Talking Point: Nintendo's Mastery Of Physical Game Sales Hides Limited Digital Growth

Makes sense, actually. People keep clamoring for physical releases, because they don't trust Nintendo's track record of closing down their shops every 8-ish years, preventing people from ever downloading again. Catlevania Rebirth, along with dozens of other games, are lost forever (unless you emulate!) I honestly don't blame them.

I buy physical because I want to buy physical, it has nothing to do with Nintendo's delivery of digital content.

Sharing/trading games with friends and family is much easier with physical cartridges.

Plus, you can always sell them down the road.

I’m digital everywhere else but physical with Nintendo. Love cartridges!

@BloodNinja,

Totally agree, I was reminded of this when I bought my Series X recently, just re downloaded all my games from ages ago.

If Nintendo do continue with the Switch, I am expecting a similar system, but always buy physical where possible because of the ability to re sell.

@johnvboy I'm not too keen on re-selling, anymore, since my Switch collection is so small. For others I see the appeal.

I feel like it's inevitable for physical sales to be larger than the digital counterparts because of the nature of cartridges and the Switch.

Then again I didn't expect the gap between digital and physical sales to be that large.

sticking with cartridges is probably a smart move on their part. With prominent instances of games being delisted and the skyrocketing value of old physical media, there's still a very viable place for hard copies of games. Where else but Nintendo can you sell a used copy of your games years later for nearly or even more than what you paid? Their storefront could be better but no one is buying a physical switch game instead of digital just because of a bland poorly organized interface, and they can just as easily use Nintendo.com. And if MS and PS completely abandon physical media then Nintendo would have the market to themselves. Just like when Sony left the Vita to rot and left handheld consoles ripe for the picking.

Hmm, strange since Nintendo is basically riding on the indies. I mean: If the eshop ends then 90% of all the Switch games go up in smoke. Sooo most Switch-owners ignore the e-shop? Possibly because e-shop games are too expensive? Personally I have lots of e-shop games, but I know they are too expensive. However, I go mostly for sales.

One nice point though: This means that Nintendo might also stick with physical media for their next device and won't go digital-only.

Nintendo thrives in physical sales because of the non-gamer™ audience.
Nintendo buys up a lot of shelf space at stores, which makes it eye catching for parents, grandparents, and guardians trying to buy a birthday present for a kid.

there's also the casual consumer who doesn't care about the eShop, because they just wanna get their system, put a game in it, and play. Nintendo definitely understands this a lot better than their contemporaries.

people underestimate the buying power of casual audiences. but Nintendo definitely doesn't!

Until I'm given absolute assurance that my digital purchases are permanently attached to my profile and carry over to all future Nintendo platforms, I will never buy Nintendo stuff digitally. Even then they'll have a hard time convincing me to pay full price.

Maybe this is how Nintendo could enter the NFT space. Games instead of jpegs. That's actually a form of NFTs I wouldn't be totally against.

A Virtual Console would help. Being able to purchase games meant I spent an obscene amount on Wii U.

Almost all of my purchases are digital and I subscribe primarily for the cloud saves - both of which are equally true for NSO and PS+. End of story. ¯(ツ)/¯

@BloodNinja "track record"? What digital storefronts did Nintendo shut down prior to DS and Wii ones?🤔 Better question yet, did they even have any?

The Switch isn't really made to be a digital-only system for the common "blue-sky" buyer, since it only has 32 (or 64) GB of disk space internally (compared to the 100s of GB or multiple TB of space on the other systems). Switch buyers are kind of trained to get the cartridges out of necessity.

@BloodNinja Pretty sure you can still download Wii games you already purchased. At least, you could circa 2021.

@BloodNinja,

They do hang onto their value, I will take a risk on a first party Nintendo game, play it and then pretty much re sell it for retail, they are always snapped up quick.

@nhSnork Shutting down two stores is enough, with 3DS closing next (if it hasn't already.) The point is that they close their stores, full stop.

@Ralizah That functionality will cease at some point, too, once Nintendo decides they no longer want to support it. I don't have a Wii anymore so I have no idea.

@johnvboy I don't recall talking about value, but cool.

@RGB87 Exactly. Heck, even the last game I got on their console is bugged and the devs are ignoring my support requests to fix it (Razion EX.) So I'm rapidly losing interest in this console. I'm basically holding out for Dark Souls 2. If by 2023 they don't release it, I will have moved on.

For me it makes sense to buy physical because shops are willing to discount either at launch or soon after. If it’s only a fiver on fifty quid, that’s a free game every 10 I buy, and a lot of times it’s more than that.

@BloodNinja that's exactly it. I don't feel secure purchasing a lot of stuff digital because I do not trust Nintendo not to change the deal or pull the plug.

@Henmii
Indie games range from $1-$20 in price, while Nintendo's own games are almost always priced at $60 with limited eShop price reductions.

If Nintendo wants to sell more digital stuff, they need to product the games in 4K, high frame rate etc. and give us a console that we can play these games on.

