Resident Evil 7 Is Coming To Nintendo Switch In Japan

My comment from the forum

"This news has to be up there with the most unexpected piece of gaming news I've ever read.

It being streamed and rented initially sounds awful but you've got to look at the bigger picture,if Capcom can pull this off then we may see other AAA titles that otherwise couldn't run on Switch appearing the same way. No huge file to download along with a very cheap price makes this very appealing.If RE7 was ever to come to Switch it would be at least £40 plus the DLC,it would be downgraded graphically and would likely ship on a 16gb card with a huge download on top. Doing it this way we get the full experience,no downgrade, a very reasonable price and less storage space taken up than a Neo Geo game takes. It's all going to come down to how minimum the lag is. This really is massive news for the Switch as I can't imagine this being the only title to be released this way."

''There is also a 15 day free demo available.''

It's actually 15 minutes.

Ugh. Stream-only game for a device designed to be as much a portable games machine as a home console. You know what, as much as I'd like to play RE7 on Switch, Japan can keep this one.

I will get this!

I'm calling it now, Monster Hunter World is next...

Action games are very sensitive to wifi hiccups and lag. When playing multiplayer the information passed back and forth is streamlined as much as possible for the best games. Adding visual info to that would be like streaming a movie from netflix while expecting the response times of a locally downloaded console game.

If they can pull it off then awesome, but we'll have to wait and see...

Good'ol Crapcom.

So when you buy it, you get 6 months to beat the game? That’s more than enough. I’ll try it when it comes to the west.

@Joeynator3000 that would be mind blowing.

For RE7 that price point is good enough to beat the game within a month or 2. If it comes to the west its day one for me.

This is a bit of a head scratcher. On the one hand, if it allows games that couldn't possibly run on Switch to be played, then great – better to have an opportunity to stream them than nothing.

On the other hand, I'd always choose to actually own a game and not have to rely on fast internet connection to play it.

I wish they would have expanded on their reasons for this, whether it was coming to the West, etc, hopefully we'll find out more soon...

I suppose it’s a good way for people who would never have access to the game through other platforms to play it(as long as the lag isn’t bad) but it’s a shame for people who would like to own a copy.

Also I realise this is probably a dry run to test the waters but if this becomes a more common thing I’d prefer a subscription service to play multiple games as an option at some point

I Have a feeling this may remain limited to Japan where internet connections are probably more stable.

Its an interesting concept but one I myself am not too keen on. I’d rather take a graphical hit for a game rather than an online service. But thats just me.

It's currently £15 on amazon for PS4. Think I know what I would do if I was that desperate to play it.

@Joeynator3000 pretty sure MHW PS4 exclusive in Asia?

Releasing MHW on switch with no local multiplayer would be the most bizarre decision. Local multiplayer is the major draw for the Japanese market.

sooo, those of us that use our Switch mostly when we travel on a plane and on our subway commute - do what exactly? I just played Battle Chasers on my 4 hr ride back from Boston.

Also, even in Tokyo the Wifi in the subway is not uninterrupted. and it is not on every station.

Only place this would work is at home - for that I buy the PS4 version for $22 on Amazon

@Agramonte exactly. The ability to play on the go is what the switch is about. Now people are forced to play at home which is just ridiculous.

I think the public will reject this and it will be quickly forgotten about.

It's just taking micro-transactions to the next level.

For a second I was like, “Cool, as long as it’s cheaper than buying the game then I don’t care!” Until I realized... you know what, I do care. I’d much rather pay $60 and be able to play it again years from now. And play it without internet. And I don’t want this to be a trend on Switch. So... bleh. But I mean, this is Capcom so why am I surprised? I used to think highly of them but they’ve been making non-consumer-friendly choices for awhile now...

okay, but what's up with the limited time for playing it? such a dumb idea, swear to god the gaming industry is always testing how dumb the consumers are and with what they can get away with

As long as nintendo games stay physical I’m not to bothered about 3rd party

I’d be more inclined to do a monthly/yearly streaming rental service that includes multiple games to rent than a single game rental. I’m curious to see how this turns out though. Could be the first step in an interesting future for the switch

@admwllms
Dynamic resolution with 30fps and this game should run on Switch natively with no problem. Itˋs just Capcom choosing the most comfortable way possible.🙄

People are completely missing the point with why it's being streamed to the Switch and not a download or physical release. Unless you just don't want Resident Evil on the Switch full stop then don't complain about that fact.

I don't have a problem with the concept (although limited time is ridiculous), it's just that game streaming simply doesn't work for games that require quick reactions and precise control. Even Steam Link with a wired connection has noticeable millisecond lag.

