Topic: Pokopia: Digital or Game-key Card?

@TerribleTerabytes I'm not fighting anything. I am having values and refusing to compromise them.

Nintendo is losing a customer.

@Misima Doubt that. we'll probably see you next Nintendo Direct. But if you really are going to be stubborn, you might as well just give up on gaming altogether then. Digital is the future and has been the standard on PC thanks to Steam. This is where the industry is heading. Physical media makes less and less sense every year when games are becoming so big that most can't even fit on cartridges or CDs anymore. And the loading speed of having the game on the hardware itself is superior. Eliminating the need to make physical copies is also more cost effective and better for the environment. The only reason why companies keep shelf space is to make sure their brand is in front of general consumer's eyes. But don't be surprised if companies switch over to just having codes in a box in the next 2-3 generations. it is inevitable.

You're not going to gain anything by being stubborn and refusing change. You're only losing joy over some plastic that ultimately does not matter.

@TerribleTerabytes I didn't buy this game. I won't buy the next game key card either. I'm strongly considering going with the Gabecube from here on out.

You're not acknowledging that GKC are the word of both options. Steam has proven reliable for digital and allows mods where Nintendo does not and the games are cheaper.

If you're going to do digital, you don't do Nintendo.

@TerribleTerabytes
It’s not that simple.

Nintendo has yet to produce a first-party game larger than… like 50 gigs? 40? Whatever Age of Imprisonment is, and that’s even technically a second-party game.

And an all-digital future gives A LOT of control to the companies and takes quite a lot away from the consumer. Most likely scenarios we hadn’t even thought of yet.

@rallydefault

All-digital gaming has been reality for PC gamers for many years already, and I don't think any worst-case scenarios have come true. Obviously there are some games that've been delisted from Steam and other platforms, and some cases where a partially online game has been shut down completely even when it has an offline component people could still play. The most infamous example is obviously The Crew, whose shutdown lead to the whole Stop Killing Games legislative campaign in the EU. If that campaign actually manages to change EU legislation, it should makes cases where a publisher shuts down a paid game completely even more rare, at least in this part of the world.

It would be naive to think big AAA publishers aren't first and foremost motivated by profit, so obviously their practices still need to be heavily scrutinised so that they don't exploit the loopholes of all-digital gaming. But these companies also know how damaging to their reputation (and ultimately, to their sales) it can be if they just shut down popular games or do other crappy things like that, as it usually leads to a loud backlash from the gaming community. So they tend to be wary of pulling off stunts like that.

And IMO the aforementioned things apply even more so to Nintendo, which still has a reputation a fairly decent, non-exploitative company, which doesn't really publish "always online" type of games with no offline element, and whose consoles are marketed as truly portable, i.e. you should be able to play their games even in places where there's no internet connection. So yeah, while it's certainly possible that Nintendo could exploit the possibilities provided by all-digital gaming, I don't think it'd make much business sense for them to do so.

@rallydefault You're not wrong. It does give companies far more control. That's why it's the future. Again, PC has been this way for years for a reason.

@TerribleTerabytes
Yep, and that’s why people like me still say: Nothing is written in stone.

If consumers would take back some of their autonomy (and this doesn’t just apply to games), companies would adapt.

@Polvasti
I mean… you just outlined a pretty big concern that has been realized on multiple occasions.

Have you read about the Sony digital pricing scheme?

And I mean, the reputation thing… bless your heart, but I have to chuckle at that.