So in general, I buy a mix of physical and digital, but I prefer the former for 1st party Nintendo games. However, a concern I have is that DLC/update data for that game may be inaccessible in the future when the Eshop eventually closes and/or if something goes wrong with my digital game. Knowing Nintendo's track record with online infrastructure I'm not optimistic about futureproofing.
So it had me wondering: do the latest prints of physical first party Nintendo games include the latest DLC/updates/patches? For example, I bought Super Mario Maker 2 digitally on its launch last year (June 2019), and down the road I was considering getting a physical copy of SMM2 as a backup. Will the retail physical copies of SMM2 printed -after April 2020- include the most recent April updates/free DLC (e.g. World Maker, Koopalings) on the cartridge already?
Switch FC:
*Please ask me/inform me if you plan to add my Switch FC, because I delete random requests that I do not recognize. Thanks! SW-2251-7555-8810
How would you know if it was the new version or one that had been printed months ago? You see how that wouldn't work, right? I'm pretty sure they don't keep updating physical games, so whether you'd got it on launch or now, it'd be exactly the same
@ChameleonBros If they make a new batch of game cards later with dlc on it, that means they have to use game cards with bigger capacity for some of their games. BOTW - DLC champions ballad was like 2 GB, and we know game cards are expensive and they squeeze everything they can into the smallest game card capacity.
For Nintendo games, the DLC seems to always come after game card production. They put out the the main game & cart as soon as they can, and have seemed to keep working afterward creating/finishing DLC. I guess as a business model, that makes sense, though kind of a bummer. They want to make sure you pay to download the DLC.
That's how BOTW & Luigi's Mansion 3 were, DLC came 6-12 months later as a download. Mario Odyssey's dlc with Luigi's ballon hide & seek came as a download after I got the game card. And Mario Tennis Aces added characters as downloads after the game card. (these were all games I bought physically)
But yeah, that stinks. In the future, if a new console can use Switch game cards, you can only play the base game. Same if you give/sell the game card to a friend. One small positive point, the original BOTW, the arrow farming exploit was REALLY generous before the patch came out that limited arrow farming to about 12-15 at a time.
With Physical you can play even if you don't update or get the DLC offline but if you want to go online or co-op then you will need to update or download the DLC to connect. This is why you get a larger microSD for future proof the 400gb is cheap now but I would shoot for at least 1tb. My reason is so I can reload my games because the 400gb is going to be too small to hold the update/DLC when they start to update.
Will the retail physical copies of SMM2 printed -after April 2020- include the most recent April updates/free DLC (e.g. World Maker, Koopalings) on the cartridge already?
Unfortunately, no. That content is there for those who purchase the game here and now. Once the Switch servers go offline (probably ten years or so after the Switch is discontinued) that content will forever be inaccessible, legally anyways. I imagine some hacker somewhere in the world is saving the content to be experienced through illicit means in the future.
Switch Physical Collection - 1,252 games (as of April 30th, 2024)
Favorite Quote: "Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age the child is grown, and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies." -Edna St. Vincent Millay
Thanks for the answers everyone! Unfortunately it confirms my doubts about cartridges including updates/patches. Hopefully Nintendo adds to/modifies the current capability of backup game saves by the time the Switch eshop goes down years from now.
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*Please ask me/inform me if you plan to add my Switch FC, because I delete random requests that I do not recognize. Thanks! SW-2251-7555-8810
@SwitchForce - LOL, I'm arguably the biggest Switch supporter around these parts. If you believe I downplayed the Switch's success at any point in this thread you are either too sensitive or you took my post out of context. Regardless, I'm tired of your nonsensical posting habits. Welcome to my ignore list, enjoy your stay.
Switch Physical Collection - 1,252 games (as of April 30th, 2024)
Favorite Quote: "Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age the child is grown, and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies." -Edna St. Vincent Millay
It does rub me the wrong way when a games physical release doesn't include the latest patches or free DLC. But as much as it irritates me i'm still going to buy physical when i can to save space on my microSD card. And i do fill physical is safer than digital when trying to future proof your game collection.
The answers above are somewhat misleading, especially in what concerns updates or patches (DLC is another story).
Day one physical purchases are vulnerable to day one (and subsequent) patches, however this doesn't mean the cartridge sold 3 years down the line is the same as the one issued initially, especially in best selling games and, of course, Nintendo IPs.
For instance, day one cart for BOTW had the 1.0.0 software version, the current software being 1.6.0.
To check on some random information online, I now (2021) ordered another copy and the cartridge software version is 1.6.0 (and yes, I fully deleted the game data previously stored).
Nintendo does keep a record of these "revisions" in the golden reference in the back of the cartridge, in the last 3 digits:
BOTW Day One (Ver. 1.0.0): AAAAA22A000
BOTW New Copy (Ver 1.6.0): AAAAA22A003
The same can be said for:
MK8 Day One (Ver. 1.0.0): AABPA22A000
MK8 New Copy (Ver. 1.7.1): AABPA41X004
SMOddyssey Day One (Ver. 1.0.0): AAACA13A000
SMOddyssey New Copy (Ver. 1.3.0): AAACA20X003
This detail can only, from what I gather, be obtained by looking at the cart, as the case does not hold any indication of software revision, which is a hassle to make sure of, before opening the game.