@Coalescence Heavily agree. I don't think the Switch would be half as successful as it is now if it didn't use cartridges.

Cartridges are the perfect combination with handhelds and thats why every single handheld that existed (besides the psp) used them. Especially for a portable console you want something thats easy to carry around, durable and quick to load; being catridges. The fact that they take no space is just a bonus to me but also a very welcome one.

Physical media is always preferable as it can reach a wider audience than digital sales. Internet isn’t available everywhere (even if the option is available due to location it could cost you over $100 a month with data caps) so full physical releases mean you can buy games and out side of patches play out of the box.

@zool
Graphics/frame rate and digital sales are not correlated whatsoever.

They never do discounts so why should I buy a digital product which I can't even sell?

@BloodNinja Exactly this. I'm 100% digital on PC and the Series X because those services feel future-proof. Nintendo have really shoddy online services and i don't trust them in the slightest to keep their services alive or being able to bring their games forward more than one generation ahead before being rendered incompatible.
I would have bought more games digitally if Nintendo would convince me that it's an investment for the ages.

I go hard! And will always stay hard!

Don't other systems generally require an installation with updates being forced? I could see physical sales being a lower proportion on platforms where you can't just pop in a cartridge and ignore any updates that may have been released until you're ready to install them.

It’s pretty strange to me honestly, considering the Switch is where an all digital library makes the most sense. It’s a portable system first and foremost. I own one physical game for it. The rest of my relatively small collection (about 35 titles total) is stored on my SD card. When I go somewhere with the Switch, I have my entire collection with me. It makes the most sense to me. It allows me to run a small case without having to take a bunch of physical games out of their cases.

By comparison, with my PS5, I primarily buy physical if the game is single player only. Multiplayer games I buy digitally.

It’s interesting how lopsided digital sales are compared to physical on Switch. Because to me, as a platform, the Switch makes the most sense for a primarily digital library. Whereas on my PlayStation, I prefer physical when possible since I don’t tote the thing with me (for those who don’t have one, the PS5 is enormous; you could easily fit three Switch OLEDs inside of it with space to spare).

Makes sense. Nintendo's digital storefront is much poorer in comparison to its competition. And I say this as a majority digital game owner for my Switch.

Fewer digital game discounts and a lack of trust due to Nintendo's closure of the Wii Shop Channel adds up in the minds of consumers. Its far better deal to buy physical Switch games. Particularly first party.

@CharlieGirl This: "trying to buy a birthday present for a kid."

I don't think the teen-young adult crowd appreciates all of the 7-12 year olds getting games as gifts, most of which are physical.
Also there are dads on here buying 1 copy of a physical game for their 3 Switch owning family, rarely see that on Pushsquare b/c you own 1 PS4 or 1 PS5, you only need 1 digital copy of the game. We have 2 Switch in our house, we've shared a few carts, don't think we've ever shared a digital download. Nintendo promoting "We want everyone to own their own Switch" means they ARE promoting physical until they get much better at sharing digital, which is never going to happen.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/11/nintendo_wants_everyone_in_your_house_to_have_their_own_switch

I think Nintendo is doing ok. They maintain good sale through with fewer price markdowns which is more money in their pocket (and informs physical sales) and adoption rates of digital are climbing. They are getting more profit on less product. Sounds good business-wise. I would rather have more people paying 60 for mario than trying to nab the folks waiting to pay 20 for far cry 6. The adoption rate is slower but it is moving in the right direction. Plus since most games require a full copy you get more sales out of a household than a game that is shared on multiple systems would.

The only concern imo is NSO. Now that they have two tiers, that is a split in revenue and obviously they want everyone to get the most expensive package. So they have to increase user buy in on that front.

Also physical is just digital with an install disc on the twins. The thing I hate about physical there is I can’t pop in a disk and play, I have to go wait about 20 mins for the game to install. No different than downloading it from the online shops. Most Nintendo Switch physical games have some version that is playable out the box. Or at the very least has a much smaller install time. That plus the portability of the cartridges can lead to physical still being important to customers. I am about half and half physical vs digital but my case holds 42 games. And it fits in my bag. That can not be replicated anywhere else.

There's a lot that goes into it, but it's definitely largely Nintendo's actions that led to this.

If we take into account business differences, Sony and Microsoft often do deep discounts on major first-party releases, and in some cases, free releases when you're subscribed to their premium services. Nintendo rarely offers a discount of up to 30%, compared to other companies slashing their prices 75+%, which also means used games in game stores are often cheaper than even Nintendo's own steepest digital discounts, as opposed to the reverse being true with Sony and Microsoft's digital stores.

If Nintendo's service were better priced, people would be going digital, and if Nintendo's included storage had been better, it would additionally lean into more sales. This is very much an ancient practice, by all standards.

@westman98 to increase digital sales you need to have something that physical games don't have. Zelda BotW 2 that plays and looks like a PS5 game and is a digital exclusive should do it.

So, for me buying digital is just throwing money away. If I break my legs and can’t work I could my sell games for food. The great thing about Nintendo first party is that they retain value and some even go up in value after a period of time. When it all goes digital I will stop buying games.