@Kyranosaurus
And why is it being streamed on the Switch?

That's... different. I will be interested to hear how well it runs. NintendoLife! Please do a report on it when it launches!

But honestly, even if it runs well, the idea of always needing the internet to play a single player games, is really off-putting to me. I know not everyone does, but I take my Switch out and about all the time. And even if my mobile tethering was working, I don't want to burn all my data in an afternoon at Starbucks.

This really is a head scratcher since Capcom specifically requested Nintendo double up on Switch's RAM for the RE engine, which at the time the only game that ran on it was....RE7.

Also the limited time doesn’t really bother me either as I find whenever playing 3rd party games I complete them and rarely go back to them.

@Discostew do we know this as fact?

I recall at GDC 2017, Capcom's Masaru Ijuin was reported as saying that they were studying how to move the Resident Evil Engine to the Switch, and how to optimize it for portable mode.

At that same conference it was revealed that during the Switch's development, Capcom advised Nintendo to boost the system's RAM to 4GB because it was in the midst of developing its new 'Resident Evil engine' at the time.

All that and this is the result. Cheers Capcom, looks like you couldn't get it to run well enough but you still wanted to make a quick buck.

@MrBlacky Because it doesn't require them to absolutely butcher the games graphics and/or frame rate just to get it on there. I can see people's issue with this being a problem for portability, but the way I see it, it's either the ability for those who have just a Switch to play it on Switch or just forget about it. Everyone forgot about the game not being on Switch until this was brought up anyway so I see little reason in complaining otherwise.

@Kyranosaurus are you saying RE7 is not possible to port to switch?

Unless you work at Capcom I would like to know how you know this is a full proof fact.

But can it stream Crysis?

@Folkloner @Discostew Unless I'm mistaken, doesn't streaming the game still require the use of RAM? The processes are done through a connection to send the game to the Switch so surely therefore the game information at each frame is stored in RAM? They could have been planning this the whole time.

@Kyranosaurus
Like I said in a comment above: Dynamic resolution and 30fps and it should be perfectly fine. Add Joy-Con motion control and HD-rumble and it would be perfect.👌

Streaming a game wouldn’t interest me. I mostly use handheld with spotty wifi so I couldn’t play. I’d be interested to see what it looks like though, and if there’s any input lag

Just when you thought Capcom has done the stupidest thing ever, they just keeping one-upping themselves.

Hard pass. I bought the Switch almost exclusively as a portable, even at home. I don't see it running perfectly over WiFi.

Bring it over natively and then we'll talk.

Cya
Raziel-chan

I do not support such bullcrap and hopefully the guys in nippon will do so too. Give us a real version on cartridge and in the eshop, or leave it be.

Call me old fashioned. I do have good internet, i do buy a eshop Title from time to time. But I prefer something in my hands which has value. Which I can play years later, enjoying just to look at the gamecase and the reminder in my head coming up when I first played it.

Thats value for me. Not some cloud gaming crap with a paid licence to play it.

This is not good news in any way. Sure its good we have another big game on the Switch showing just what its capable of. Yet renting games should not be the future of Switch ports.

This sounds interesting I've a jap account so I'll check it out.
As for a western release its probably gonna need to change a bit as cloud and monthly subs is very common in Japan but I'm not sure the west is ready for that yet. Especially when some areas have poor internet.

Now that Switch is hacked and games to be pirated soon... this will be the way to go for all games.

@nessisonett There's RAM in the Switch, unless you are referring to sheep?

@kobashi100 Resident Evil 7 is a game in the franchise made for current generation consoles like PS4 and XBoxOne. Now I'm not saying the Switch isn't current gen, but RE7 wasn't made with Switch hardware in mind.
Also I'd like you to quote me where I said the game wasn't possible on Switch. I didn't say that, I just said that with most ports, it'd come with sacrifices to the game itself.
Unless you work at Capcom I would like to know why you think it's a full proof fact that the Switch can run RE7 with zero sacrifices made to the game.

@MrBlacky It'd take more than dynamic resolution for a game like RE7. Textures would likely take a hit too just like in DOOM as well as lighting if we're lucky it'd just be that.
But I would be okay with a port like that however I'm not sure if the developers would be alright with doing that all the time to a game they worked hard on especially to make as visually impressive as RE7.

Im not at all interested in this. But it'll be a nice test-game to see how well the Switch is able to stream games.