I know of other games that have been reprinted, but I've yet to purchase a newer copy:
Luigi's Mansion 3: Revision 1 (reference ending in 001)
Astral Chain: Revision 1 (reference ending in 001)
Octopath Traveller: Revision 1 (reference ending in 001)
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Revision 3 (reference ending in 003)
As a note, there are games that seem not to have had a 000 print, namely Tropical Freeze which my day one copy's reference ends with 001, and I've not tracked any 000 reference online.
In conclusion, yes, cartridges do get updated with the latest patches in subsequent productions runs.
@CurryPowderKeg79 I've seen some games released later on that does have the latest update on them. But for the most part most update save to the sdcard only save game data is internal memory if you set this correctly-AFAIK. So if you wait those popular ones do come with latest updates on cart as well. But having a large sdcard also helps as well since not everyone games will come with updates on cart.
@Zendero : This seems to be a measure that only Nintendo takes with their own published releases. I have not known third party games to be issued updated cartridges after the fact (unfortunately), though some revised releases of past games, such as Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate contain a more up to date version on the cartridge (though it is no longer current).
It's also worth pointing out that if any further updates are released after the fact, then the entirety of software updates will need to be downloaded in bulk, not just the difference between what is on the cartridge and the most recent version.
For example, if a game has a day one update of 2GB, and an updated cartridge comes along with that 2GB update pre-loaded, if there is a subsequent, smaller update released beyond that, say 200MB in size, then the entire 2.2GB worth of updates would have to be downloaded. For better and for worse, this is a measure to ensure that cartridges with disparate versions are usable on the console, as well as allowing users to wirelessly share update data.
The first 5 characters are the unique game reference (BOTW is AAAAA, MK8 is AABPA, etc).
The following 3 characters are a mistery. The most common theory is that they reflect the languages within the cartridge, however I have several games bearing the same languages and having a different reference. I would say it probably is a production code.
The final 3, as suggested above, seem to be the revision code.
This seems to be a measure that only Nintendo takes with their own published releases. I have not known third party games to be issued updated cartridges after the fact (unfortunately), though some revised releases of past games, such as Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate contain a more up to date version on the cartridge (though it is no longer current).
Yes, you are correct that these revisions will only be "current" until the next update.
Most updates happen close to release date (be them bug-fixes or content updates) so, unless Nintendo comes along with another gimmick a la LABO I would not antecipate these games (BOTW, MK8 and Odyssey) to be further revised.
Switch Physical Collection - 1,252 games (as of April 30th, 2024)
Favorite Quote: "Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age the child is grown, and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies." -Edna St. Vincent Millay
Anyone have info if non-Nintendo game cartridges get updated as well?
The most likely cause for the lack of knowledge of third party revised carts is their inherent lower circulation in the aftermarket (where some of these revisions can be spotted if the Seller provides a back photo of the cart).
Besided Hollow Knight, I know of the following third party games with revisions (although I do not follow games I'm not interested in):
Power Rangers: Battle For The Grid
Rocket League
Overcooked 2
Super Bomberman R
Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night
Tsuri Spirits Nintendo Switch Version
Sumikko Gurashi Gakko Seikatsu Hajimerun desu
Momotaro Dentetsu - Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban!
Sekai no Asobi Taizen 51
My Terraria cartridge is 001 and my Hollow Knight cartridge (That I know for certain is revised with the Godmaster DLC on the cart) is version 001!
Don't know about Terraria , but Hollow Knight has a way of spotting if you are buying a Rev000 or a Rev001 cart, by looking at the box, as explained by FANGAMER's FAQ:
Q: How do I tell the difference between a copy of Hollow Knight for Nintendo Switch from the first printing and a copy from this new production run from the game box?
A: For this new run, we’ve changed one of the screenshots on the back of the box. In the first printing, there was a red screenshot on the left and a green screenshot on the right. In this new run and future runs, there will be a yellow screenshot on the right. A new, sealed copy of the physical game which has a yellow screenshot on the right should contain a game from the new production run. This applies for all copies in North America and Europe.
All four are 000. (Splatoon, as it happens, took literally hours to update when I first plugged it in, and then gave me another 20-30 straight minutes of Off The Hook scenes once I finally got into the game.) So, either I got unlucky with my purchases or these games had not been revised as of the time I bought them.
Time is a factor if the place you purchased the games is a heavy seller, as initially supplied games can sit on smaller seller's shelves for longer.
The place I hail from has (or at least had until the pandemic) a way of making sure of the "freshness" of each game as all copies have a special seal of authenticity, which is individually and sequentially numbered.
The games I spoke of above were in the hundreds in my day one purchase, whilst the purchases in 2021 were in the 20.000s (I come from a small country).
The purchase I made were blindshots and I was lucky.
The way to make sure you have a revised cart is to look for it the second hand markets (online or retail).
What would be helpful would be a list of all carts that have been revised and the specific software version for that cart revision.
I have been waiting on some purchases until I'm "sure" no update is likely to come or an up-to-date revision has been issued.
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