This must be a joke. They are doing their best to make people go digital!

@BloodNinja
this is one of the reasons im not big on the NSO format since it even removes the "safety net" of being able to still play the games you've already downloaded.

@zool How does that have anything to do with digital? Games in 4K are not somehow more suited to digital than 1080p games.

Good! Physical media 4ever!!! Digital ownership is an oxymoron. =P

Also, have we controlled for the fact that maybe Nintendo fans just prefer physical more than other segments of the audience?

@zool
???What???

The physical version of the game is the exact same as the digital version. The digital version of a game won't have better graphics/frame rate than the physical version of said game.

You are really making absolutely no sense whatsoever (which is honestly par for the course).

i always buy physical games for my extended battery Switch(is easy for me to lent to my cousin, vice versa) digital version have the risk of Nintendo shutting down it online shop, not alowing us to buy this games anymore.

We can't resist those cute cards

The collecter in mecelebrates this

I'm all for physical, that's why I decided to get the physical versions of Snipperclips, Sonic Mania and Tetris 99 and why I also intend to go physical for Cruis'n Blast and Shovel Knight (yeah, don't have that on Switch). It also helps that their respective DLC is on the cartridge and doesn't need any downloads outside newer updates, which in the case of the games I own are none.

If I can find a copy of NES Remix Pack and the physical version of Shovel Knight for the Wii U, I'll back up the digital versions and uninstall them from my console.

I see the appeal in going digital-only, but Nintendo's current stance on system memory is really something that's really standing in the way for me going all digital. On the Wii U, I could handle those 32GB, but on the Switch I can't. That'll probably the only real benefit for me if I ever get a Switch OLED.

Well, people aren't going to double dip, so I'm not seeing this as bad news in any way for Nintendo.

For me I keep buying physical, especially for larger games like RPGs, because I just really love owning cartridges. Although I am starting to buy more digital games due to the cheaper price and the convenience, I will always primarily buy physical.

Nintendo gives bigger discounts for digital games than for physical. Their physical sales are usually only $5 to $10 cheaper. So unless you must have a physical copy, which I understand, it seems odd that games are not selling more as digital.

@westman98 Nintendo release a Pro 4k console that only plays digital games in 4K and these games are exclusive the that console.

So there won't be a physical version because the Digital is exclusive. Any one who wants to play the game has to buy digital.

I buy my games physically where I can. I actually think this is one of nintendo's strengths (relatively speaking within the industry).

I go for physical where possible on Switch and almost digital only for Xbox. This is for 2 reasons:

1. Switch is the only current system where physical versions are actually proper physical versions meanwhile PS and Xbox physical versions are essentially DRM keys.

2. I don't trust Nintendo when it comes to digital entitlements so only buy digital when there's no physical version. For example with Xbox a large proportion of stuff I purchased since owning a 360 in 2009 actually works on my Series X today (even delisted stuff like the Metallica DLC pack for Rock Band) meanwhile if my Wii U died, all the stuff I purchased from the Wii Shop Channel would be gone forever.

@Mgalens Agreed, I'll never give money for NSO. Rental services are not for me.

@NicolausCamp Indeed. Digital is the way to go, but only on certain platforms. Gotta pick how you spend your money very carefully, these days!

@zool - Yeah, 10k minimum with 240 FPS so I can play Shovel Knight super smoothly. 120 is just too jittery and 4k makes the pixels too pixelly.

@BloodNinja - Assuming Nintendo is the only one doing this. I mean, Rockstar just pulled their base GTA games off the market since the Remaster released.

This is only good news. physical forever!

There are pros and cons to Nintendo's physical games selling better than their digital version:
1. The value of having them on shelves in traditional shops, so the average person can discover them is a pro.
2. In terms of incoming revenue, physical is not as good as digital though, as they have to manufacture and distribute them plus the retailer wants their cut too.
3. In Nintendo's particular case it is of course a pro that their games tends to hold their value really well, this of course counters some of the "blow" of not selling as many digital copies as Sony and Microsoft.
4. (and most importantly): If you really want to support a developer, publisher or platform, you buy their games at full price digitally (and besides, it IS more convenient having games digitally).

Would rather buy a game for 20-30 quid in a shop than 60 on the eshop. MS/Sony drop their prices off a cliff after a while, I think the majority of Switch's first part catalogue is still full price

@BloodNinja
There's also the part where unlike the PS5 and XSX, the Switch's physical mediums are a viable option, actually eliminating a substantial amount of storage that would be used up in a digital game.

@zool
Why in the world would Nintendo release a digital-only Switch Pro 4K where Pro-enhanced games are digital-only?? Sony and Microsoft don't do this, and neither has Nintendo with past hardware (New 3DS, NDSi).

Again, you are making no sense whatsoever.

@westman98 If BotW 2 was released on the existing Switch as a physical 1080 version and as a digital 4k download only version, on a new pro type Switch (that can't play physical games) More gamers would go for the new console and the 4K download.

