Game preservationists say Switch2 GameKey Cards are disheartening but inevitable

Game preservationists have been giving their opinions on Nintendo Switch 2’s new Game-Key Cards. Game-Key Cards are Nintendo’s new branding for cartridges that still require the game to be downloaded from the Switch 2 online store before the game can be played. The cartridge doesn’t contain the game data, rather it’s simply a ‘key’ that enables a download. “Game-key cards are different from regular game cards, because they don’t contain the full game data,” Nintendo’s own description says. “Instead, the game-key card is your ‘key’ to downloading the full game to your system via the internet. After it’s downloaded, you can play the game by inserting the game-key card into your system and starting it up like a standard physical game card.” So far the vast majority of third-party Switch 2 games are Game-Key Cards, with only a few exceptions such as Cyberpunk 2077 and the Western version of Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion. When Japanese store Yodobashi started listing Switch 2 games, o ... Read full article.