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The physical preservation of third party games is looking very grim on Switch 2
Vito
One Winged Slayer - Formerly Undead Fantasy
Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,341
Yes, I know that incomplete carts or code in box releases were a thing on SW1 but this seems to be way more common on SW2 with these key carts. So what say you collectors? Are you still buying these releases or not?
Seaneko
Member
Jun 11, 2020
1,089
California
Yeah this sucks and I knew this would happen the immediate moment it was shown off in the Direct. As someone with a huge Switch game library I might just go all-digital for Switch 2 aside from first-party games with everything on cart.
PucePikmin
Member
Apr 26, 2018
5,226
Buying a physical game without an actual physical game in the box is kind of a worst of both worlds situation. I'd never bother, except maybe if I was buying a gift for somebody.
Mullet2000
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,357
Toronto
Yeah most third parties are just going to opt for these for the lower cost. I think my physical game collecting is just going to have a hard cutoff between Switch and Switch 2. For nintendo stuff at least.
BeansBeansBeans
Member
Jan 14, 2025
515
Games are getting bigger and the physical media required to store them is expensive. Just makes sense for developers to go to digital....
Killyoh
Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,763
Paris, France
I get it for really big games. Well I don't condone it but I can see why they would do that. But for Puyo Puyo? Come on.
Cipher Peon
One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,484
I'm physical only but don't care about downloading the game once I have the cart/disk in my console. So I'll still be collecting these, assuming the cart has the official art and stuff on it. Yeah.
Reflecting Sky
Member
Mar 17, 2024
2,478
Storage is gonna be a major issue on Switch 2. We're gonna have larger save files, larger games, and what do we have? 256GB microSD Express cards so far. lol
Gonna wait til it becomes more viable.
OP
OP
Vito
One Winged Slayer - Formerly Undead Fantasy
Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,341
Reflecting Sky said:
Storage is gonna be a major issue on Switch 2. We're gonna have larger save files, larger games, and what do we have? 256GB microSD Express cards so far. lol
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Yeah, if SE doesn't compress the FFVIIR games then those 2 will take up the entire console storage.
Insanity.
gamewhoopr
Member
Dec 10, 2018
639
PucePikmin said:
Buying a physical game without an actual physical game in the box is kind of a worst of both worlds situation. I'd never bother, except maybe if I was buying a gift for somebody.
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You can still collect, sell, and/or let someone borrow these, though.
BeansBeansBeans
Member
Jan 14, 2025
515
Reflecting Sky said:
Storage is gonna be a major issue on Switch 2. We're gonna have larger save files, larger games, and what do we have? 256GB microSD Express cards so far. lol
Gonna wait til it becomes more viable.
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Lexar has a 1TB card out now.
RPGam3r
Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,210
Reflecting Sky said:
Storage is gonna be a major issue on Switch 2. We're gonna have larger save files, larger games, and what do we have? 256GB microSD Express cards so far. lol
Gonna wait til it becomes more viable.
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You can snag a 1TB card.
Threadmarks In-depth chart of the releases.
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Index
--R
Being sued right now, please help me find a lawyer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,318
I started a chart to track this a couple weeks back and yeah, it's pretty grim.
Here's how it's looking right now after these 3.
New
Index
OP
OP
Vito
One Winged Slayer - Formerly Undead Fantasy
Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,341
BeansBeansBeans said:
Lexar has a 1TB card out now.
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And it's expensive as shit.
Lowblood
Member
Oct 30, 2017
6,220
At the moment, yeah, I'm not planning on buying any of the key carts. Might end up with one eventually via a discount or something. But it's possible my Switch 2 physical collection might be almost entirely first party, outside of the rare Cyberpunk situation.
My "main" physical platform has been Playstation since the PS4, so I'll just keep doing that for as long as it's viable.
Tony72495
Member
Apr 26, 2019
2,472
Killyoh said:
I get it for really big games. Well I don't condone it but I can see why they would do that. But for Puyo Puyo? Come on.
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Supposedly a leaker says that Nintendo is only producing 64GB game cards and a "very small size" with not much in-between, maybe it's just not cost effective to produce anything else.
And supposedly the 64GB card used for Cyberpunk is a whopping $16 to manufacture.
AHA-Lambda
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,656
This may be a pre existing idea but that they we t to the bother of coming up with this branding for it, yeah I think it's going to be unfortunately common
mute
▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,048
Pubs are accustomed to pressing discs for pennys, past a certain point they are not going to shell out for storage that actually costs something.
This was beginning to be the case with Switch 1, and we were talking about deciding between 16-32 GB there or less.
