SillyG

I am a hardcore physical enthusiast because it's the only option that grants ownership and control over my purchase.

But... I would actually prefer digital if the software was DRM-free. That's why I abandoned Steam and now I almost only ever buy PC games from GOG or direct from the developers. If I can get all of my games installed across multiple devices without online checks, as well as being able to back up paid DLC and software updates for posterity, then hell yes, I'd absolutely consider abandoning physical in a heartbeat (and I might even double-dip on physical releases for larger games, which means even more money for the publishers).

I absolutely hate buying paid DLC for any physical game that I own as it's effectively converting the game into a part-physical, part-digital monstrosity that I'll never fully own (not to mention often being grossly overpriced), except perhaps in the extremely rare case that a revised physical release emerges with the DLC loaded onto the cartridge. I've skipped a number of games because of this.

As long as it's all digital, I kinda wish they'd throw in Welcome Tour to sweeten the deal, but this ain't Iwata-sama's Nintendo anymore.

Only the Pokopia "bundle" is kind of appealing, due to the lack of a proper physical release, but considering that its inclusion is factored into the price of the bundle, then I'd rather put that money toward the GKC anyway.

Sega needs to master the craft of making ordinary games of an acceptable quality before claiming to be working on their pretentious "sUPeR gAMes".

I wish we could save our constructs to Zelda-themed amiibo considering that a good chunk of them cannot even be used to save data to them outside of Smash.

Character filters in Gamechat is such a genius move.

I hope we can use "Gamechat" in local/couch multiplayer as well.

Shame other amiibo aren't supported though. If they're just cosmetic emblems/backgrounds, then surely they could have covered most of the Nintendo IP amiibo.

Are the early Just Dance games not delisted in other territories? They're all missing from the Aussie eShop.

I was also a little surprised by how many of these I have physically.

All the more reason to wait for a better and/or limited edition model.

The Pokopia bundle is slightly tempting in the absence of an actual physical release of the game, but my brother jumped the gun and bought it from the eShop and since got bored with it, so I might just repeatedly borrow his "virtual card" instead.

@MirrorFate2 :

The 9 year old Switch with its even older tech got a price hike before GTA VI...

If I were in his shoes, I'd have been at least a little upset that I wasn't approached to reprise a beloved role.

I don't even get why Nintendo has been hellbent on recasting all of their characters of late, though I suspect it's for the reason speculated by @N00BiSH.

sigh This would have been an easy buy if it included any previously released DLC as well...

But I refuse to support these physical re-releases that omit DLC... what a shame as this is a rare Switch 2 release that ships on a cartridge... with content still missing... (and the Persona DLC even got a physical release for Switch 1 in Japan)

Why couldn't the actual in-game models be this cute?

Translation: "Making money is not a priority for our business." 😂😂😂

Oh, how I loathe this industry...

@LikelySatan : Aaahhh! I stand corrected! 😅

I wasn't expecting this to be such a full-circle moment for the franchise.

I could have sworn that I had previously seen fan art with these ghastly pseudo-realistic character designs.

Still good news though, I guess. 😅

@moonblastx : I think they retconned Arceus's actual pronunciation so as to avoid the dreaded "arse" syllable for British audiences (the Japanese pronunciation is like that too).

No love for the Charcadet line? Some of our local Pokémon Go players have been baffled by my French(ish) pronunciation of their names and they haven't been able to unsee (or unhear) it.

@Divide_and_Wander : "Online interactivity" (or similar) is the all-encompassing disclaimer for online material that cannot feasibly be classified.

@Crimson_Ridley : Australia almost never gets anything exclusively, so I think it's only inevitable that this will also come to Europe and NA as well.

@8bit-Man : Sadly applicable to too many things in life nowadays.

@jsty3105 : I mentioned it because many console games are available DRM-free on PC, and PCs are a lot more robust now with powerful gaming laptops and handhelds that arguably render dedicated gaming consoles less and less relevant, especially for those who want to own their games (in lieu of proper physical options elsewhere).

@Zeroo : A dreadful deviation from my point as the topic being discussed pertained to game ownership, not the secondhand market.

For those who care about owning and preserving their games for posterity, a DRM-free PC download with absolutely everything (updates, DLC, including "digital deluxe" content that is almost never available via physical releases) is superior to even a barebones Switch cartridge that contains only the launch build of the base game. DRM-free games can be copied and duplicated to as many devices as one wills, which is also more economical for those who may wish to utilise/share their games across multiple devices.

If one merely wants to play the game and sell it off upon completion, then sure, GKCs can be great for short-term use (in lieu of rentals like the old days), but again, nothing to do with the original discussion.

As expected, the bundle will cost as much as the existing MKW and Legends Z-A bundles, at AU$769.95. Not much of a saving on the game, though a themed console (and/or accessories) could have seriously tempted me.

@HugoGED : Most of those games can also be played on handheld PCs, which diminishes the benefit of even buying most third-party games on the Switch 2. At present, the Switch 2's main benefits are Nintendo-published games and enhanced performance on last generation games.

Even Indiana Jones's "full on cart" novelty vanished once it was evident that the DLC won't be included, in which case, I'd rather buy it via GOG where I can at least own absolutely everything and not just the base game.

As much as I abhor GKCs, I would still prefer that over a download code, and it sucks so much that they didn't even bother to include the GKC with the "bundle" considering that they cost next to nothing to make.

@Discostew : A poor comparison as countless games are available DRM-free on PC (or can otherwise be circumvented), which is the next best thing in lieu of physical.

Americans will really call any bizarre, puke-flavoured combination of petrochemicals and carcinogens "food".