@zool
Why would Nintendo do that though? Retail versions of games offer 4K Pro enchancements just like the digital versions - that's how things have worked with PS4 Pro, Xbox One X, New 3DS, etc. Again, you make non sense as per usual.

(Also, Switch Pro doesn't exist, and given the current hardware shortages, it's better for Nintendo to just move on to Switch 2 when the the situation improves. PS5 couldn't even ship a measly 4 million units last quarter, which is dire; Nintendo isn't looking to put themselves in a similar situation with a Switch Pro.)

it’s probably because the e shop sucks and storage on the switch is severely limited compared other consoles.

@ModdedInkling Indeed, the cartridges are very low profile.

@Paraka They are for sure not the only company doing this. Unfortunately, it’s rested upon the end-user to archive any important games. I still have a backup of Warhammer - Space Marine that got removed from all digital storefronts unless you were lucky enough to purchase it.

Because physical releases matter much more then they do for Sony and Microsoft now. The Switch cartridges actually save console storage for one. Also Eshop is the worst digital marketplace out of the three game companies.

@Crockin

I feel like I have more space on my Switch with a 256 gig SD card than I do with my PS5’s 667 gigs of free space.

Most Switch titles are a fraction of the size of the other console’s games. I consider Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart to be a fairly small PS5 game relative to its art assets (which are stellar quality) and it still clocks in at 48 gigs of space.

By comparison, Metroid Dread is like 4 gigs of space.

I have my entire Switch collection of 35 games on my SD card. And I still have 70 gigs left. I could shave off a few gigs by deleting the Japanese voice track for Shin Megami Tensei V. On my PS5? More like 7-10 AAA games at the most. And that is avoiding games like Call of Duty. When I had Black Ops Cold War installed that sucked up 190 gigs of space alone.

What I don’t understand people cry for game preservation! But still suggest Digital Media over Physical.

Gamers want GoldenEye well it’s still playable on my N64 as it is meant to be.

Share the tag #NoToCloudGaming

Nintendo's digital sales lagging PS and Xbox sounds appropriate for a console that only came with 32gb storage for the first 4.5 years of it's life.

@Scrubicius Goldeneye is coming to Xbox though, I've heard.
Digital can be game preserving too btw, you just have to have back cat. compability like the Playstation 5 or Xbox SX plus eShops that don't close down.

Do people on Xbox and PS still buy physical disks for new games?

It seems Nintendo is one of the few that actually spotlight physical games, much in part by the cartridges being easy to handle and store and also the fact that digital-only is not viable without buying an expensive SD card. Not to mention if I sell a physical Nintendo game like Breath of the Wild or Mario, I'll likely get most of my money back since those games rarely lose value over time, if at all.

If they want to boost digital sales, make all games $10 less than physical releases to account for the inability to ever sell it in the future.

Platstation literally offers a digital only console, of course those people will be downloading more games.

In all honesty they have no reason to shutter the Eshops on the 3DS or WiiU .. Its just a server and what can it really cost them to run it compared to what their making. I don't usually buy digital, on Playstation of which I only have PS3 I have never bought digital. On Xbox i dabbled on 360 and Xone bought only buying cheap games for under ten pounds or less more often, but then again I only have about 25 purchases across both Xbox units. All my Xbox digital software is mainly games with gold. But on Wii U I purchased a fare amount and have more then sixty games digital. Mainly because of them being small indies and digital only or the odd VC title. I did have to purchase a couple of retail games digital due to the high cost associated with getting physical copies of a couple of titles. So all in all I have about 100 games digital across four formats.
I have always believed physical is the preferred method of buying games and actually owning them. There Mine and I can sell them, Lend them to trustworthy people , I have lost a few this way many moons ago, they where not trustworthy i found.
After gaming for generations I find I can not embrace digital media, I still buy DVD's and Bluray and have a vast VHS collection. So I wonder if this generation or the next will be the last Physical generation for games. I will proably stop getting new consoles then and focus on gaming on retro systems and buying games from the many specialist developers making games for Megadrive,Dreamcast,NES and such like as a new physical game brings a smile to my face every time, taking that shrink wrap of is so much fun...

@Screen So do the Xbox Series S and Steam Deck.

I hope Nintendo’s digital sales are always low enough that they refuse to release the data thereby ensuring their commitment to (mostly) always having a physical format for their games.

Maybe just maybe, it is because Nintendo removed 2 games from the eshop last year rendering one of them useless.

@BloodNinja While that's half true, if you embrace digital you should already know the consequences of what's to come in the future when those games no longer had any way of preservation. Games like Castlevania Rebirth and such aren't lost forever, they are still available through Konami or any gaming company archive server somewhere, it's only up to them to make it available or re-release again just like Mega Man 9 & 10. It will only be lost forever if the source file itself got destroy permanently and even if it does through dedicated fan made project it could be reproduce again.

@jorel262
Not true. Retailers decide sales on physical games not Nintendo. Which is why Walmart knocks 10 dollars off every new release. You will never see botw for sale on the eshop but I see it 35 to 45 dollars every couple weeks.

