Topic: Would you get a cheaper, digital-only Switch 2?

I don’t know what happened, but apparently there was supposed to be a digital-only variant of the Switch 2 that would’ve been cheaper. So far, this hasn’t happened, but if it did, would you go for it (we’ll just assume it would retail $400 USD)? Normally, I would refuse, despite the fact that I prefer getting my games digitally on portable consoles, but so far, it seems like nearly every third party game releasing on this console isn’t getting a full physical release, so I would seriously consider it. But how would anybody else feel? And please don’t talk trash to anybody who would choose this model over a regular model. Some people just don’t care about getting physical games, and that’s okay. It’s also okay to only want physical games (preservation and having the ability to resell the game is crucial), so don’t scrutinize anybody who wouldn’t buy this. And please refrain from heaping huge piles of trash on Nintendo; we all knew prices were gonna go up, and while $80 for Mario Kart is absurd, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s going to sell millions of copies. So long as Nintendo’s offerings still deliver hours of entertainment, I am more than willing to pay extra compared to dumping money on Xbox and PlayStation.

My short answer : HELL NO...!!!

I just can't see it happening.

Removing the optical drive from a PlayStation or Xbox represents a cost saving in the tens of dollars and you're selling to a customer base that mostly plays games as downloads or via subscription service already. If you're just playing games on Game Pass, for instance, you wouldn't even be using the drive anyway.

There just aren't those kind of benefits to taking away the cartridge port from a Switch 2. They'd maybe save a few cents on production, so if there was to be a significant price difference it'd have to come almost entirely out of Nintendo's profits. Plus, with nearly half of Switch games still being bought on physical media, and Nintendo's subscription offerings being rather limited, it'd alienate a lot of the audience.

For me personally though, I wouldn't have a problem with it. I already play a lot of games on PC where physical media hasn't really been a thing for several years. I'd like to be a little more confident that Nintendo's online infrastructure will stay up for as long into the future as Valve's and Microsoft's, mind you.

With game prices going up the way they are I am sure alot of people will be buying used games and you just can't do that with an all digital console. Granted I know to some people a digital only console is great especially if they travel alot or don't have room for stack and stacks of games but honestly they get that already with the regular Switch.

@Anti-Matter Fair enough.

@Matt_Barber Yeah, it’s just that it seems like most companies aren’t keen on supporting physical media, which lowers the strengths of being able to play physical games. Hopefully things change in the future, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

@GBA_Yoshi_92 Again, fair enough.

@Tasuki That’s definitely one of the top advantages of physical media, and that’s something even game-key cards allow you to do, so those are at least a step up over code-in-the-box physical releases. Too bad you still have to have a ton of storage just for like 5 AAA third party releases.

I'm not convinced it would be all that much cheaper.

Also, even though I mostly buy digital, I still want to play the Switch 1 physical games I already own.

Yeah, that's the difference and also why the "digital only" Switch and Switch 2 theories never made sense. People just throw these ideas out there because they see patterns out there without ever thinking about why things are like that

The only "advantage" a digital only Switch SKU would give Nintendo is that it would force people to buy digitally. Where the margins are higher. It wouldn't be that cheaper to make at all. Maybe they could make that work but they wouldn't also get the cost savings on the hardware itself

A non portable or portable only SKU? Yeah, they could work. But digital only? Yeah, nah

@skywake yeah...gonna agree with ya 100%.

@skywake Agreed. I don’t see how it would affect Nintendo’s profits all too much, and it wouldn’t really make that much sense. Nintendo’s always been the one to go against the trends, so them doing a digital-only console (that’s not made specifically for one region that has weird rules when it comes to video games) would be incredibly odd. But where did that rumor come from, and what happened to it?

Given the switch BC and Nintendo highlighting that, there is slim chance of them making a digital only switch 2 even if they make a lite. The switch physical game sales would have to crater and they would have to see a huge uptick in digital purchases. Given the complaints about the cost of storage, it would take many years before they got enough data to verify that. Plus, they likely aren’t saving a ton of money removing it. And would have to increase storage to accommodate the lack of options. The series s and digital ps5 were to cut production costs, cater to current sales trends (digital is on the rise) and present a lower tier option to bridge the gap. Nintendo, who doesn’t like selling at a loss, is likely already at thin profit margins and now have a trade war that will impact customer willingness to buy and price perception. It still costs money to design and manufacture a new version. Nintendo isn’t gonna do that without data that says it is profitable. The lite accommodates children, multi switch/console households and handheld only gamers which we know Nintendo is tracking data for. A digital only switch doesn’t really have any obvious targets that at current would increase profit margins. Now if sales crater because the global economy tanks they may get creative out of desperation or they may ride out a slow sunset.

Me personally. No. No need even though I am going digital only. I will be using my physical switch collection to test what I will transfer to switch 2. If the performance is better then I will wait for sales to purchase a digital copy. I will be transferring my fighting games though.

@Ryu_Niiyama Backwards compatibility is also a good point: all those physical Switch 1 games you purchased (if you had a Switch 1 prior) wouldn’t be playable.

@StewdaMegaManNerd
I'm pretty sure the source of the "rumour" would've been some YouTuber dooming. I don't think there was ever anything more to it than that. The amusing thing is that while this kind of nonsense stuck the legitimate leaks which were largely positive were skipped over. Not enough drama presumably

I would rather want a box switch. One that is TV only. I don't need a handheld. Save a lot of money..

Interesting idea, re: box only switch 2. Could be a way to get family friendly price

I wouldn't, no, but I think most people would.

Switch 2 is nearly a digital-only platform already.

I own many physical switch games. A digital only console wouldn't be helpful at all, despite the new gen being almost digital only