Why do they even exist

[nWo]

Well, I remember when the Series X came out, and me buying some game discs, I recall saying "this is bullshit, what's the point of having a damn disc, if all the content installs in the console?" I still think the same. The whole point of having a physical copy, is to have the game in your hands, and save digital space on the console memory (save for some updates and whatnot) So, the problem already exist from years ago.

Here, with the keycards, it's not entirely Nintendo's fault, I mean, they are releasing their full games on game cards and in the Switch era, they are known for having the full experience crammed into the card. But yes, I suppose it is the new "way" and the start of the sinking of physical games. People just love digital and that's okay, but I am, as an old school guy, one person that loves to have his games lined up, pick up and play them, just like the old days. I hate this kind of digital things-

 

[RyanTheArchivist]

Because 60GB game cards cost a fortune compared to blu ray discs. A blue ray game costs between 60 cents and a dollar to make and package fully (not including fees). A 64GB cart will cost at least $15-20. A packaged game key cart will probably be made for less than $2 when the production gets pumping in earnest. This will translate to cheaper games because retail is always chasing the bottom dollar. Nintendo first party games are price controlled so you won't see it there, and Nintendo already said they will be using actual game carts and not game key carts for their games anyway. But I mean c'mon, this is gbatemp, we'll be backing up copies of these games no matter the format to our modified Switch 2's at the end of the day anyway.

Apparently Sony charges $2.50 per BD disc on PS5. Which is a far cry from the ~$15 per Switch 2 cart. It's just the fate of cartridge formats I think.

Post automatically merged: May 19, 2025

Well, I remember when the Series X came out, and me buying some game discs, I recall saying "this is bullshit, what's the point of having a damn disc, if all the content installs in the console?" I still think the same. The whole point of having a physical copy, is to have the game in your hands, and save digital space on the console memory (save for some updates and whatnot) So, the problem already exist from years ago.

Here, with the keycards, it's not entirely Nintendo's fault, I mean, they are releasing their full games on game cards and in the Switch era, they are known for having the full experience crammed into the card. But yes, I suppose it is the new "way" and the start of the sinking of physical games. People just love digital and that's okay, but I am, as an old school guy, one person that loves to have his games lined up, pick up and play them, just like the old days. I hate this kind of digital things-

I mean Nintendo has directly stated that they have zero plans to use key-cards on any of their first party games. Past that it is up to developers if they want to invest the rather hefty costs of cartridges.

 

[Marc_LFD]

The first reason
View attachment 505562

The second reason, piracy. Nintendo doesn’t want leaks to happen and they want to make piracy more difficult. Both can be done if you make shit like this

It applies to third party games and people don't buy Nintendo consoles for third party games so you know where this conversation is going.

I think 'it' is more precise, not they/them

Them. Plural.

They want to go all digital but don't want to just force it cold turkey. This will do it naturally as most consumers will realize that attaching games to an account is easier to manage than physical cartridges. I was a physical media hold out with the Switch until I got annoyed with having to track down the cartridge I wanted to play and swap it into the machine when I wanted to change games. Actually ended up selling the physical copies and re-purchasing digital ones for the convenience. Yes when Nintendo decides they no longer want to keep the eshop going the digital purchases will be gone. Fortunately most Switch games can be acquired in other ways for preservation. Time will tell how this goes for Switch 2 things.

Nintendo are effectively killing third party on their own console and physical releases too, so all there is left for real physical than fake ones are Nintendo, LRG, and a few third party publishers.

Can't imagine NS2 real physical collection being too big because of it.

Post automatically merged: May 19, 2025

Well, I remember when the Series X came out, and me buying some game discs, I recall saying "this is bullshit, what's the point of having a damn disc, if all the content installs in the console?" I still think the same. The whole point of having a physical copy, is to have the game in your hands, and save digital space on the console memory (save for some updates and whatnot) So, the problem already exist from years ago.