Until digital actually sell at a price they're worth then will it be embrace. There's no reason for digital games to carry retail physical price as there are no manual, cover, or cartridge to be made so the retail price for digital it carry is unnecessary. To me any digital game selling for retail price is a ripoff and until they sell for what they're actually worth then will I embrace digital but for now if digital and physical had the same price, I will aim towards physical instead.

The future is probably at least 90% digital, I'm afraid (and even more so with streaming and subscriptions - just look how Gamepass on Xbox and PC are becoming popular).
AAA (and AA as well) games are becoming more and more expensive to make and when people buy physical, Nintendo maybe only get 70% of the revenue, they'd had gotten if it had been a digital purchase.
Either that or games will become more expensive like we've seen with some Playstation 5 games (mainly first party though).

A few thoughts I have on the whole Physical vs Digital conundrum. I have purchased both physical and digital games on the Switch, my reasons for one vs the other generally boils down to this: Most of the time I concentrate on playing one game at a time, it makes it difficult for me to complete games if I get sidetracked playing other games constantly because I forget how to play, what I was doing, and whatever, so for most games, I buy physical because I'm not going to be swapping cartridges all the time. The exception to this is games that I know I will play consistently over time, games that I do play while playing other games, usually because of a multiplayer component or similar features that encourage continued play. This is why I buy some games digitally like Pokemon Sword, Animal Crossing NH, Splatoon 2, etc, because I go back to them frequently this helps me avoid having to switch cartridges all time. Concerns regarding longevity of digital games, I'm not sure how much better physical games today fare overtime either, most games have day 1 patches, downloaded components, or dlc that aren't likely to be available either if the digital games aren't available. N64 games are fine today because digital downloads weren't a thing in the 90s (at least not like today). Concerns regarding being unable to resell digital games (something theoretically possible with NFTs, but that's a different discussion if that will ever happen), I don't really care because I have literally never sold one of my Nintendo games, and don't anticipate ever doing so.

It's really not much of a shock, honestly, considering the paltry native storage capacity on the Switch. Unless you're willing to shell out $50+ for a high-capacity MicroSDXC card, you're essentially forced to purchase physical copies.

As much as I love Nintendo's consoles and handhelds, it's really time that they join the rest of the gaming world and offer 1TB of storage space, at a minimum.

@shgamer Whether digital or physical, the big three still had to shill money if they want sales. Physical games advantage is that consumer at least had a product and preservation of that product, the company will had no say on what the consumer do with that product like reselling it but they at least got their money even if it's just a fraction of the full price.

Digital is no difference, even if the game they had available sell, consumer still got a product just not physically. Though they save more on convenient the big company still receive a fraction of what the game sell as they still had to pay their network provider to keep server up and running. Keeping server up is not free and sending physical games to retailers also are not free.

@Specter_of-the_OLED Yes, and I believe it's up to the end-user to do what these companies seem to shy away from.

@shgamer The future is probably at least 90% digital, I'm afraid (and even more so with streaming and subscriptions - just look how Gamepass on Xbox and PC are becoming popular).
Then why there are Sheep to the Digital Slaugther industry complex to make $$ from Day One to Day XXXX. And they are willing to pay MSRP regardless of how long the popular games are now longer release items. If now watch this video to understand why Digital doesn't in the end benefits Gamers in the long run. The video is still relevant to this day and age now.

Digital Distribution Vs Physical Media and True Ownership
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdsWQGAlopk

@WoomyNNYes Not 4.5 years, 10 years, the Wii U also came with 32gb. Digital is suppose to be just an option and there's nothing wrong with that. Remember Nintendo's audience is family, not every family had high speed internet, a lot of my folks still use the internet on dial-up believe it or not.

Sony, in comparison to Nintendo, also has amazing sales on PSN. Nintendo first party games never go any lower than a 33% discount.

I hope for the Switch successor, Nintendo understands the potential of its online services.

@Crockin Nah the storage is alright but the eShop does sucks compare to Nintendo past digital offerings since the Famicom.

@TheRedComet

"It’s a portable system first and foremost. "

It's complicated.

1. Some people use it only docked.
2. Nintendo typically has more of a kids focus where the kids don't have access to a credit card or password to use for Nintendo digital store purchases.
3. The primary reason to own a Nintendo system is Nintendo games and retail stores have much better sales on Nintendo games than the digital storefront does.
4. The sharing ability is atrocious on the Switch. I have a family with 3 girls. You can only share games with other profiles on one system. So games that we want to share must simply be bought physical. I'm kind of mad at myself for buying too much digitally up front and now being stuck with workarounds to allow them to play many of the games I've bought.

"I feel like I have more space on my Switch with a 256 gig SD card than I do with my PS5’s 667 gigs of free space."

Really depends on the games you like. The digital storefront has much better sales on third party games than Nintendo games. Third party games can get pretty big. I picked up NBA 2k21 when it was on sale for $4. It uses a 39.4 GB download. Witcher 3 is 31.5 GB, LA Noire is 27.4 GB, GTA 5 is 25.4 GB. So if you are into playing AAA games on the go it'll take alot of space.