@nessisonett It doesn't require even 2GB of RAM, let alone 4GB, to stream video like what will happen here. Think of this like playing games on the Wii U on the Gamepad (which I think only had 32MB of RAM in the Gamepad to handle a 480p stream), except instead of local transmission, it's transmission over the internet. I think recommended internet connections to stream 1080p content is 13 Mbps (or just over 1.6MB/s), but I think that was based on h264-encoded streams. The Switch can natively decode h265-encoded streams (which PS4 and pre-XB1S can't), which can provide equivalent quality at half the bitrate of h264.

The more important factor though is input latency, which requires sending input over the internet for the servers, processing the game based on that input, then capturing that frame to place in the stream to send back to the player to view. This may be why this is Japan-only, since I'd say Japan's online structure is more advanced to handle this sort of thing.

I prefer to own my games, so I'm not interested.

This is a nibelsnarfing disgrace

I REALLY hope that **** like this doesn't become a trend.

I would try the demo if it came over. Don't like the time limit on it though. The reliance on internet really hampers the portable nature of the Switch.

Other sites are confirming that it’s not playable in English. Dunno their sources, but they’re confirming it.

The day modern gaming becomes fully cloud/online only is the day I give up modern gaming. Also its Capcom; probably the same overweight and overpaid bold man who approved SFII and lack of proper Switch support.

@ImagineerNik yeah 100% - it’s not like you can take advantage of the portable nature with a service like this so why not play on Xbox or PS4 - I’d say most gamers interested in a game like this that own a switch will also own one of those two.

Didn't Capcom do this before with monster hunter Frontier on 3DS?

@Joeynator3000 No way! We're getting MHGen Ultimate in August too.

@OorWullie Except for the fact that you are renting the game instead of buying it. $20 (more or less) might not seem much at first sight... but you are paying for the privilege of playing for a limited amount of time only.
Honestly, I don't like this approach.

And so it begins...

The practice's on the Switch become worse and worse (games only as downloads, parts of the games only as downloads, etc).

I just want modern games, fully on a card, no internet-connection required, on my Switch! Pretty please?!

Hmmm while I’d prefer to own the darn game I would like to play RE7 and if this is the only way it’ll come to Switch then I would be seriously tempted. I don’t want this to become the norm though, hell no. Anyway probably won’t be coming west so I’m gonna just forget about this ever happening! Gone, forgotten.

This sounds... (thinks back to streaming Mega Man 9 on PlayStation Now with all sorts of lag) Nope!

@SonOfVon What did you expect? Lifetime access to Capcom's servers? This is way different from online play, or monthly games you get with online ''services'' these days. This is streaming. Capcom is running the game on a PC for somewhere and it's sending the data back to you. All your Switch is doing is displaying the game. $20 for half a year's access to ''their PC'' at any time, that's without the ''renting fee'' for the game. I don't think it's that bad.

To play devil's advocate, people pay $10-15 to watch a 2-3 hour film at the theaters, you can't go back in and watch it a second time. Here they're giving you 6 months access to a 10+ hour video game.

I don't hope this is the way forward for video games (I'm an old fart who likes to own his games), but I can see this as an alternative for games that cannot run on certain pieces of hardware. I guess it's either this or no RE7 at all.

@jimi @Henmii Limitations of hardware. You want things on the go, you can't have the ''cheaper'' Bluray discs. Game cards are a lot more expensive, especially for the bigger cards that rival the Blurays in size. Nintendo figured out the hardware part, because it's quite a powerful handheld, but it's the software distribution that suffers from this.

''With great things come limitations'' - said someone probably at one time

I can totally see why this is being tried. And Switch could be a great terminal for streamed games. This may even be the future of gaming whether we like it or not.

I will quit gaming if this becomes normal.

@Octane,

Wich bring us back to the point where Nintendo just should have chosen discs. As for the Switch-cards: Extra costs should be on Nintendo's conto, not the developers. Nintendo has giant amounts of money, it shouldn't be a problem.

@jimi,

I don't know if Iwata would have approved or not. I definitely not approve! Can we say "Crapcom" again?

"And it's "Capcpom" (sic) anyway"

Lol, of course!

@Henmii That I cannot disagree with. Especially considering Nintendo collects royalty fees (probably more than the game card itself) from every game sold just like any other platform holder.

@jimi ''so size would come down in any case'' Possibly, but that's not a given. Either way, even if they can fit it on a 16GB card, they're still paying more per card than for a Blu-ray. Anyway, my example wasn't about any game in particular, just about games in general.

It's lazy and just stupid, crapcom suck balls

As long as they don't botch the physical version of Monster Hunter XX I'll be fine.

I lost my interest in Resident Evil, after RE4 because every game was a step back from RE4. And RE7 is no exception.

@jimi
But even if I have to download part lf a game, I still have it on my Switch/SD-card and can play it later on without an internet connection. Here, on the other hand, I have nothing.

