There has been plenty of heated debate on Nintendo’s stance on the controversial Game Key Cards. Whether you are a fan of them or not, it looks like Nintendo is adamant on using them for future titles, at the very least for third and second party publishers, which is evident in a new video published on Nintendo’s respective YouTube channels.
In the video it explains how Game Key Cards work like physical cartridges, but the biggest takeaway is that they state that the games are not on the cartridges at all. Now, this is now new information as this has been announced before. However, it does reiterate just how counterproductive the Game Key Cards actually are. You have to download the full game digitally anyway, which will take up space on your console’s internal memory or inserted micro SD Express card. In order to play these downloaded games, you have to have the game key card in the Switch 2 to give you access to the game, but with that being the case, you may as well just download the game from the eShop directly and save yourself time unnecessarily changing out Game Key Cards.
One supposed benefit is that you can share the Game Key Cards, with friends so they can download the game on their console, but you can just as easily share digital games on Switch 2 via GameShare, defeating the object of the game key cards entirely. The only real benefit is that you can resell them, giving them a slight advantage over fully digital titles. That said, are there really many people who are going to want to buy Game Key Card games in the near future with the possibility of the eShop no longer being available for the platform? It would make them completely redundant.
What are your thoughts on Game Key Cards? Do you think they are a valuable commodity for the consumer? Let us know in the comments.
