TOL - My Biggest Issue With The Switch 2
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Hey it's Tarrmu and welcome to Thinking Out Loud and in today's video we'll be talking about the Switch 2 and more importantly what I feel is the biggest issue with the console. My gripes stem from a practice that is becoming more common place since the consoles release, and that is the inclusion of game key cards, which are physical copies of a game that comes with part of the game on the cartridge but requires download, to install the rest of the game to your Switch 2.
Where this becomes an issue for me is that it removing physical media from games, which is an ever growing issue in this industry, and Nintendo with the first Switch was one of the last safe havens for physical releases of video games. But here with the Switch 2 this type of philosophy is changing.
But it isn't just the effect that it has on physical game enthusiasts like myself. Even if you take a step back and assess the game-key card from a practical sense, it is in almost every way the downsides of physical media with it taking up storage space, and the worst elements of digital only, meaning that it requires internet to download the rest of the game to install and not actually owning the game. The only flipside that the game-key card posits over purely digital purchases is that you are able to lend these games or sell them if you no longer wanted the game.
The intention behind the game card that Nintendo states is that it will allow bigger games from publishers to come to the Switch platform, it is a way for third-party studios to not suffer the constraints of the Switches cartridge sizes.
The thing that makes matters worse here is the reasoning behind this, because what it largely comes down to is saving costs from the publishers who put their games on these cartridges. See because, Nintendo offer cartridges that come in a variety of different storage capacities starting at 1gb and doubling in size up to the max being 64gb. In most cases the publishers are opting for the cheaper cartridge to save on costs, and in turn offloading the rest of the game that would remain as a download. I find it hard to believe that many of the games that have released on the Switch 2, could not have fitted on a cartridge, especially when you look at Cyberpunk with its Phantom Liberty DLC all being available on the cartridge, day 1.
If there is one instance where I can understand or look past this, it is for indie developers who are on a strict budget and are wanting to get their games on shelves for people to visibly see for exposure. That case makes sense to me, but in most cases the game key card feels like it is a cop out excuse for making ports and Switch 2 versions less of a hassle, at the expense of the ownership that the player has over the game. Thankfully, the first-party games as of the time of this videos release are still complete on cart.
But I can't help but feel that this precedent that has been set with the game key card, that even Nintendo as we move further into the future, will be moving away from physical ownership. It is problematic because one day these servers will go down, and I wonder how will game key card owners download their games in the future, and owners will be stuck with essentially half a game.
More broadly it poses a dire landscape for game ownership in the world of games, where we move away from physically owning a product, and more into an environment where we'll own less, and continue to pay more.
There is still time for Nintendo to correct course on this approach to distributing third-party games, and man do I hope that we see it sooner, rather than later, and if recent polls are to go by, many are not happy with this new practice. But what are your thoughts on the whole game card features and what do you think is the solution here?