@Henmii I really suggest you go back and look at the PSP and see why discs was was never a viable option for Switch

@jimi
RE7 wouldnˋt look "way worse"! A N64 game compared to a GCN game looks way worse, a NES game compared to a SNES game looks way worse, but RE7 on the Switch wouldnˋt look way worse.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I have no interest in the game myself but I'd like to see how far this is technologically possible.

Is it truly viable? Do any downgrades negatively impact on the experience? How is the lag? Can this be played in handheld (at home) or do you need the extra juice of the dock? What happens to your savedata when the 6 months are up - can you go back to it? Will it be commercially successful?

@Octane "Game cards are a lot more expensiv"
What is "a lot more expensive"?🤔

@jimi
Yes, I have to download something, but then itˋs saved on my Switch and I donˋt need access to a server anymore, or do I?
Oh, but I am totally with you regarding the point with publishers cheaping out on bigger capacity gamecards.👍

And hence leaving the portable option of the Switch redundant. A poo barebones 'effort' by Capcom yet again 😑

@kobashi100,

You might be right. I didn't hear good things about the psp-discs.

@subpopz,

I do agree on your points. However, I am 100% about physical games. A download-only device would have been terrible in my eyes. But seeing as how many games are just download-only they could have just released the device without any card-slot. They probably did get cold feet, since the psp Go flopped immensely. But I would be super surprised if the next Nintendo device accepts physical games!

Release a physical copy and I will day one but it. Not interested at all in this pointless rental option.

Does that mean you're playing the actual PS4/PC/XBOX One version without using Nintendo hardware? I could see why considering how much power that game uses.

its an interesting idea and I dont see any harm in trialling it. If there is no lag and it can be played and saved for 6 months then I think this is a bargain.I would definetly be up for playing this on the switch

Streaming games? @!#?@ that! If it's not on a cartridge then I'm not buying it.

@MrBlacky Enough that they're avoiding it like the plague. 32GB SD cards are about €15 where I live, 16GB cards are €10. Of course, production costs are a lot less than that, but we're still talking about at least a few euros for the bigger cards. Then again, Nintendo uses their own proprietary cards, so they could charge more for them for all we know!

With Blu-rays we're talking about cents and pennies, so the difference is quite big percentage wise. If it was less than a euro/dollar per game card, I'm certain they issue wouldn't be as prevalent as it is now.

@Octane
So you donˋt know what you're talking about and are basing your assumptions on the price of an sd-card?

That would be a no for me. This is just another push towards renting IP and the consumer no longer owning something they paid for. Why are people enamored with allowing a company to invest very little to "sell" you a product only to make it unavailable when profit has fallen to an unacceptable level? You have now spent your money for a product only to give it back and say 'that is life'? I for one am not going to be so easy on a company that dangles a product with a string. If it is not on a physical cartridge then it will not be a part of my library.

I don't expect anyone here to know or remember OnLive, however I will say it was the best and premiere cloud gaming experience. It just worked with zero latency as far as controls and response. It was bought out by Sony but cloud gaming can be done. I'm not a fan of having to sign up and keep paying in order to play but if it's like you buy it and it's yours digitally then it would be cool. Kinda like Xboxlive Gold games, where if I cancel Xbox live gold I still have my digital games.

I haven’t played this yet, if anything I’ll probably get this on PS4.

Well this is certainly... interesting.

I mean, I'm not even mad, this is a brilliant idea and lets me avoid a crippled product (lets face it RE7 on Switch was never gonna happen without it looking like Runescape. I'm exaggerating massively, but you get the point.), but... You know what, I'd actually still rather have the downgraded crippled version. This practice in general is worrying, but I'm not going to say it's a bad idea or bad business practice. It's a really good idea, I just wish it wasn't time-limited (180 days is fine but I want to be able to say to myself "today I go back to RE7 and nail it for real" in 15 years if that urge ever came across me.)

I understand that this is not unheard of when it comes to streaming...but Nintendo testing it out is interesting. The thought of renting games at that price and never owning it sounds horrible me. Call me old school but I like my games on cards. Another note I believe Japan's network infrastructure is far superior than that of the US. also I don't know if they have the data restrictions like we do here...I'm looking at you Comcast.

This isn't Capcom testing the waters, it's them milking the poop out of a franchise without doing any real work. Basically letting you take two small bites out of a steak, just to take it away. Sorry, not gonna happen.

Meh I'll just stick to the real version which still sucks anyways since it's not portable.

Won't be getting this.....

The more I think about it, the more I hate this idea. I mean, either port it properly, or don't release it at all. I do not want the future of games to be like this.

