Key 2 may indicate the end of physical games

One The biggest changes in the Nintendo generation A jump to switch 2 It is the new control unit game vehicles. It is not aesthetic transformation – they are now red, to distinguish between it and the gray list of the original birthday – but in many cases, it will not have a game at all.

While all the first -party Nintendo games are currently being released, other publishers may choose the Switch 2 titles on “Game key cards”. This does not contain actual game data on it, instead as a material license to access and run a digital version of the game. For each NintendoAfter inserting the players the game key card in their console, they will be asked to download the game associated with it. Internet connection will be asked to download the game and for any features online, but otherwise, the game key cards will be operated in non -connection mode inactive, as long as the material cartridge is entered, and its presence is a ratification tool for software.

It is a trend that has proven controversial with both fans and some developers (previously Fighter and Far from crying He leads Alex Hachinson He said“I think it’s a kind of lame”, while Stephen, CEO of Nightdive Studios He said This step is “a little frustrated”) and may be confusing consumers, despite Nintendo’s plans Mark is clear Packaging the game key addresses. However, this step has many positives – and it may be just a harbinger of the future to make the entire games.

Better than nothing literally

Perhaps the largest point in the game key cards is that it improves the current equivalent, which is … nothing at all. Switch cartridges are a special storage format, which means that they can be more expensive, for every GB of storage, to make games on group media. As a result, many games publishers sell titles in format “Code in a box”-empty switching code with the digital download code for one use to recover it on Nintendo Eshop.

While these types of versions apparently fill the market gap, giving the world retailers a product to put shelves, even to sellers online, and provide them some For example – it was a form of physical things that should be sent to customers – used to giving gifts, for example – a always strange category. The plural amateurs usually take an actual game on their shelves, while those who have not been made by a permanent library are browsed by a digital store only in the first place. Either way, once this symbol is recovered, the customer is left with an empty plastic box without any purpose or secondary market value. Code-in-A-Box versions are ultimately a waste of materials to produce and get rid of them, and the remains that are likely to be existing waste.

The game key cards go to some extent to solve these problems. For the plural amateurs, they will have Something In the case lined up on its shelves, which makes their groups concrete, while more ordinary players can take a chance of titles that they are not sure. That is because the vehicles It will not be linked To user accounts – anyone with the carriage download its own version of the game. Since the cartridge itself is the key, you will be able to lend, sell or sell the game key cards like vehicles for the generations of the previous control unit, and for those who only have my physical possession will be able to play.

There is still a suitable factor that must be taken into account, as you will need to include the vehicle in your key 2 to play the game, unlike the digital purchases completely, but it is considered a more diverse and consumed approach than one -time symbol. We will have an opportunity to know which formatting players prefer with the first wave of Switch 2 titles, as titles like EA’s Fantasy It sticks to the code approach in the box.