https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/12/nintendo-has-a-game-key-card-alternative-in-the-works-with-smaller-switch-2-cartstl;dr: ININ Games originally announced R-Type Dimensions III as a Game Key Card release, but just received word from Nintendo that 16 and 32 GB cards will be available soon so now they're switching to those for a proper physical release. It's not official on Nintendo's part yet but they'll likely announce it to the public soon.
>>728873864kino
Someone should show nintendo microsd cards so they can stop living with 2004-tier technology.
>>728873864too late>R-Typeits 2 gigs max lol
>>728873864Good news for Switch 2 physical collectors. Switch 1 had a big scene, high liquidity.
>>728873929Someone should give you a functioning brain, so you understand the difference in writing and reading speeds between the proprietary switch cards, express micro SD cards and common micro SD cards, then you will get this is no 2004 tier technology.
>>728873929Micro SD Express cards are new technology, that's why they only launched with the 64GB ones
>>728873929>nintendo should use non-volatile flash memory instead of non-volatile flash memoryNINTENDO, HIRE THIS MAN!
>>728873929why is there so many imbeciles on 4chan these days?
Watch Capcom and Square Enix still go with GKCs.
It sucks you don't own your own games but I understand why digital exists. Gsme key carts are an abomination
>>728873864I think the Nintendo cartridges are OK in size.Genshin is a fuckhuge open world game and the mobile version if you use just one language is about 20gbs.Why do people pretend you need 200gb for one game?Is it bad coding or something?
>>728873929People like you are the reason we have yellow paint everywhere you retard.
>>728873929Oh go fuck yourself, snoy.
>>728876017Devs these really just suck at making their games smaller.It's why it's like a fucking miracle when they suddenly remember how to do it.
>>728873864It'd be great if game like Bravely Default that launched with GKC for this reason would be re-launched but it probably won't happen.
>>728873864Software sales must be lacking if Nintendo is backtracking and letting devices buy cheaper smaller game cartridges. Key cards must not have been the money maker they were expecting.
>persona 3 reload got permanently cucked out of a physical release that includes the dlc
>>728873864Even if more sizes are available, big companies will still use key cards because it's cheaper and they LOVE to save money at any opportunity.
When voting with your wallet actually does somethingIll still wont buy anything tho
>>728873864well. that's good news at least
>>728873929Congratulations anon, you're today's biggest retard, enjoy the (You)s.
>>728876859This. The deal needs to be better.
>>728873864>It's not official on Nintendo's part yet but they'll likely announce it to the public soon.They won't.This isn't the kind of stuff Nintendo tells the public. It's going to stay behind the scenes.
>>728873864Third party games must not be selling well if they’re actually bothering to do this. Physicalchads, we won. Our boycott worked, for one.
>>728877090Stores like Amazon wanted to market it down for sales but Nintendo is maintaining the old MSRP.
>>728876704They knew from the start they'd be unpopular which is why they don't use them for their own games even when the file size is super small like Bananza. The manufacturer of Switch 2 cards (Micronix IIRC) said a couple months they'd look into producing smaller sizes so this was more likely a snag on their side. Nintendo themselves have nothing to gain by not having smaller sizes available for themselves, MKW could've fit on a 32 GB card and Bananza on a 16 GB one with lower production costs.
>>728877208I bet the data on this is ridiculous. Actual game cards probably outsell keycards 10:1
>>728877208Third parties still don't have Switch 2 devkits yet, hence why they're still making so many Switch 1 game releases still to this day.
>>728877319I don't get why that anon thinks it is bad for Nintendo to allow companies to get smaller cards.
>>728877358>>728877208Nintendo doesn't want third party games to sell well.
>>728875508They will because ININ is charging $10 more for physical, so the cost is still pushed onto the consumer.
The one thing I don't understand about Nintendo is why they don't make a deal with Mihoyo to get Genshin and ZZZ on it. Mihoyo is obviously technically skilled enough to make the games run at a decent size on Switch.Is it because the constant new patches are bad for the memory or something? Or because playing always online would drain the battery?
>>728877473>Nintendo doesn't want to collect no-effort licensing fees from third party game sales>Nintendo doesn't want to increase the popularity of their console via availability of third party gamesI thought >>728873929 was the most retarded post in this thread but nah, it's you, you fucking retard
>>728876219The file duplication was meant to make the game perform better on HDDs. Because in the surveys it's still a huge group of people on steam using them. Consider the fact H2 is even smaller on a PS5 because it uses compressed packages.
>>728877608genshin is ditching ps4 support, there's no chance they'd want to keep supporting the switch 1. live service games do this all the time, ff14 is ditching ps4 support too and it previously ditched ps3 support in the past. mobile games do this a lot where if you don't have a new phone, you get locked out of playing if they improve the assets.
>>728877319Your information is out of date. Pokémon games will be on the keycards moving forward if Pokopia is any indication.
While I do think the outrage over key-cards is massively overstated, this is great news, especially for collectors.It's kind of odd that it is only just now being implemented. There's no way they whipped this up out of negative online reaction in a few mere months, this has to have been planned for some time. Maybe it just wasn't ready for launch for whatever reason.
>>728877774I mean the Switch 2. It should be strong enough for Genshin and ZZZ
>>728873864ININ backtracks.
>$100+ for 3h gamesThe absolute state of nintendies
>>728877862>Maybe it just wasn't ready for launch for whatever reason.The entire Switch 2 launch seemed rushed I don't know what happened, Nintendo had years to prepare
>>728878004Yep, gotta backtrack the €10 more shitstorm they just unleashed KWABOTY.
