this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2025
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Game Key Cards - an improved digital release or stripped down physical cartridge? (gbatemp.net)
submitted 5 days ago by misk@sopuli.xyz to c/games@sh.itjust.works
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[โ€“] Lycaon@lemm.ee 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Mh, not sure how I feel about these. On one hand, as someone who mostly buys games secondhand, I appreciate they can be resold unlike actual digital releases. But what's going to happen in 15-20 years when Nintendo pulls the plug on the Switch servers and eShop? Won't these stop working? So at that point it's just a piece of plastic whereas physical cartridges would still let you play games. Feel free to correct me if I'm misunderstanding how they work!

[โ€“] chameleon@fedia.io 1 points 5 days ago

That's about right. That said, we also don't know how long regular Switch/Switch 2 carts are going to last. The MaskROM used in the N64/DS and earlier eras is significantly more reliable when stored for a long time than the modern NAND Flash memory as used in the 3DS/Switch+. I suspect key carts won't have any NAND Flash inside (they don't need gigabytes of capacity just to store a game name + icon) and might physically last longer.

Of course, key carts are all going to drop to zero value practically overnight when Nintendo eventually pulls the plug, while real carts will die one by one.