Nintendo is woefully behind on the digital front, which is why I haven't embraced it as much for their system. Their sales, comparatively, are awful. There's nothing in place for having your purchases linked to your account, and therefore carry forward to a new system. And not only that, they're tied to the specific Switch you have.
I have no aversion to digital, but until Nintendo and the others set it up like it is on Steam, it's just not worth it (and why I buy PC first). I have games on Steam I bought years ago that are still available to me (despite some of them being pulled from the storefront). It's been a couple generations, and I've had several different machines over that time frame and not once have I had any issue accessing or playing any of the games I've bought.
Consoles need to take an approach similar to that, IMO (admittedly, I'm not sure where Sony and Microsoft are on this stuff now, but I know Nintendo is nowhere even close).

@BloodNinja not the only thing you have that’s small 😏 ayooooo

@Gwynbleidd i agree with you per usual but also want to point out those day 1 patches might go away too 😞

@SwitchForce I've never said digital is good for the consumer (other than you don't have to swap discs and cartridges in and out constantly - that IS convenient IMO - AND you get to support your favourite developers/publishers/platforms better giving them more revenue).
All the on-line gaming, dlc (except if they're really exceptionally good additions to the game), streaming, NFTs, micro transactions, Gamepass, Playstation Plus/Now, I'm not fan of at all.
Personally it's around 7 years I last thought a game that came out was exceptionally good (I think I can say it was Resident Evil Revelations 2).
BUT I like my Switch Lite, because I prefer handhelds AND it has quite a lot of good ports/remasters that I have bought digitally (because they weren't available in any other form at a fair price + convenience).
I have one physical game for my Switch and it is the Resident Evil Revelations Collection (which I had to import because it was only released in the US), and then I have around 40 games that almost none of have any physical edition (even the RE collection I mentioned only have the first game on the cartridge).
No, I don't like the direction the industry is moving towards, but I do understand why it is moving in that direction; it's really very simple: People (the majority of course, not everybody) wants better graphics all the time. And state of the art graphics are very expensive to produce nowadays.
And that's why stealth games, survival horror games (and I'm talking about really good survival horror games, not multiplayer or indie s****) AND even really good action games have slowly died down as genre.
No more Splinter Cells, no more Metal Gear Solids, no more Deus Exs, no more Silent Hills, no more Alone in the Dark, no more Project Zeros/Fatal Frames. Even Tomb Raider they sacrificed at the alter of gooood graphics, and it doesn't even seem like they had that much success with doing it.
I've pre-ordered a Steam Deck to play old games like the Batman Arkham series, The Evil Within series, Bionic Commando, Lost Planet, Build Engine games etc., but to be frank I'm having second thoughts.
The experience from the around 17-18 games I've bought in Steam sales, haven't been exactly flawless on my laptop (we're talking games that won't start at all, will start but then suddenly won't, controller issues etc.) so I'm kind glad it was delayed a couple of month, so I'll have 3 or 4 month to hear reactions and impressions from the early adapters.
To be frank I hope Nintendo comes up with something in the meantime, so I can play some of the aforementioned games without all the hazzle that PC gaming seems to have.

Ok, it got into a LONG rant, I admit. BUT I am actually a quite happy gamer, I just don't really play modern games that much (even the last 4 RE games I'm not that fond of). I hope Nintendo will "save me" or I'll probably have to buy a Steam Deck anyway and "plug and pray" as they used to say back in the Windows 95 days

I've gone pretty much digital with the Switch. I've got a couple of physical games but I prefer the convenience and ease of digital. Still, it's cool that Nintendo still does a lot when it comes to physical gaming, as PlayStation and Xbox do more and more to phase that out of their consoles.

@cleveland124

I mostly buy Nintendo’s 1st party line up, AAA RPGs on Switch, and every classic game collection I can get my hands on.

The largest game in my collection is Shin Megami Tensei V. With the Japanese vocal track installed it’s about 16 gigs. Second would be Breath of the Wild. Then Dragon Quest XI S.

Big AAA multiplatform games I buy for PS5 (or the PS4 version if there is no PS5 version). The only exception to that rule are turn based RPGs, since I actually prefer to play those handheld.

I know the graphics and framerate would take a big hit, but I wish Sega would give a go at porting Yakuza Like a Dragon to the Switch.

I would still buy physical switch games if I was not such a cluts and lose them. I always get a game card case for my games but now twice iv lost my physical collection. I have gone digital this past year becuase I kept losing tons of money

The problem with Nintendo is that you can't trust them long-term, they might abandon a platform and a digital store anytime and, on top of that, Nintendo's games keep their value somehow so you can sell physical copies if you don't play them. There is another reason, Nintendo's digital games stay expensive forever and buying the physical copies is actually cheaper (which doesn't make any sense). Oh and 32GB is too little.

The fact that first-party titles all have reversible box art somehow makes me want to buy physical for every single game. I loove reversible box art! Pokemon for instance would be convenient to own digitally, but the fact that you get illustrations of the region on the inside of the game case makes me always want to buy physical.