Maybe they thought a port would sacrifice too much since it's a pretty graphically intense game. But I don't think this is the right answer. Plus you need a rock solid internet connection, so it uses little of what the Switch was designed to do, being portable.

In the past, I've been an advocate of buy the game, even if it's digital only, cause the next step is you won't get the game at all (aka Fatal Frame on Wii U in North America) but this... This is going a bit too far. I will not be taking part in this little experiment, even for the demo.

@Agramonte well to be fair, when you include dlc the game price is close to $50. This isn't ideal I know but I guess is better than nothing.

If the Switch can handled Doom and Wolfenstein, I'm pretty sure it can handle Resident Evil 7. It just seems like a bizarre experiment to me.

I was looking forward to some news about RE7 on Switch, and ready to double-dip for a decent complete edition, but I'd want to be able to play it anywhere, whenever I want. Not just when I have internet access, and as long as my "ticket" lasts...

Capcom and their weird decisions...
I mean, they could make RE1 into a GBC game AND an amazing NGC game.
RE2 even got a Game.com version (!!!)
RE Revelations 1 was ported to almost every system out there and began as a 3DS exclusive. RE Revelations 2 skipped ONLY 3DS (and got an abysmal PS Vita port). The collection on Switch didn't get a physical release in Europe, and importing it requires a US account because only the first game is on a cartridge.

And now this.

I'll try to keep an open mind about it, and admit being intrigued by finally getting SOME news of SOME plan to get it on Switch. But if DOOM runs on Switch, from a cartridge, at such amazing quality, I'd still be disappointed by anything less than a full port, physical.

Yeah no, I'd rather they just port over the other RE games

I use my switch mostly at home docked so for me this is pretty cool. I have gone mostly digital anyways besides first party Nintendo games. Def buy for me.

I would love a portable RE7, not this... If i want to stream people can play it in PS Vita via PS4 (well i don't have a PS4).

I don't mind this if they can pull it off. I have no clue if they can technically get this to work without lag or not, but that price is good and I don't care that I don't actually own the game.

@Octane I know how it works, but as a fellow old fart I expect to own (or at least partially own) what I pay for, especially when it comes to media. Yes, the movie analogy falls flat when you buy the blu ray or digital copy. When they decide to stop supporting the service is when I expect the game to stop being playable not when they arbitrarily decide to blow me off as a customer.

When they announced a collaboration with Nvidia and the Tegra Chip, my first thought was that it would be possible to extend the Geforce Now service (like in the Nvidia Shield Tablet and TV), to the Switch. So now I'm really surprised that Capcom is doing this! I don't have a strong internet connection, but I would totally pay a monthly fee to play high end PC games on the switch when at home!

The more that I think about it, the less sense this makes to me. I mean, it's cool that they want to test the waters with a graphically-intensive modern-gen port, but I don't see this being a very successful endeavor for them. Honestly, I think that I would have been more excited to get Resident Evil 4 and 5!

Until internet becomes accessible everywhere at a high speed, this is a definite NOPE.

Release RE Remake and Zero for Switch,Capcom..

Nice try capcom... if i ever play the game, getting it for Ps4.

Very interesting... but having played this game, I wouldn’t want a muddied version on Switch. The visuals definitely need attention in this game. Hopefully others who only have switch get to try out this game though. It’s certainly a good change in horror and the Resident Evil franchise

@admwllms I hope gaming doesn’t venture too far down this road. I enjoy buying and keeping my games. I’d rather buy it for another system than stream it on a system that can’t handle it. I just don’t think the experience will be that rewarding.

@Discostew Thanks for clarifying. My lack of interest in this side of CS is why I went for the Software Engineering course instead. As much as I can understand people's outrage, I actually find this whole thing quite impressive. Yes, RE7 could probably be downgraded(a lot) to work on Switch but this could be potentially massive as a concept. It could mean the end of the whole 'My console's more powerful than yours' debate but people will always want to own games outright. Thus, I suggest people buy the games they want physically and then use this method for the more powerful games that the Switch cannot traditionally handle.

I am very dumbfounded by all of the negative reactions to this. More options to play games is a good thing. I have tried PS NOW on my PS4 and it works. If the Switch can have he same kind of service, even if it is developer specific, why not? I would have PS NOW if the price point was more competitive.

Stream-only? No, thanks.

This is shocking on many levels. RE7 on Switch is not something I ever imagined. A 6 month pass to play a single game for $18 as a streamed game is also unexpected. On one hand for a story driven game that's a bargain to play. On the other hand, up against PS Now that does $15/mo for 600 games, and you don't even need a Playstation to use it.......this has got to be the worst imagined value of all time.