Tobor
Died as he lived: wrong about Doritos
Member
Oct 25, 2017
33,722
This is exactly what I and others have been saying.
Key cards are cheaper than the cheapest storage size available. Of course third parties will take the option, whether the game can fit on existing cards or not.
InfinitePotat0
Member
May 29, 2018
1,638
Cipher Peon said:
I'm physical only but don't care about downloading the game once I have the cart/disk in my console. So I'll still be collecting these, assuming the cart has the official art and stuff on it. Yeah.
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This is my same thought. I'm mainly a PC player so I'm okay with downloading games. My thought process is I want the physical thing with official artwork on my shelf. If this is a cost cutting thing to make sure that physical wanters still get their thing, I'm okay with it
Raigor
Member
May 14, 2020
16,015
People can't pretend to have portability + full games on cartrides + decent prices at the same time.
AHA-Lambda
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,656
--R said:
I started a chart to track this a couple weeks back and yeah, it's pretty grim.
Here's how it's looking right now after these 3.
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God damn that stark
Well done for compiling it all though
cw_sasuke
Member
Oct 27, 2017
29,821
Makes sense at launch. These games arent expected to sell millions outside of few expectations, but they still want to have a retail presence. Gotta keep the cost low.
I expect this to change more towards Switch level once the system is more established and the bigger titles have reduced the card costs across the board.
So not much has changed, because the alternative would have been no retail release at all or Code in a Box.
Kazooie
Member
Jul 17, 2019
6,067
I would have bought Sonic X Shadow Generations again for Switch 2 if it was properly on card. Now I will just stick to the Xbox version.
Reflecting Sky
Member
Mar 17, 2024
2,478
BeansBeansBeans said:
Lexar has a 1TB card out now.
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RPGam3r said:
You can snag a 1TB card.
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It's not really readily available where I live, yet. And the price? Big issue too.
Wish I could transfer my current Switch games to the Switch 2 without having to think about it, but now it'll be an issue managing it. Bummer.
1TB is also not gonna cut it if you're into third-party games I'm afraid, at least in the future.
Jroc
Member
Jun 9, 2018
8,013
Realistically the only way anything actually gets preserved is if the system gets hacked and people can run backups. From that perspective the lack of physical game cards doesn't really matter.
Darkreaver
Member
Feb 16, 2024
781
I want to stress out that those covers can be reversed to not have that big red switch 2 logo
Ouroboros
Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,825
Going all digital. It's such a waste of plastic.
Noisepurge
Corrupted by Vengeance
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,666
we're living in the last physical game generation now, every platform holder is pushing digital content only forward 😢
Xterrian
Member
Apr 20, 2018
3,508
I wonder how long til a company like Limited Run manages to secure the rights to do complete-on-cart versions of big 3rd party games.
Want a ff7 remake cartridge? $100 + shipping.
Nerd123
Member
Aug 18, 2022
637
I hate this so so much. And you know what's the most annoying thing for me personally? The fucking text at the bottom of the case. It ruins the entire look and now I am extremely worried some future games I was planning to buy physically on S2 like Hades 2 or some future Square Enix ports will be game key-cards with the hideous text on the cover.
Absolute kick in the nuts to physical collectors and I cant believe Nintendo went this way with the successor to their most succesful console.
Aadiboy
Member
Nov 4, 2017
4,436
It feels like this will lead to an increase in digital adoption with Nintendo. Cartridge prices are only going to increase as the generations continue, so this problem will only get worse.
ShroudOfFate
One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,812
Switch 2 may be the first console I go primarily digital on. Between this key cart bullshit and the god awful regular box design I'll probably just stick to physical copies of Monolith Soft stuff (if that's not just a key cart as well anyway)
PallasKitten
Member
Jul 11, 2022
1,706
I've probably already said as much elsewhere in another one of these threads about Switch 2 key cards, but it's definitely something that's really dampened my enthusiasm for the Switch 2.
The Switch 1 has been a bit of an anomaly for me with Nintendo consoles, in that I've amassed a massive library for it because it got so many physical releases for indie and smaller games, visual novels, etc. Most other Nintendo consoles' libraries for me have primarily consisted of 1st party releases, and the odd 3rd party exclusives. It looks like the Switch 2 will be a return to that for me.
The only way I can see myself buying one of these "key cards" is if the game is exclusive to Switch, and it's cheaper than just buying the game digitally.
Glio
Member
Oct 27, 2017
27,454
Spain
Unless someone invents a way to make cartridges as cheap as Blu-rays, I don't know what other options there are. It sucks, but it's not a situation with an easy solution.