How else can I purchase official artwork? If they made their artwork more available as an option, then I would be more open to buying digitally.

Oh god all these are positives in my book. Please no micro transactions and season passes and loot boxes and NFTs thank you. I would argue that one reason (that you forgot to factor in) for Nintendo’s strong business is that people that are otherwise disgusted by game industry trends trust them. They’d lose loyal customers should they ever follow the path of the competition.

I also find this confusing. As many have said, I'm also a predominantly digital owner with a large library of games. I have some physical (~15 games) but the ability for my brother in the US to share accounts, and thus games, has led to a frankly obscene (~500 game) backlog and spreadsheets for tracking purposes.

As an aside, the top line revenue numbers are, if not misleading, obfuscating that digital sales are significantly more profitable dollar for dollar as they eliminate many supply chain costs and middlemen.

@BloodNinja
Ninja approved?

@Specter_of-the_OLED I totally agree with you.

Switch physical games are, IMHO, more collectible and people prefer having them on solid state media wherever possible I feel. I personally do feel a twinge of pride owning both Ori games physical on Switch, or games like Undertale or the Shovel Knight full package. They are game that will remain classics over the years and which I like all lined up neatly in my collection, rather than on my Switch SD card or something.

There are great classics on Switch that I'm still waiting to see get a physical release to finally buy them, since more often than not, they end up getting one months or years down the line. Cuphead is one such example, it was promised a physical release after the expansion/DLC would be released, but we're still waiting for that to happen since the DLC won't come until June at the earliest. Just hope they will remember what they said about a Switch physical release though

I buy physical games because it gives me a feeling of ownership. The economy surrounding used Nintendo games is also really healthy so it's easy to fund my hobby that way.

The flaming dumpster fire of an experience when you have a multi-switch family just isn’t worth it.

I only buy physical copies of Nintendo switch games now.

@jayronc parent buys three games.

Child one plays game one on the secondary switch, none of the three games are playable on the other switch.

I get not allowing the same game to be played, but blocking ANY digitally purchased game from play is just a classless and stupid move by Nintendo.

Eh I buy everything digital as the sales are better and storing a bunch of pieces of plastic around just to say "I own this" doesn't appeal to me.

I have 33 switch games. Only Just Dance 2021 is physical. I love digital games.

What’s funny for me is that I only buy physical copies from Nintendo. I buy some digital too, but I don’t buy any physical games for any other platform. Does it have a little to do with the limited capacity of micro sd cards? Sure. But I just prefer physical for them because of longevity and contingency reasons.

I need to buy 3 copies of Splatoon 3 this year. It would be nice if Nintendo let me buy a family pass or something. Just sayin’ …

@jayronc spot on. They need a family sharing option AND to eliminate their stupid online only time checks for digital content. Even when I have a cartridge with free DLC it wants to check every few hours or kick me off which sucks when flying — the exact time I want my kids occupied.

I say it constantly but any game I like, I want to own it in physical form - for its relative permanence, tangible value, and the ability to share with my kids, siblings, or friends.
Yes, there are day one patches 99% of the time nowadays, which erodes the value of the cartridge, but 10 years from now when the servers have closed down I’d rather have a gimped hard copy of the game than nothing at all.
Digital has the advantage of convenience, and not taking up shelf space, and it’s perfect for those games like Into the Breach or ACNH I tend to play daily in short bursts, but even then I’ll double dip and get physical if I really love the game.

I think Nintendo Fans are more the "I want to have this and keep it forever" types. Ever notice how much smaller the used section is for Switch? I don't think it's because they're not selling as many games..

Nintendo is the only company I still make physical purchases with. You can have an actual product in your hands at the same price as its digital release, and because Nintendo's discounts on digital sales are pretty pathetic compared to the competition, there's not much of an incentive to nab anything. Wow, a 30% off for a title I bought physically 3 years ago! Thanks, Nintendo!

@ModdedInkling Always

@GannonBanned ZIIIIIING!

@BloodNinja the point is that they only did it twice (with a conspicuously short gap), an entire generation later and reportedly with the infrastructure that they never owned and had long moved on from. The latter means that both precedents essentially can't be easily projected forward in future speculation. As for 3DS eShop in particular, it even gets third party sales to this very day (mostly indies, but the likes of Capcom, NIS and Atlus still join the ride now and then) - which you couldn't say about Vita store (outside cross-buy PS4 stuff) for months before it narrowly dodged its own bullet. There's nothing to suggest the Gen 8 eShops - let alone their servers for purchased redownloads - are leaving any time soon, and won't be until/unless Nintendo suddenly says so. We might as well speculate about a brick falling on our heads.

