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

@Magician That’s the big thing: so many games releasing for it are either digital-only or game-key cards, which just unlock the digital game. So a digital-only Switch would definitely be an attractive model for many. However, as others have pointed out, it wouldn’t really increase Nintendo’s profits, so they’re not likely to put that out.

Here's how it's looking "(Dreaded) Code-in-Box, eShop games, NSO+games subs, Key-Card" what here isn't going Digital already???? Maybe a 500$$ All digital Switch you have no physical form to play on? Stadia anyone????

Personally, I would stick to the model with the physical drive as I have a decent collection of physical original Switch games.

That said, I have often wondered why not have a model that isn't portable. It also wouldn't be for me as I mainly play portable, but I have friends that never remove theirs from the dock and would have probably preferred a cheaper "home console only" alternative.

If there was a digital-only Switch 2 I would expect no less than 1 TB of on-board storage in addition to being further expandable with an Express card.

No. Sony and MS already proved nobody wants this.

This was before cheapest console became 500 bucks, mayhap game hardware makers are re evaluating options to expand their user base without taking a big financial hit.

I want to be clear i don't think this is happening, im saying these are the types of options a smart company would be evaluating right now.

Uh huh.

Choosing to disregard how both Sony and MS are introducing new portable hardware soon?

Should be expandable m2 or NVMe drives... if they want a all digital age.

And yet we hear Xbox/PS are making their own portable, no one reads what XBox/PS says anymore do they.

@Magician and @Jester676

The PlayStation Portable and the ROG Ally have combined sold 2.5 million units. For reference the Japanese exclusive Wonder Swan sold 3 million.

And the Nintendo Switch 1 console sold 150 million units by itself.

Yeah the PC handheld are rad, but steam deck, rog ally, etc all just a drop in bucket compared to switch markets here.

Yes the entire market couldn’t outsell the first 6 months of the Switch’s life.

The Switch 2 has already outsold most handheld PCs already.

I thought the biggest launch titles are physical? Cyberpunk and MK World?

There are some disappointments, for sure. Bravely Default in particular has me confused over being a game key cartridge.

But like... what a dumb thing to say. Switch 2 is going to have a ton of physical games, especially as time goes on and publishing partners like Limited Run and Super Rare Games start getting involved with some deals. (Here's where you counter with the Limited Run game that is a game key card, I know.)

And I don't think it's false to say that companies aren't aware of our feelings. CD Projeckt Red in particular has stated how important getting everything on the cart was for them, and Marvelous has said similar things about their Rune Factory game.

Where was all this doom and gloom when the Switch 1 had code-in-a-box games pretty early in its life, too? DOOM was essentially a game key cartridge, and that came out in the first six months of the Switch. Snipperclips was a first-party launch title that was eShop only at launch.

It's third-parties that are gonna try to pull this nonsense. And for whatever reason, reports are that Nintendo isn't offering smaller sizes of the cartridges. They need to change that, obviously.

I'm not as stingy towards physical vs digital like some people seem to be, but I still wouldn't because of Nintendo's history of having piss poor storage for their systems(32gb in the year 2017 is inexcusable, same for 256 in 2025)

Even if you're not a fan of Key Cards, it's worth remembering that they'll still need a cartridge port to work.

I'd maintain that the chance of Nintendo making a model without one are slim.

This is the reason why they can't go pure Digital only. So unless they give us m2 or NVMe expandable drives they can't go a Digital only future and forget Cloud servers. People should remember Stadia where is that now??? And that was Google product.

I would buy one if the games were cheaper.

But after using PlayStation store, I know that digital only has the opposite effect on prices.

This would depend on the price.

On the topic of affordable models with removed features... I wonder what are the chances that the reception of the Japanese-only model could inspire Nintendo to make similar models for other countries and their respective languages, while still keeping the region-free version as the premium option. And also if this would actually be a good idea.