All that said, this is Japan only and will remain Japan only for a reason. PS Now was mostly created for the Japan market as well. Overall it simply doesn't work out reliably in the West at all. Most home internet can't keep up with streaming games, plus lack the upload/latency ability. And WiFi outside the home is more or less non-existent here expect in certain food service locations and such...most of which certainly don't offer required bandwidth for this. In Japan it works very well no doubt. Here, not so much.

@the3r3ds0x Given how PS Now has gone virtually nowhere, I don't think gaming is going this route any time soon. Streaming even with excellent internet just isn't reliable enough, and the video compression at least PS employs is awful. OnLive tried to do it. They went nearly bankrupt, got bought out, and became PS Now..... NVidia runs a service similar, but the costs for it are actually pretty unwieldy and getting worse. No doubt this game uses their platform since this is, after all, an nVidia machine.

Given that "pay per month library access" has come to dominate music/tv/film with Netflix, Spotify, etc, I do think it eventually has to come to video games, but streaming just doesn't work well for games. I think the Microsoft Game Pass program has the idea right for once. A netflix type sub to DOWNLOAD and play the game rather than stream it. Right now GP just has too much filler junk and not enough content, but sooner or later someone will fully Netflix it and just sell you a flat "access to every game for $99/mo" or something. Which...for most of us gamers....would be cheaper than our current spending. But just like with music and film, I don't see it replacing purchased copies either. Music shows us the two co-exist nicely and "physical is dying" isn't any more true for gaming today as it was for music in the 90's.

Could maybe be cool with this, if it's the only solution for some 3rd party ports, but the whole "6 months only" thing is such complete $*!t.

This game should also come out here in America besides we have the Nintendo switch here too.

Hmm. So Nvidia shield Nintendo edition? Could be a good way to gauge interest in games with minimal port/conversion work. After all the time period given is more than enough to beat the game.

My internet isn’t good enough sadly. Which is likely why they are testing this in Japan.

@Henmii ". They probably did get cold feet, since the psp Go flopped immensely. But I would be super surprised if the next Nintendo device accepts physical games!"

Nah, Nintendo makes consoles for Nintendo games, not for EA games. I could see a disc-less XBox Two or Playstation 5, but not a media-less Nintendo console for another gen or two. Nintendo games sell very well on the carts, and even for third parties and indies, Nintnedo customers seem to be buying physical at a much higher rate than PS/MS customers. Someone pointed out the other day that the top sellers in physical games on Amazon are always Switch games. Is it because Switch games outsell Playstation games? Heck no. It's because the #1 seller for Playstation is a PSN Store gift card. Most PS/XB customers are buying digital games now. But most Nintendo customers are buying physical. Nintendo will be the last holdout in the physical world, because economically, that's what their customers buy! Even indies are enjoying the physical copy effect on Switch with limited runs.

Yeah this will never take off on switch. Literally the biggest reason for its success is the prospects of its portability. That, and Nintendo gamers don't typically jive with always on, super fast internet connections.

@NEStalgia " Someone pointed out the other day that the top sellers in physical games on Amazon are always Switch games. Is it because Switch games outsell Playstation games? Heck no. It's because the #1 seller for Playstation is a PSN Store gift card. Most PS/XB customers are buying digital games now. But most Nintendo customers are buying physical."

Bingo.

I think it was @jaxonH or someone on here a few weeks ago bragging about the sales/pre-order position of DKC on Amazon as if it were a relevant metric.

The world outside of Nintendo has long gone digital, because there are legit incentivized reasons to do so. On my XB1 I own digital versions of about 30 games. I can download them on literally any other XB1 i choose to sign into and fire up my saved play session right where i left off. WHAT A NOVEL CONCEPT.

@gatorboi352
It is a good metric. Not the end all be all, but physical sales still account for the majority of game sales, even on PS4/X1.

When there's so few physical sales left that you never see PS4 or X1 games in the Amazon Best sellers list, then and only then will it lose it's value as a metric.

And you have to learn to stop painting everything as an extreme. Either it's "THE absolute PERFECT metric and represents the ENTIRE MARKET" or "It's utterly USELESS because some people buy digital and this represents NO PART of the market".

No. It's somewhere in between. And thus does have strong correlation between relative sales performances.

Digital cuts both ways. I think PS4 has highest digital sales of somewhere around 1/3, but even Nintendo has reported 25% digital sales (And we've seen it with total sales numbers vs physical). So even conceding a 10% disparity, that's still a 90% correlation given all other factors being equal. Definitely good enough to use as a bellwether. I can almost accurately predict sales numbers of Switch games simply based off their Amazon chart placements.