@Pak-Man I'm generally like that these days, generally not selling anything even if I own it physical (I used to use local cartridge exchange services when I was a kid, but that was dictated by the respective investments and my proportional allowance budget). I think the only time I ever offered to sell a game by myself was with a few Xbox 360 discs I had previously got for rental sessions at a local game center (a handful of games that were either absent from their catalogue or, in case of FFXIII, had wornout and progressively malfunctional discs therein). Such sessions stopped after I started getting consoles and devices like GPD Win with access to proper digital distribution to pour money in, so at some point I pitched my collection to one guy, but he only took interest in and bought Bioshock Infinite. Whereafter I suspected Minsk might not be a lucrative market for the remaining ones (the whole Gran Pulse saga, Star Ocean: The Last Hope and Eternal Sonata) overall... and just gifted them to
the aforementioned game center instead.😆

@rjejr
You should try the sharing games on the switch, I only recently linked a new switch to my account and I was pleased with being able to swap things between consoles. I dare bet this is far easier on other consoles but I wouldn't know, but it was easier and quicker than I expected.

I just hope a 2TB sd card gets made soon!

@westman98

People might think the indies are to expensive compared to their prices on other devices (Steam, PS4, etc), while the first-party retail titles just get bought physically.

@Henmii
Indies sell more on Switch than PlayStation so I don't think that's a sentiment most people actually have.

I very much appreciate Nintendo has a focus on physical releases and real full games. I have nothing against digital downloads for smaller indie games and if others prefer them for larger games too that is fine. But I really hope Nintendo won't start pushing for more of anything related to microtransactions, subscriptions, passes and other crap that currently screw up the very core of gameplay experiences. Any of that and you have to design a game around it in a way that always seem to stand opposite of good balance and creative vision. I have no problem with more DLC and expansions though, as long as it wasn't made to "cut out" pieces of a full game from start.

@nhSnork There’s nothing to suggest it? Nintendo closed two shops, and is positioned to close the 3DS shop next. Every console they have ever made uses a different file format. Those are two major suggestions that you are blatantly ignoring for the sake of feeling right in an argument.

Nintendo has no reason to keep old shops open that are isolated to a single system. Their next system will have a new shop, with yet another new file format. You think current day Nintendo is gonna be generous and make their next console compatible with the 6,000 existing eShop games? That’s incredibly naive.

You’re gonna have to buy your stuff again at some point; that’s industry-standard for consoles due to incompatible file formats from console to console. Hundreds of ports per console generation is proof of that fact. And because of that fact, Nintendo isn’t gonna be inclined to keep the Switch eShop going for longer than they have to maintain it. Sony does it too; otherwise you would be able to play your PS3 downloads on your PS4/PS5.

It sure would be nice if they kept their shops open, but we all know that from a financial and business standpoint, Nintendo always makes cuts to trim the fat from their business overhead.

And they will ALWAYS prefer that you buy your digital games again, rather than carrying them forward from the previous shop. Please understand.

@BloodNinja afaik you can still download games from the wii shop channel (and maybe dsiware on DSi?) as long as they were games you purchased before the shutdown, you just can't buy anything anymore.
Also I recall Nintendo giving a pretty considerable discount on Wii U Virtual Console games that you owned on the Wii Virtual Console, which I thought was fair because they added features to the Wii U versions. Also Nintendo allowed users to carry forward DSiWare games onto their 3DS.

My reason for disliking how they rollout Digital games is it takes up valuable microSD space that is better suited for game DLC/updates. This is why having only one slot for 1 sd card isn't good planning. Especially when they only currently have 1tb sd card available only. That 1tb will not hold 300+ game library and DLC/updates that is a FACT. The YT video is a telling story of why big Developers whom can afford to put games onto Physical Cart chooses not to-Smaller developers and Indie have cost restraints but that doesn't mean they can join the likes or LRG/Super Rare games to publish their games as well. So in this day and age they need to exhaust the Physical cart option before just saying oh we'll just go Digital because we can get faster returns. That to me signals lack of effort in trying.

@lacaras4 Yes. How long will Nintendo maintain that functionality?

@SwitchForce What the hell is one person gonna do with a TB of Switch games?

The Switch needs the ability to use USB external storage in console mode (even in handheld mode, ideally). The Wii U can do it. At the very least the Switch 2 should have this functionality for the ever-encroaching digital download future.

@mrbogus You can fit a lot of games on a couple of 1TB micro SD cards. A single 1TB card could hold 70+ copies of BotW, which is one of the larger Switch games.

For comparison, the PS5 can't run games off external storage and ships with only 825GB of internal storage, with an M.2 expansion slot that most people won't be plugging more than 2TB into currently – and PS5 games are usually much larger than Switch games in terms of storage requirements.

That being said, they could certainly add a Wii U-style external USB storage feature if they wanted to. (Though IIRC the Wii U couldn't actually use its internal SD card slot storage for Wii U games - only for Wii games?!)

This may seem like a silly question, but I’ve almost ran out of space in my SD card, and I want to buy more games this month. Can I use a second SD card separately, without transferring my current SD card games over? So I mean can I have two different SD cards with different games on them and use them interchangeably?

Yuck!

"more revenue is generated from add/ons and microtransactions than games," I'm sorry but I like the way Nintendo does it. I just can't stand free to play and microtransactions!