reducing the risk of holding inventory
・Raising game prices 　→ Waving the flag so that game companies, struggling with recent inflation, can raise prices
・Terminating online services for older hardware 　→ Setting a “lifespan.” This makes it easier for companies to re-release games on new hardware. To put it further, it creates the job of “porting.”

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[Bladexdsl]

what a corporate sheep! protect the industry yeah right force you to download is fucking DRM plain and simple as that! if something is physical it should be 100% fucking physical why even bother with the fucking card 100% waste of plastic just use a code you morons that's what they are a download code in a card

 

[The Catboy]

>Capcom
‘nough said

 

[masagrator]

It's like asking wife having Stockholm syndrome for opinion about abusive husband. Capcom is deeply tied with Nintendo as its opinion affected final design of Switch 1 and possibly Switch 2.

 

[yankii]

Protect deez nuts you piece of shit

 

[LexDG]

Putting the cap in Capcom

 

[RyanTheArchivist]

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Consumers have been frustrated over Nintendo's new Game-Key Cards for the Switch 2 ever since they were revealed. These physical cartridges that lack game data on them and act more as a digital unlock function have sparked controversy over preservation concerns and desiring full physical retail releases. The endless debates spurred a former Capcom employee to take to social media and attempt to reason why Nintendo is doing this. Masakazu Sugimori, known for composing soundtracks for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Ghost Trick, and Viewtiful Joe, says that Nintendo's methods are significant in reducing piracy.



According to him, Nintendo's choices in raising game prices allows other publishers, who might be struggling with development costs and inflation to follow Nintendo's lead. By ending support for older games, it provides more jobs in order to port those games to current hardware. Sugimori says that it might be an idealistic viewpoint, but he believes that Nintendo has enough money to be successful regardless of these changes, and that they're doing these things to protect the industry as a whole.



Source

Well yes, if it brings them more money they are going to defend it.

 

[Nephiel]

By the same reasoning, one could say that piracy protects consumers. Do not accept the premises of greedy corporations saying you don't get to own what you buy.

 

[SDA]

My only sign of appreciation to this pro-Game Cards guy.

 

[linuxares]

Aka. It's good for the publishers. Not for the consumers.

 

[Kioku]

If digital media truly lasted forever, in a completely usable and readable state? Then stop killing games wouldn’t need to exist, now would it?

 

[mathew77]

Keycards are pure shit.

 

[NostalgicMillennial]

"Physical things always have a lifespan and will eventually break..."

Motherfucker I just got out my 36 YEAR OLD SEGA GENESIS and 40 YEAR OLD NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT yesterday and those sons of bitches worked just the same the day I bought it.

He needs sit down and shut the fuck up. Fucking shill

 

[RyanTheArchivist]

It's like asking wife having Stockholm syndrome for opinion about abusive husband. Capcom is deeply tied with Nintendo as its opinion affected final design of Switch 1 and possibly Switch 2.

I mean yeah Capcom has been clearly shown to be able to manipulate Nintendo's decisions and make them make chances such as increasing Switch 1 ram. So chances are they were the reason they exist to begin with. Obviously the request came from one of the big publishers but Capcom has a direct history with Nintendo and making them make changes.

 

[tech3475]

As far as I'm concerned, the ONLY positive thing about key cards is that they're better than CiaB.... that's it.

 

[RyanTheArchivist]

As far as I'm concerned, the ONLY positive thing about key cards is that they're better than CiaB.... that's it.

Yeah the hope was this would be a replacement for CIAB. But.... we are seeing even more of those this gen now too. Some devs don't even care to pay for key-cards.

 

[K3Nv4]

Per people that love piracy they won't see it as good. What the public fails to remember is that if the corporates do not make enough revenue they won't have enough revenue to produce higher quality games and stabilization. Your purchases is what powers corporates to produce more. The more they sell the more they'll think they're putting out quality.

 

[Osha]

Even if potential piracy wasn't a factor, this would still suck ass for the consumers in general.

 

[Reploid]

To defend multi billion company?

 

[Oakmontowls]

They are defending the game key cards entirely in the wrong way. I stand by my opinion that they are not a bad thing. They give developers who already weren't going to release games on the game cartridge another option other than paying for a cartridge that contains the entire game. We already saw this happening with many of the third party games on the switch 1 where developers would either just put a download code in the box or used the smallest capacity cartridge as possible and made you download the game anyways. The game key card is a middle ground between digital only and physical that allows you to retain the resale of your owned games while saving costs and (if the switch 2 is anything like the switch 1) higher load speed. There are many reasons to be upset at Nintendo about the switch 2 but this is absolutely not one of them.