Here, with the keycards, it's not entirely Nintendo's fault, I mean, they are releasing their full games on game cards and in the Switch era, they are known for having the full experience crammed into the card. But yes, I suppose it is the new "way" and the start of the sinking of physical games. People just love digital and that's okay, but I am, as an old school guy, one person that loves to have his games lined up, pick up and play them, just like the old days. I hate this kind of digital things-

At least it installs which means the disc has game data instead of being downloaded.

 

[MasterJ360]

so what youre saying is that they arent afraid after all because they have a strong drm on their cards anyway?
which one is it then? you people make no sense

Aww my bad you only understand insults since you are a pro at it.
Only 3rd party games will have the option to be on the cards completely. So there's a chance it could have DRM on those cards by the devs in their form of protection. 1st party game key-cards will still require Eshop to gain access of the content. Why go through all of this when physical games were more simple to begin with? This screams anti piracy. Then Nintendo threatens to brick our consoles for any hacks or modifications. They must be scared of something with these changes and EULA threats.

 

[DiscostewSM]

Apparently Sony charges $2.50 per BD disc on PS5. Which is a far cry from the ~$15 per Switch 2 cart. It's just the fate of cartridge formats I think.

Is that speculation, or is there raw evidence suggesting that?

 

[ut2k4master]

Aww my bad you only understand insults since you are a pro at it.
Only 3rd party games will have the option to be on the cards completely. So there's a chance it could have DRM on those cards by the devs in their form of protection. 1st party game key-cards will still require Eshop to gain access of the content. Why go through all of this when physical games were more simple to begin with? This screams anti piracy. Then Nintendo threatens to brick our consoles for any hacks or modifications. They must be scared of something with these changes and EULA threats.

you make no sense, you have no idea what youre talking about, lol

 

[MasterJ360]

you make no sense, you have no idea what youre talking about, lol

Nah.. you just don't wanna know. We call that a skill issue here.

 

[subcon959]

you make no sense, you have no idea what youre talking about, lol

Nah.. you just don't wanna know. We call that a skill issue here.

This is EXACTLY what they want. People distracted and fighting against each other instead of uniting against the common enemy.

 

[Scarlet]

Aww my bad you only understand insults since you are a pro at it.
Only 3rd party games will have the option to be on the cards completely. So there's a chance it could have DRM on those cards by the devs in their form of protection. 1st party game key-cards will still require Eshop to gain access of the content. Why go through all of this when physical games were more simple to begin with? This screams anti piracy. Then Nintendo threatens to brick our consoles for any hacks or modifications. They must be scared of something with these changes and EULA threats.

Do you have a source for the first party game key cards? What you're saying goes entirely against interviews with Nintendo reps.

See here:
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2...me-key-cards-for-first-party-developed-titles

 

[RyanTheArchivist]

Is that speculation, or is there raw evidence suggesting that?

Iirc someone from Atlus mentioned it but I'd have to find the source.

 

[Delerious]

Nintendo doesn't want to outright say it, but all of this mess they setup is to make piracy /emulation difficult.
They are so afraid of physical games getting dumped by devices like the Mig Switch.

Kind of a yes/no/maybe situation, the way I see it. Nintendo, themselves, have stated that their own first party games will have a full, physical release for the foreseeable future. So should the console get hacked, you can bet that they will still have a problem with their own games leaking out days to weeks before release. I'd say in regards to making piracy more difficult, it's to do so for their partners. If they offer a means of having a physical shelf presence, while also forcing online connectivity, they can better satisfy then needs of their partners, and reduce liability on their end as a result.

My personal wish is that it only would have been used for games larger than 64 GB, but the option of key cards is ultimately up to the publisher. And you can bet that even if the key card option wasn't present, many would still be opting for the code option. You can blame Sony and Microsoft for setting that particular precedent.

 

[wurstpistole]

Do we need several rant threads about the exact same topic?

