Topic: Pokopia: Digital or Game-key Card?

@metaphysician Excellent points!

And may I add that it is disingenuous practise just like code in a box just to have "fake" retail presence in order to have a chance of clueless parents to pick up key-cards for gifts.

If a game isn't on a cartridge or disc, it doesn't exist for me.

@metaphysician
I just need to add to this, though: Game stores are reporting pretty good sales and resales of game key cards. My local retro store doesn’t like dealing with them very much, but I’ve been in other stores and talked to the owners/workers who say they’re treating gkcs pretty much like physicals and offering decent money for trade-ins and everything.

I won’t buy them, but the reality is that most people are fine with them, and the ability to resell cannot be overstated for lots of people.

Do people not bother to read a two-page thread before posting to it? I already mentioned on the previous page that this is not true, there are other benefits:

And with me and my spouse, there's just the two of us. A friend of mine has two kids, both of whom have their own Switches, and he has one too. If all three of them are interested in a particular game, I'm sure he'd be happier to buy one game-key card instead of three digital copies of the same game.

It's the same in my local game store. There clearly is a market for used GKCs.

I'd say digital is preferable to a game key cart unless you think you may want to resell in the future, or value the physicality of the game more so than the convenience of digital.

But provided neither of those 2 scenarios are true, I'd advise choosing digital.

As for the whole "I won't play anything unless it's all physical" comments, we know. You remind us every chance you get. This thread isn't asking whether you like GKC or intend to purchase games without an on-cart release. The question was asked having already established the fact they're buying the game, they simply wanted input on which format to go with.

Nobody cares if you're not buying games that aren't all on-cart. It has no impact on the rest of us and making personal declaration #43 only serves to annoy everyone else. We get it. You've told us OVER and OVER and OVER again. We have ears. We heard the first time.

@JaxonH
I don’t buy gkcs.

lol I had to, sorry

I’m still a little unsure. I haven’t had to decide between digital or key card for any games I’ve been interested in until now, so I’m kind of struggling to weigh the pros and cons. Leaning towards game key card but who knows

I don't like key cards compared to proper physical (they're objectively worse as far as I can tell), but another advantage they share with physical over pure digital is that the publisher doesn't have full control over the pricing. Mainline Pokemon games never get discounts on the eShop; spin-offs sometimes do, but there's no guarantee Pokopia will go on sale any time soon -especially if it's a big hit as I suspect it will be - and it's not a cheap game! But pretty much any physical game can be found cheaper than RRP after a little while if you buy secondhand (or even new from some retailers, though that's not as common in the US from what I hear), and I wouldn't be surprised if that applies to key cards even more so. If I buy Pokopia some day it will most likely be a key card for primarily that reason, as well as having the option to sell it or share it with someone if I ever want to.

It absolutely does apply to them. I recently bought brand new key card copies of Star Wars Outlaws and Raidou Remastered that were on sale; the former was 33% cheaper than the RRP, and the latter was 66% cheaper. Neither has ever been that cheap even in the eShop, so with the added bonus of being able to resell the key cards or loan them to my friends, these two were definitely a good buy.

As someone who otherwise only buys physical, for games that are ONLY GKC or digital... there's really no competition in my mind. GKC all the way over a pure digital download.

At least the license for the game is with you in a physical sense with the GKC. The game itself isn't on the cartridge, but the license is... so that means the license follows the cartridge just like a normal physical game and you can resell it, loan it, collect it in a storage bin for 10 years... as long as they keep the download servers functioning for many, many years to come, it shouldn't be a concern.

Especially for a game that's so small like this one - 10 gigs. Some DLC can get that big for other games.

But I will say, I'm still hoping against hope that they'll do a proper physical release for this one in the future when cartridge prices figure themselves out. It is a bit discouraging to have a first-party title like this not be on the cartridge.

Thanks for all the response! Went with digital. No needing to swap game key card / not supporting GKC / the game looks like one that I will keep playing so no need for the option to resell. Now two hours in and I’m loving it!

I would go with the GKC, but only at a significant discount, and I strongly doubt that this will ever be available at a price point that would be tantalising enough. Digital isn't an option because it's too damn expensive (AU$110), and even if it ever went on sale, the most that it would drop by is 33%, bringing the price down to about AU$74, which is more than I've paid for a brand new physical Switch 2 copy of Z-A.

If the GKC drops to maybe AU$30 (and it likely won't), I'll begrudgingly bite, but the GKC situation this situation is even more annoying than last generation's "Download required" releases, because you have to bear the entirety of the game's storage.

I'm not even sure, but at the same time; I feel like there is a better chance of getting this game discounted through physical retailers than on the eshop.

It kind of feels like a curse that the one Pokemon game I was super interested in does not have a true physical. This really should've been all on cart.

I won't be buying the game that ends physical media.

lol that is so accurate to my feelings.

I'm going to get it eventually, but yea. It's a bummer.

At the same time, I can't blame them for not wanting to pay a high price to get their 6-gig game on a 64-gig cartridge.

I'm getting a game key, because I'm skeptical that I'll enjoy the game. I hated Animal Crossing, but the gushing praise for this game means I have to check it out. With a game key, I can sell it if it isn't for me.

Otherwise it's like setting $100 on fire.

I’m probably gonna go digital because I’ve seen a bunch of compelling arguements that having a life sim on digital would fit the whole “playing in short bursts” thing that people like about games like pokopia. Now I just need to save up enough money… this is gonna take awhile.

@Misima I fear you're fighting a losing battle my friend.

There are only a few digital Switch 2 retail games that I own; Mario Kart World, Sonic x Shadow Generations, and Pokémon Pokopia.
Mario Kart World was the pack-in code for the Switch 2 system, and I bought a physical copy of that one anyway.
Sonic x Shadow Generations was limited to a Game-Key release, and I already owned the Switch 1 physical. With no upgrade path, I chose to buy the Switch 2 version digitally when it had a big sale (because SEGA games always have big, big discounts eventually).
Pokopia, with no such Switch 1 alternative, like with the recent Dragon Quest games, I opted to buy digitally where I vehemently disagree with the Game-Key format and refuse to add them to my collection.
I've been playing Dragon Quest III HD-2D, the Switch 1 physical version on Switch 2, and been having a good time with that.

With the way things are trending, I'll buy digital versions of big retail games if no true physical option is available, and it's something I'm genuinely interested in playing right away.
I haven't bought Final Fantasy VII Remake, for example. I'm sure it's great, but it's not something I'm in a rush to play; I haven't even played the original game yet! I have that Switch 1 physical in my collection and should get around to it.