Regular Sega Fan
Member
Jul 22, 2022
1,780
--R said:
I started a chart to track this a couple weeks back and yeah, it's pretty grim.
Here's how it's looking right now after these 3.
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Followed.
This doesn't look very promising ngl.
Between this and the South American pricing, my Switch 2 hype is deflating fast
Nano-Nandy
Member
Mar 26, 2019
2,776
It was an issue I accepted long on ago on Xbox and PS when games started requiring to be fully installed from discs, then incomplete games on disc and them barely anything on the discs. Switch already had download in a box games for years; so it was expected.
I just don't buy those unless it's a collector's edition and grab them digitally.
ShineALight
Member
Oct 27, 2017
593
I've been a fairly avid Switch collector with somewhere between 200 and 300 games, and I'm sure I'll end up cracking that latter number when all is said and done. But seeing these charts makes m feel like just throwing my hands up. I'll still get full, actual physical releases when I can but it doesn't seem like I can allow that to guide my purchases the way I have been (for example, importing something like SaGa Frontier 2 to have a physical, or waiting for a delayed physical for something like Pizza Tower).
Now I have to figure out the best way to play the microSD express situation. I wonder if I should settle with a 512 or even 256 GB card for the first year or two of the Switch 2 in the hopes that a 2 TB card might be available in 2027 for the price that the 1 TB is now...
JoJo'sDentCo
Unshakable Resolve
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,215
SW2 or NS2?
SpiralEngine
Member
Jul 6, 2023
870
It's hard for me to get bent out of shape about this, because my physical Switch collection is already huge and takes up a lot of space, and the notion of having my Switch 2 collection take up the same amount of space is very unappealing tbh.
I'm sure that by skipping out on all Game-Key cards, I'll be saving a lot of shelf space, which is fine by me. The only thing is, my Switch's 1.5 tb SD card is already almost full, and I'm sure my Switch 2's SD card will fill up even sooner. Ah well.
Jroc said:
Realistically the only way anything actually gets preserved is if the system gets hacked and people can run backups. From that perspective the lack of physical game cards doesn't really matter.
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This is how it is with all systems at the end of the day, which is why I can't help but roll my eyes a bit at all the moralizing about physical media as if it's the end-all be-all of preservation.
Lotus
One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
122,971
Darkreaver said:
I want to stress out that those covers can be reversed to not have that big red switch 2 logo
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Oh?
Transistor
This isn't going to go the way you think
Administrator
Oct 25, 2017
41,193
Washington, D.C.
AHA-Lambda said:
God damn that stark
Well done for compiling it all though
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That 11.1% makes me sad as all hell
jblanco
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,620
--R said:
I started a chart to track this a couple weeks back and yeah, it's pretty grim.
Here's how it's looking right now after these 3.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
What does "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" mean in this case? The full game is in the cartridge or not?
--R
Being sued right now, please help me find a lawyer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,318
jblanco said:
What does "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" mean in this case? The full game is in the cartridge or not?
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It's the Switch 1 game with the upgrade kit implemented. So far it's full physical but it's in another category for full transparency.
bloopland33
Member
Mar 4, 2020
3,489
Darkreaver said:
I want to stress out that those covers can be reversed to not have that big red switch 2 logo
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You have pictures?
Nerd123
Member
Aug 18, 2022
637
Darkreaver said:
I want to stress out that those covers can be reversed to not have that big red switch 2 logo
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Wait what? I hope you mean reversible cover without all the information about key card below the box and still the Switch 2 logo and spine because thats how I would still want it to look on my shelf.
psynergyadept
Shinra Employee
Member
Oct 26, 2017
18,746
We're a dying breed...
mjc
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
6,294
TBH the only thing that gives me immense pause still is how Nintendo handles continuation of digital keys for what you have. It's the primary reason Switch games were the only ones I've bought physical this last gen.
EvaUnit787
Member
Aug 6, 2023
2,794
Aren't the key carts better than just a code on a paper?
Like I understand this is all a grey area, so I don't want to get in trouble, but if you have physical copy of the key that makes your ownership of said game valid, won't there be ways so you can legally (greay area again) play your games in comparison to a download code in a piece of paper?
Jawmuncher
Crisis Dino
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
44,387
Ibis Island
I think the first year of the system is going to be filled with this. We saw similar with the Switch 1,
Will get better as the years go and more cartridge sizes are available. With that said, I imagine a lot of stuff we're going to have to pray gets a re-release later on
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