 

[RyanTheArchivist]

Kind of a yes/no/maybe situation, the way I see it. Nintendo, themselves, have stated that their own first party games will have a full, physical release for the foreseeable future. So should the console get hacked, you can bet that they will still have a problem with their own games leaking out days to weeks before release. I'd say in regards to making piracy more difficult, it's to do so for their partners. If they offer a means of having a physical shelf presence, while also forcing online connectivity, they can better satisfy then needs of their partners, and reduce liability on their end as a result.

My personal wish is that it only would have been used for games larger than 64 GB, but the option of key cards is ultimately up to the publisher. And you can bet that even if the key card option wasn't present, many would still be opting for the code option. You can blame Sony and Microsoft for setting that particular precedent.

Honestly I think the biggest thing is developers don't want to pay for cartridge costs. 8GB carts on the original Switch were already ~$2.50. There were also less than 20 games on Switch 1 that even used 32GB cartridges. so just imagine how expensive a 64GB high speed cartridge is.

Post automatically merged: May 20, 2025

Do we need several rant threads about the exact same topic?

The internet lives on anger. It would die if people couldn't be angry.

 

[MasterJ360]

This is EXACTLY what they want. People distracted and fighting against each other instead of uniting against the common enemy.

What they want is our money. Nothing more nothing less.

@ Scarlet: Well see we are getting new sources each week, b/c Nintendo likes to be Nintendo.
No physical game key card for 1st party games only strengthens my point towards leaks or game dumping . This also prevents ppl from leaking new games with legit physical copies. Not to say this will prevent the S2 from being hacked, etc, they just made it more difficult.

@ ut2kmaster: If I'm talking out of my ass, perhaps you should be the one to kiss it. Does that make sense to you?

 

[ut2k4master]

What they want is our money. Nothing more nothing less.

@ Scarlet: No physical game key card for 1st party games only strengthens my point towards leaks or game dumping requiring 3rd party devices like a mig switch for an example. Not to say this will prevent the S2 from being hacked, etc, they just made it more difficult.

you still dont know what youre talking about, jeez

Post automatically merged: May 20, 2025

Do you have a source for the first party game key cards? What you're saying goes entirely against interviews with Nintendo reps.

See here:
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2...me-key-cards-for-first-party-developed-titles

they dont because theyre talking out of their ass. their latest comment is just rambling nonsense again

 

[Delerious]

Honestly I think the biggest thing is developers don't want to pay for cartridge costs. 8GB carts on the original Switch were already ~$2.50. There were also less than 20 games on Switch 1 that even used 32GB cartridges. so just imagine how expensive a 64GB high speed cartridge is.

Post automatically merged: May 20, 2025

The internet lives on anger. It would die if people couldn't be angry.

Indeed. I was more giving a piracy angle in my previous post. From what I understand, the cost of the 64 GB carts is somewhere around $16, at least, according to rumors. So it's no surprise that they don't want to offer a full physical game. Even if they were to charge $10 more for physical, like Nintendo is, 3rd parties might see that as its own risk, as your everyday Joe Schmoe might think it's a rip off, when the PS5 or XBSX version is $10 less.

 

[Captain-Z]

Apparently, there's three models of physical releases for publishers:
1) 64GB Card
2) Game Key Card
3) Code in Box

Do you have a source for this information?

 

[RyanTheArchivist]

Indeed. I was more giving a piracy angle in my previous post. From what I understand, the cost of the 64 GB carts is somewhere around $16, at least, according to rumors. So it's no surprise that they don't want to offer a full physical game. Even if they were to charge $10 more for physical, like Nintendo is, 3rd parties might see that as its own risk, as your everyday Joe Schmoe might think it's a rip off, when the PS5 or XBSX version is $10 less.

The thing is I don't think there is an easy solution that would make developers release on cartridge.

 

[Marc_LFD]

Do you have a source for this information?

It was a Twitter post.

https://xcancel.com/necrolipe/status/1921315639563608384#m

 

[Bladexdsl]

"DRM-in-a-box"