@IronMan30 : The announcement of DLC kinda put me off rather than the price. Just charge another $10 and put that on the cart too FFS.

Does every damned silver lining nowadays have to rain poop too?

From the Wii U/Switch, I've been much more open to paying more for games because I felt the quality now warranted it (whereas I had been quite frugal during the DS/Wii era).

@mattmanforever : The game was on a floppy disk, so no music sounds about right. I recall a simplistic rendition of the signature theme playing upon opening the game, but it probably had little to no music beyond that.

Shadow Entei Raid Day in Pokémon Go today. I caught a shiny when they were in circulation during weekends for a month some time last year, so I didn't much care for it. I didn't want to waste any paid passes on it. Didn't get anything better today. Gimme more Orthworm, dammit!!!

@iLikeUrAttitude @Aurumonado : It could still just be a working title though, however it would be rather odd of them to drop the "the" for no good reason.

There's a retro topdown Indiana Jones RPG (one of the early games I had played growing up, albeit the demo) called Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures for those seeking a classic Indy experience.

A counterfeit GKC is some peak dystopian shiz... probably.

What a bizarre update. Why didn't they just make the leaf available for purchase from the get-go? 🤨

And an update that signals what items/variants we've already acquired without the need to constantly check the catalogue would be the best QoL update.

@demacho : Yeah. There's no good reason why the designs in the Mario movie should look anywhere near as grotesque as they do, but hey, that's Illumination for you.

@Hwatt : I'd typically swap digital and GKC unless the digital is so absurdly cheap (a few bucks) over paying AU$20+ for even a "cheap" GKC.

@darthstuey : It's far from "no different". Most PS4/5 games have the game data on the disc, from which the data is transferred to the console. On GKCs, the game is merely downloaded to the console. Many PS4/5 games are guilty of this practice as well, but it's the exception rather than the norm.

If the Switch cartridge essentially runs the same code as the "Switch 2 version" then why issue two separate SKUs only for the Switch 2 version to be a GKC?

And I hope TV mode on Switch 2 runs at a native 2160p instead of merely upscaling a 1080p image as some games appear to do.

Australia/Europe for me, which is perhaps unusual given that the key art is featured less prominently. I especially love our cover for the Unbound Future (the third game).

The amiibo looks adorable, so I'm looking forward to that.

Skipping the game due to it being a GKC, which I'll only consider if available for AU$20 or less... or if it comes to PC via GOG (which is unlikely).

The only thing worse than a GKC is a GKC with an additional download code... so you'll need to send the Virtual Game Card for the DLC along with the physical GKC if you want to use it on another console. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

@ozwally @8bit-Man : Makes absolutely no sense in the world. And don't get me started on those lavish, extravagant, and terribly expensive special editions, with not a disc or cartridge in sight (or sometimes an incomplete disc/cartridge as per the standard edition).

So many boxed editions I'd skipped precisely for that reason. The English début of Fire Emblem NES would have been very tempting with a cartridge in the box, but I ultimately settled for the eShop download. And what was with all of the Pokopia physical bonuses, but no actual game card? 🤨

I hope one will eventually materialise, but the runaway success in spite of it does not bode well for future Nintendo-published titles.

@Gamebits : From what I'd seen, both games are about, if not exactly the same size. I don't understand why they didn't just stick to the Switch 1 build and have it perform better when played on a Switch 2. They don't need a separate Switch 2 version or even a "Switch 2 Edition" upgrade for that.

It beggars belief.

If I buy this, I'll stick to the Switch 1 physical, but if there's a forced online log-in as speculated above, I'll skip it entirely. The audacity and contempt of these publishers know no bounds.

@Vyacheslav333 : It's a Switch 1 game with a "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition", which they didn't seem to mention, but preorders are currently available via the Japanese eShop, which is how I found out.

It's nice that more people will be able to play it, but I am curious to find out how exactly the Switch 2 version will be better in order to justify a premium.

Main series games should just have a separate "Stadium" mode going forward, which would give you free rein to have custom battles either locally or online.

As it stands, Champions is a dud.

Monetise first, maybe fix later.

It seems designed for toddlers with its simple, intuitive interface and design. Not much for us man-toddlers to get excited about unless you've got very young children (and don't mind them using the touch screen as the game is intended exclusively for that purpose and isn't playable in TV mode).

Now where can I buy those amiibo-infused baby blocks? 😅

@Serpenterror : I'd already pointed out that they were code-in-a-case releases, so I'm not interested. Even at Play-Asia's current sale price (which would have been a steal had they been properly physical), they're still about 3-4x more expensive than just buying them directly from the Aussie eShop when they're on sale, and I'm not paying ~AU$50 for a couple of physical cases with codes when I can just download the games for $15 total.

The cover's actually a bit disappointing (I loved the 3DS cover though), but I'm pumped for this.
I actually haven't properly played a Rhythm Heaven game yet, so this will be my first proper dive in.

Retro only gaming is looking better and better by the day. Resident Evil Requiem retails for AU$130 here, which is the highest price I have seen for a standard edition of any game (that didn't come with some kind of accessory).

Hell, Ring Fit Adventure retails for $10 less and comes with a cartridge and accessories.

I thought the point of GKCs was for third parties to be able to keep game prices down in the event that they didn't want to offer a proper cartridge at the expected price of $60, but this is beyond disgraceful. Worse still if they pull what Crapcom did with Street Fighter 6 and include a separate download code for the DLC instead of including the DLC flag on the friggin' key card (which would have been cheaper and less wasteful than printing all of those download codes too). I might have even begrudgingly considered SF6 on sale otherwise, but I'm losing my patience with this new breed of anti-consumer contempt.