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.
Switch 2 is nearly a digital-only platform 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 think you just need to take a step back and re evaluate that comment. Because that poster is correct.
Yes, you are right... Nintendo games, Cyberpunk and also Rune Factory are on a physical cart. But the vast majority of the games right now are "Game Key Cards". This is an undeniable fact: you can count the number of physical carts versus the number of game key card releases, and the GKC vastly outnumbers it.
So while yes saying Switch 2 is "nearly" a digital only platform is slight hyperbole, it is currently not by much. And there is no indication this problem is going to get better as these physical 64gb carts are currently prohibitively expensive and most publishers simply are not going to bare the cost. If that doesn't make Switch 2 "nearly" a digital platform, it certainly makes it predominately one.
Look at this news from.the Arc Systems leak that just happened:
"Arc Systems Work got hacked and a lot of internal developer documents have been shared online, revealing things like that the console was supposed to release in March, but most interestingly the list of currently available formats for physical Switch 2 games:
[DL] Digital game only
[64GB] Game card with full game
[POTION] Codename for Game-Key Card
As we all know, 64 GB cards are considerably more expensive that a PS5/Xbox Series X disc. So now we know the reason of why many developers are opting for Game-Key Cards, and why it's inevitable more will follow."
Yes, you are right... Nintendo games, Cyberpunk and also Rune Factory are on a physical cart. But the vast majority of the games right now are "Game Key Cards". This is an undeniable fact: you can count the number of physical carts versus the number of game key card releases, and the GKC vastly outnumbers it.
So while yes saying Switch 2 is "nearly" a digital only platform is slight hyperbole, it is currently not by much. And there is no indication this problem is going to get better as these physical 64gb carts are currently prohibitively expensive and most publishers simply are not going to bare the cost. If that doesn't make Switch 2 "nearly" a digital platform, it certainly makes it predominately one.
It's an interesting question of perspective. In some interpretation, Switch 1 was a predominantly digital platform because 3/4th of games were digital only. However people don't count that because that large majority were mostly obscure indie games. In terms of profits, however, Switch 1 currently gets 53% of their game profits from digital games, so close to 50-50.
Will that significantly change for Switch 2? Currently, Nintendo gets 73% of their game profits from first party games which will mostly still have full-physical options in Switch 2. Will digital profits shift because more third party games are not doing real physical? Sure, the profits from digital might drift towards 60%, but I doubt it will skyrocket.
@rallydefault That‘s another thing I’m hoping for- that the sales of the games currently not planned to receive full physical releases will grow enough to encourage the publishers/developers to actually release full physical versions. Of course, they might just continue to cheap out and think that no one cares about whether they do full physical copies or not. Hopefully, that doesn’t become the case.
@Matt_Barber
Pretty sure removing the Game Card slot would save them at least a few dollars, not cents.
But still, it's far less logical than digital-only consoles from the other platforms.
Simple answer to the original question - NO. But then I'm not the target audience for such a hypothetical device and realistically neither is anyone reading this on NL.
Anyone who has a physical Switch 1 collection will want to keep that accessible and that is millions of people. The people reading this are far more likely to have substantial collections.
More generally I tend to agree with @rallydefault - one way or another most of the games that you really want to have physical copies available "somewhere" for preservation long term will get those. Some will be East Asia releases months or years late, others will be boutique "Limited Run" style deals. They will be more expensive, harder to buy with more barriers in place and might become primarily a minority pursuit for dedicated collectors. Physical games collecting is clearly going that way.
The ARC hack information (which is speculation obviously at this time) is interesting. I wouldn't take it as gospel though. It might be that during the launch window those are the only options. More might come along later down the line. We just don't have the information yet.
This decision by Nintendo to only use "64 GB or nothing" cartridges is very strange.
On the Switch, the only first-party game to use the 32GB cartridge was TOTK, which shows that they didn't want to waste resources. And now the DK Bananza that takes up less than 11 GB will come in a 64 GB cartridge?
I hope Nintendo rethinks this and starts making 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB cartridges available soon.
@Rodolfo6493
It is very weird. I can’t even begin to think I know why Nintendo is only offering the 64 gig at the moment. Does it streamline production and therefore saves them time and money? Why not just offer the smaller sizes, too?
At any rate, I’m going to remain optimistic and say more cartridge sizes will open up in the future.
People are you saying publishers are timmy that they cowtow to Nintendo rather then say this is what we want - are they saying they got no balls. They are the publisher of their games without them there is no Nintendo.
I think what they feel is that if they can get all developers to adopt the biggest size cart, it'll eventually drive down production costs of said carts and make it more manageable for everyone. The reason thet went with 64gb as the only choice seems like the best out of the bad options before them, becayse look Cyberpunk is already 58 gigs. That's only a launch game. With 4k games a possibility on Switch 2, asset size is going to balloon to epic proportions.
@Quantumz00
Cyberpunk is a pretty massive game, no? Massive and technically/visually demanding, as well. This will be my first time playing it, but that is what I’ve read.
The problem as I see it is that currently developers have mostly went the other way and decided not to engage the format at all,which obviously won't drive down costs. I think what Nintendo should have done is incentivized developers for the first year or two of Switch 2's life, by perhaps offering to pay 20% of each cart fee for that period. Would have been an investment but guaranteed more cart adoption early on.
Still, maybe they just see the data and feel the trend toward digital games is unavoidable and this is the best option left to still give us gamers a way to trade, sell and borrow.
@Quantumz00
Cyberpunk is a pretty massive game, no? Massive and technically/visually demanding, as well. This will be my first time playing it, but that is what I’ve read.
Yes, but i can already think of games on the horizon that will be a storage challenge for Switch 2. For example, FFVII Rebirth was over 100 gigs if I recall correctly from the ps5 version. Switch 2 is definitely getting that. Doom: Dark Age is a good candidate to come, it's approaching that size. Forza 5 with its dlc included. Games are soo big today. Really I want to know the voodoo Nintendo is using to keep games like Donkey Kong Bananza at, what, 11-20gig size? Really impressive stuff.
It makes you wonder how much of that could be optimized if the devs really tried. I'm not a coder, so yea, but it seems certain devs consistently work wonders with file sizes while others are two or three times as big for the same types of games.
I'm not sure there's any point in trying to heavily push publishers into using the "real carts". Those might be on the fence are anyway likely jump away from it instinctively and if they don't they're the type of company that's probably running a 20gb day 1 patch (meaning an "all on cart" game is actually pretty useless). With no major physical retail stores in many countries now they're only potentially losing a few sales - some of which will be happily substituted onto key carts.
My hope would be that the big third parties either license their games for limited production runs through existing boutiques or found their own for the specific purpose of selling a small number of games to enthusiasts. In theory it can be a high margin business with little risk if you only take pre-orders. Those games will be late, expensive and not multi-million sellers. But they could be potentially better for collectors.
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Topic: Would you get a cheaper, digital-only Switch 2?
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