I would prefer nothing at all than this. I'm hoping it flops in Japan.

@NEStalgia
The highest seller is PS gift card, but those gift card dollars are spread out amongst hundreds and hundreds of digital game sales. So it's not surprising to see a gift card which is being spent on hundreds of different games top sales of one single game.

That said, there is a higher percentage of PS/Xbox gamers who buy digital, but it's not that huge. Digital sales on Switch are rising at incredible rates. 25% according to Nintendo (compare that to a few years ago).

But also, Nintendo gamers skew older and thus likely link their CC to their eshop accounts, whereas alot of minors have their parents order a PSN card off the internet. So there's some other things going on confusing the data I'm sure.

But ya, more Nintendo fans buy physical, without question. But that's rapidly declining. Think there's only a 10% spread between Nintendo digital sales and other platforms now. Maybe 15% tops.

Granted, the install base is 25% as large as other platforms also, meaning less consumer base to actually purchase eshop cards online versus other platforms.

In my opinion this kind of thing should not be encouraged, and is a terrible service model. Say goodbye to the last pretence of ownership. I'd rather have a port, like Doom, with all of its inherent limitations than streaming artifacts and lag.

Also, isn't the extra RAM in the Switch there at Capcom's behest, to support the RE engine? Oh wait... maybe they meant for this instead...

@gatorboi352 "That, and Nintendo gamers don't typically jive with always on, super fast internet connections."

Sort of a self fulfilling prophecy though. The more the other platforms abandon the hordes and hordes of people without great internet especially in the US, and it's a LOT of people, the more those people will flock to Nintendo. It worked for me! Keep in mind Comcast is the #1 ISP in the US, and Comcast has a hard 1TB cap after which they bill excessively. Even with "really fast" internet, people's internet isn't really able to handle the digital ecosystem of gaming in the US.

I was lucky enough to get fiber (finally!), and got an X1X (yeah, I have a horse in all 3 races now! ) , and proceeded to tear through over 1TB in weeks. If I were on Comcast I'd be hundreds in the hole already.

This is for Japan, full stop.

"The world outside of Nintendo has long gone digital"
It's more mixed than you may think. For some reason Amazon reflects a deep reduction in physical sales on those platforms, and digital has definitely gained, yet I'm surprised that most non-nintendo discussions online, even gamefaqs/ign sites have the posters overwhelmingly favoring physical....more impressive is even in PC circles there's a preference for physical unless it's way cheaper on Steam/GOG, or a split of people that do digital only on PC and favor physical for console. I do think it's settling to around 50/50 now though. Which makes sense, that's where music sits as well, and music is a lot easier for anyone to download than games, and is a far more established digital medium. Physical's not as bleak as the Amazon metrics make it look. I think one key difference is people have learned not to pre-order rush for PS/XB/PC knowing the price will be half off in 3 months. Where on Switch you know that $60 is staying fixed until 2038.

As for me, I'm so far going 100%, or maybe 95% digital on X1X (I bought it as a reward for the fiber), 50/50 on PS4, and 80/20 physical on Switch. PS4 exclusives I'm getting mostly physical. Detroit, GoW, Ni No Kuni, Horizon (actually I double dipped physical and digital due to the special edition....ugh...) 3rd party and less important games can be discount digital. Switch, the storage factor, utility of cartridges, and fact that carts are just so much nicer than optical discs to deal with makes carts desirable.

The one big fear of digital is if anything goes wrong with your account (and, I mean, we're talking Sony here..... Same with MS...I use that account for other MS things...who knows what happens...) you lose 100% of what you buy. Or if your internet is out and they take a month to fix it, you don't get access to your stuff ) It's not cut and dry, that's for sure. The convenience is addictive, but there are definite risks too.

@JaxonH True, but I also buy all of my eShop credit via amazon cards....and that's not the list topper for NSW. FWIW, though Sony is skewed...a lot of people buy cards because they refuse to give Sony their CC (like me...)......and because Sony's badly broken cart system only works 40% of the time with PayPal and Sony's own support tells people to just buy the card on Amazon.... XBox's store is a little better in that regard (though also problem prone.)

But yeah, we're on the same track of other factors confusing things. The family membership for Switch will have a lot of people tying CC/PP to the account for sure. And people can't run fast enough from Sony's hacker's paradise billing info.

I say this as I'll likely get Sushi Striker digitally....pains me to give up the discount but I can't see swapping carts for that game. That one would have been digital even on my old internet

Ultimately I think digital/physical will settle somewhere around 50/50, just as it has for every other medium (music/movies/books.) And I think full price pre-order has now been rendered secondary with the continuously falling prices (I have Detroit on preorder...I don't know why.....I just do.....) So you don't get that "release day" add on effect on sales as prominently as people get wise.

