Nintendo Switch 2’s Game-Key Cards suck ass. And I say this as someone who truly doesn’t really care all that much about physical media.
Yes, I know. Shame me all you want. But for the past decade or so, I’ve been a digital gamer, fully taking advantage of my download speeds, pre-loads, and near-instant access to games. I also don’t like switching out discs. But even for me, Game-Key Cards are an abomination.
During yesterday’s Switch 2 partner showcase, several of the new games revealed were unfortunately confirmed to be more Game-Key Cards. These are games that come in physical boxes that don’t contain the actual games at all, but instead, a game card that acts as a download code. So, you don’t really own the game at all, as Nintendo can take away your licenses or ban your account for anything they see fit, and then your purchase is nullified entirely.
“Game-key cards are different from regular game cards, because they don’t contain the full game data,” Nintendo’s website explains. “Instead, the game-key card is your ‘key’ to downloading the full game to your system via the internet. After it’s downloaded, you can play the game by inserting the game-key card into your system and starting it up like a standard physical game card.”
This just sucks, no bones about it. I guess the positive idea behind Game-Key Cards is to have downloads for games that are larger than the Switch 2’s cartridges, which can hold 64GB. But yesterday’s showcase games like Octopath Traveler 0 and Persona 3 Reload are not bigger than that, so they’re likely just putting a code in a box to save money.
I really don’t think there’s much we can do about all of this, either. Physical media is a dying breed as it is (I may be partly to blame for that, as we all are, so I’m sorry), and this is just furthering that idea. We’re at the mercy of Nintendo and the publishers of these games, and we must take it on the chin.
I guess the only course of action is to not buy the Game-Key Cards? But then we’re just still buying digital anyway, so is there any real difference? It feels like a lose-lose, and I need to complain about it loudly on the internet so hopefully someone out there is listening.
Sound off in the comments below if you agree, or disagree, about this increasingly annoying digital future we head towards.
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