Switch arrived yesterday, and great playing Zelda, which works and looks great in all formats.
But I'm a little confused about the best way to purchase games - cartridge or download?
Download is really convenient but a little more expensive than cartridges? Not sure this is 100% true as have yet to really shop around and compare pricing.
If I ever want to sell the NS, then I think the cartridges can move and be used by the ew user, where as downloads will be locked to my own use?
Finally, would there be any performance differences between the two formats?
Any help advice on this issue appreciated!
Its all about personal preference, my 3DS is almost completely digital however for the NS, if it has a physical copy I'll buy that over the digital copy, mainly to save on storage space on the console (even with a MicroSDXC)
As for digital purchases, all purchases are tied to your account and locked to you unless /for whatever reason/ you decide to sell you NID.
I'm also curious about performance issues concerning the two paths, my biggest worry is having the console loaded up with HD games and having the system lag or jitter due to it, I haven't read up on it much but I guess I'll keep looking haha.
@MmikeR
You are right - on consoles, downloads will probably cost you more money over the lifespan of the system. Physical copies tend to go on sale sooner, and you always can go the used physical route through Gamestop. Digital sales do happen, obviously, but rarely for relatively new releases or even popular older releases.
Personally, I'm going all physical on the Switch (except for VC, obviously). This thing is like a GameBoy, honestly lol so I figure it'll be fun and nostalgic to go back to cartridges. My case I bought comes with little slots to put the cartridges in just like the old GameBoy cases. I'm 5 again! ha
@MmikeR Cartridge is the only way to go, far as I'm concerned.
Not only are they more durable, and indeed can be re-sold or given to another user, they'll also last much, much longer than digital downloads:
Look at it like a computer with internal storage, and an external storage device:
The internal storage is always used if the device is on, regardless of which stored game you play. With a cartridge, you only insert it if you want to play it, obviously.
Because of that difference, the numbers of times that the storage unit inside the cartridge is read, or is busy, will be only a percentage of the amount that the internal storage is used, which is what makes it last longer. Might only be a small factor in the entire equation, but still.
As for your question concerning speed: cartridges are either just as fast or even faster than internal storage, although any SD Card you might want to add, will be just as fast as well, so differences will be minimal.
On to the more important point in favor of cartridges:
Ownership and "lastability" of games. A cartridge is something YOU buy, YOU own, and that YOU can decide what to do with once you've bought it.
A digital download is subject to services staying live (in case there's a need for you to re-download the game at any given time, due to whatever reason) and can also be remotely disabled in such a case, for example if the online services for it will no longer be supported.
With a cartridge, those same online services will still not be available, but you'll never have to re-download the game, and the offline part of the game will still work just fine.
And of course you can trade in or re-sell your cartridge in case you're done with the game and have no desire to play it again. Try and do that with a digital download...
And all other options mentioned by others are good ones as well: a visible, tangible collection of games, cheaper prices, your internal storage will last longer due to only having to save game progress, high scores and patches or DLC, and easily being able to share games with friends or family.
'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'
Cartridge - you can lend them, resell them, not depend on the Switch's internal memory and you can take advantage of physical retailer's sales since Nintendo's sales suck.
I was all digital on my 3ds and regretted it quickly. I have maybe 50 retail digital games and over 40 VC games on it. I would say 99% of the time it was cheaper to buy the cartridge. Games hardly ever dropped in prices for digital. If I get a switch it will be all cartridges this time for sure. Paying 12+ dollars extra average for every digital game is not worth the price.
I bought most games on 3DS digitally but I am done with that. I now have kids and when they get old enough in a few years I want to be able to let them play on a second switch. The rights management has always been too strict on Nintendo platforms and very rarely have sales. Plus with 20% off by default with the gamers club from Best Buy means all the games will be cheaper.
With the cartridges being so small, it's an easy decision. Plus, games are generally more expensive due to the fact that they are priced at home console rates, and because the Australian dollar is considerably weaker when compared to the Wii U launch period.
Micro SD cards are still really expensive in Australia (relative to other countries), so it's considerably more economical to buy the physical cartridges. I'm curious as to how much it would cost to manufacture these things, as optical discs are still considerably cheaper than memory cards (a blank 25GB Blu-ray disc costs me about AU$1.20 each, compared to around AU$20 for a 32GB USB stick or SD card).
The only time I will consider buying a downloadable version of a retail game is if it's dirt cheap. If a retail version is not available locally, I will consider importing, but I will not pay retail prices for downloadable games (except in extremely rare circumstances; a recent example being Pokémon Picross). I've double-dipped on:
Super Street Fighter IV (included with a 3DS/Wii U Humble bundle)
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (for multiplayer).
I've also received New Style Boutique as part of a U.K. promotion for buying a 3DS console (I imported the Pikachu 3DS XL at the time that this promotion had taken place). It was a bit of a mixed blessing as I loved the game and I would never have given it a go due to the "girly" nature of the game (and the packaging of the physical software). I did end up buying the retail version of New Style Boutique 2 as a result, so they've won over a customer (albeit one that doesn't fit into their target demographic =P).
I also have:
Super Mario 3D Land (Club Nintendo promotion)
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (download code via New 3DS XL; already owned physical version prior)
"Gee, that's really persuasive. Do you have any actual points to make other than to essentially say 'me Tarzan, physical bad, digital good'?"
I will never understand people who prefer to buy a digital game that cannot be sold, lent, or traded, and is typically not a penny cheaper than the physical version, which can be sold when the owner is finished, so that they can recoup a large portion of the money they spent and use it towards a new game. A game they can let a friend borrow and try. Ordering it from Amazon or eBay is still pretty convenient.
I prefer digital for convenience. I don't care about getting my money back, especially with how quickly games lose value. Plus I travel a ton. Later this year I'll have a six month stretch where I move cities or states every 4 weeks.
So for some people it makes sense to have everything digital and not carry around a bunch of discs everywhere.
With that said, I'm buying physical for the Switch because 1) the cartridges are so tiny so it's easy transport them, 2) the Switch has no ethernet cable so my download speeds drop severely from my usual 200 mbps, 3) storage is severely limited and SD cards aren't as cheap as their HDD counterparts, and 4) I'm realistically not buying that many Switch games anyways (Zelda, Mario, Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and Animal Crossing).
If my PS4 or XB1 collections were all physical I'd be carrying around 40 discs, but with the Switch I'm looking at 4-5 cartridges which could easily fit in a very small Switch carrying case.
I prefer digital for convenience. I don't care about getting my money back, especially with how quickly games lose value. Plus I travel a ton. Later this year I'll have a six month stretch where I move cities or states every 4 weeks.
So for some people it makes sense to have everything digital and not carry around a bunch of discs everywhere.
With that said, I'm buying physical for the Switch because 1) the cartridges are so tiny so it's easy transport them, 2) the Switch has no ethernet cable so my download speeds drop severely from my usual 200 mbps, 3) storage is severely limited and SD cards aren't as cheap as their HDD counterparts, and 4) I'm realistically not buying that many Switch games anyways (Zelda, Mario, Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and Animal Crossing).
If my PS4 or XB1 collections were all physical I'd be carrying around 40 discs, but with the Switch I'm looking at 4-5 cartridges which could easily fit in a very small Switch carrying case.
You can use ethernet if you have that Wii dongle thing. I'm sure similar ones work too, though.
Forums
Topic: Cartridge or download?
Posts 1 to 20 of 23
This topic has been archived, no further posts can be added.