You know what, I’d be fine with it since it would be the only way it’s playable.

Yuck.... If your going to do it... Do it right... This is terrible.

Fine I guess, if they wanted to release the game on Switch but it wasnt possible through normal means, but since this is a rental it should be charged as much. It should be $5-10 tops. I've seen the full digital release go for £14 is sales on other systems, and you get to keep it....

@jimi 32gb cards are a few cents more? I think you'll find they cost several dollars more. From Nintendolife

"Unfortunately, things start to get a bit more troublesome when shipping a game on a larger 32GB game card. In industry circles, it is said that these cards actually cost more than $20 per cart to the publisher. "

8gb cards cost around the same as the Blueray that PS and XBOX use. You really do need to look up the facts before spouting all your nonsense otherwise you just make yourself look daft.

@jimi You're correct in saying that they are not the same as SD cards,they are custom cards meaning they likely cost more to produce. Just because they are not writable doesn't mean they cost less. Also , Nintendo are the ones buying them in mass quantity and selling them to publishers. We all know Nintendo won't be doing this cheaply. As for the $20 price tag,yes it does seem too much but that's what's been said on Nintendolife and several other places. Nothing official as nothing official like that ever comes out. Still,I'm more inclined to go with what Nintendolife writers have heard than Jimi the commenter.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/09/feature_exploring_the_switch_tax_and_why_nintendo_was_right_to_use_game_cards

@OorWullie I hear what you’re saying but here’s my reply - It IS possible for devs to ship on 32GB (or even more eventually) cards, they just choose not to for price... It IS possible to make virtually any game look decent on the Switch, just depends on the amount of work required.

The problem here, is that devs / publishers will take the easiest most profitable route, even when it’s not really the best option for consumers. So, currently, it’s still a terrible thing in my opinion.

I know why it happens, but it’s not a good thing.

@jimi @MrBlacky I don’t need to justify why I like having the actual physical cartridge over an electronic record of the game... there are many reasons but they don’t need to matter - the fact is, that I do like the physical cartridges as do many others, and it has always been possible, and still is... I’m allowed to not like this digital rubbish

However I will add one justification - IF NOTHING ELSE, before the ‘invention’ of DLC, there was a time when games used to just work on day one.... now I have to wait for ‘updates’ to fix the problems... it’s a well known symptom of the digital world - where this new tech (DLC/internet) should have improved the medium but instead meant it was easier to not complete a game... If physical cartridges dissapear, it means that devs have even easier times releasing half finished games as they don’t need to worry about completing it for the cartridge (mind you, they already don’t really care and make you download because they don’t pay for the more expensive cartrdige etc.... rediculous).

@FTL
I agree completely. Capcom is also strange when it comes to physical releases, Megaman and X collections although small are split into half physical half digital but Street Fighter next week is getting a full physical release with no download required?! Where is the sense in that? Why not have both legacy collections completely physical?! It's not like paying extra for larger carts is really going to dent a multimillion dollar company.

They could do a decent downgraded port but took the lazy/cheap (which is par for course with them on Switch thus far) way out it seems. Luckily I already own the excellent PC version and can avoid this train wreck.

I'm losing faith in Capcom with the Switch thus far.

INB4 Mega Man 11 is a 30fps half download required mess on Switch.

@KingdomHeartsFan XX is coming to NA as Gen Ultimate. Late, of course, but it is coming.

Just get this on PlayStation/Xbox. There's literally zero reason for me to choose the Switch version over those platforms if I can only play it while connected to the internet. I love my Switch, it's my favorite and most-used platform these days but this is a really dumb idea imo.

"Nintendo will be the last holdout in the physical world, because economically, that's what their customers buy!"

Hmm, we'll see! Nintendo promotes downloading stuff a lot though.

This is an interesting way of profiting off game streaming.

You buy each stream separately, instead of going through a hub that services many games. This way, you get to play the game, and it doesn't clutter up your system. Whether the quality of the experience and the price match is going to be another thing.

If people really want to play RE7 and Monster Hunter World, just buy a PS4 you can get a new slim for $180 or even a used one for like $120. Going through this weird roundabout process to get RE7 on the switch seems so pointless as it is basically going against the entire point of what the switch is and offering a lesser experience of RE7 than any other place to play it. The worst of both worlds.

@Eviga

@KingdomHeartsFan Coming to Europe and has physical pre-order up on Amazon US, so probably applies to UK as well.

Just an FYI, the game does have an English option. I have a solid internet connection, and it runs ok, could look better though.