>>728878004NDA bullshit
>>728877910the switch 2 should theoretically be fine since it has dlss to fall back on but if genshin is ditching ps4 support then maybe they don't want to be shackled to delivering content to something only a bit more powerful.
AAAIIIIEEEE
>>728873864LMAO the plummeting switch 2 software sales got them shook.
>physical on Switch 2 is more expensive than physical on PS5 and Xbox series XWhat kind of insanity is this? Holy dogshit Nintendo, they need to end.
>>728877801That's The Pokémon Company who will cut any corners possible. They still won't do it with mainline games, just spinoffs.
Fuckin' good.
>>728878394>They still won't do it with mainline gamesWho's to say they won't going forward? the mainline games are as shameless as it gets
So $90 base games?
>>728873864snoy can't stop winning
Seems as though literally everyone in the thread thus far seems to have missed the point of why this is a thing now.It's the same reason basically every other aspect of consumer electronics is fucked right now.Because of all the AI bullshit fucking up NAND production across the board, it makes zero financial sense to force 3rd parties (and themselves) to use larger cart sizes when there's literally zero reason to, so NOW they're deciding that having smaller carts would be a good thing to implement. As from my understanding, the one cart size thing was a tactic to try and squeeze more money from 3rd parties by forcing them to buy in bulk more expensive carts for their physical releases for whatever retarded reason, but now literally everyone is so fucked for NAND trying to pull that shit is just not viable any more.
>>728878843Aren't the carts made by another company?
>>728878843>As from my understanding, the one cart size thing was a tactic to try and squeeze more money from 3rd parties by forcing them to buy in bulk more expensive carts for their physical releasesIf that was the case they wouldn't have offered them to use Game Key Cards.
>>728873864BURN IN HELL GAME KEY CARDSALL HAIL PHYSICAL RELEASES
>>728878945The flash storage embedded in the carts themselves still only come from the same select few companies that make flash storage that everything else comes from, and they're at capacity for making shit for the AI shitters for the next year and a bit.>>728879085The thing with the key cards was Nintendo standardising what companies were already pulling with the Switch LONG before the Switch 2 was a thing. The 1 (real physical) size game cart thing was explicitly to fuck over anyone wanting the game on the cart, agin for whatever fuck ass reason Nintendo has for these kinds of decisions.
>>728873864I will now buy your game.
When third parties still don't sell even with these available, then what will the new excuse from Nintendo fanatics be?
>>728878843I dont care. Keycards are download games with extra steps. Physical is best, downloaded games have perks and usecases. I will never want a keycard over the former 2.
>>728880758>I will never want a keycard over the former 2.I think I personally prefer keycards over completely digital. You can still buy/sell used carts in the case of GKCs, and ultimately having a collection with cases is one of my favorite things about physical. You still get that with GKCs. GKCs also have the benefits of faster digital read/write times from digital. I still ultimately prefer physical above all else, but I see GKC is a middle ground with some of the perks of digital and physical (but also some of the downsides).
>>728878737Is there a problem with $100 games?You have a job, right? $110 games are nothing, I pay that in gas every day.$120 per game is acceptable, do you know how hard it is to make a game?At $130, they barely break even; do you want the devs to starve???I bet you're just some incel NEET, you can't even afford $140 games, lmao!
>>728874287Shitty parentsInternet access to IndiaJews
>>728873864Op forgot this little detail.>switching entirely to cartridges would significantly raise manufacturing costs and increase the retail price by at least 15€".
>>728882570Keycard Snoy.
>>728874287India and china
>>728883828The price will be in line with Switch 1 physicals. GKC are cheaper (see $40 for Bravely Default HD) because there's nothing in them. If you want real physical of course it's going to be more expensive.
>>728885207If there's nothing in the gkc shouldn't it be free?
>>728885342No, they're still selling you a key for a digital download.
>>728873864dont care jailbreak when
>>728882570That's entirely fine and that's something I've tried to say in regard of the GKC, even if I will never buy one because I don't see any personal use for it as my Switch library is already fully digital. Unfortunately, there is a very vocal minority who is massively asspained about the key cards for entirely imaginary reasons.
>>728873929do you want to pay $200 for physical games?
>>728873929Nintentrannies seething lmao!
I don't think companies will choose physical cards over keycards unless the minimal price of the game is $70. At best I can see full physical being released in special editions. Retail will still be dominated by keycards.
>>728873864good move, but still fuck cucktendies
Nintendo should re-release classic old games on cartridges for like $15. I'd buy Super Metroid and Ocarina of Time on Switch as cartridges, that'd be neat.
I never got why they didn't just make cheap "install cards", where they're switch 1 game cards that can only fit in a switch 2, but install to the internal memory, like a PS4/PS5 game or PC rom. They wouldn't have the internet dependency, and be a lot more palatable. Sure, they'd still eat up internal storage, but they at least wouldn't be completely pointless like not-physical physical media is.
>>728873864It will barely change anything, these jews will still go with Game Key Cards saying they'll have to spend less on physical
>>728882697Get over yourself lol. Most games these days barely warrant $30 for the quality and then also double down on cash shop
>>728874201There's no way the Switch actually reads data off the cartridge during the game. That would be actual 2004 tech
>N64>Fucked over by the cartridges costing a shitload to produce with tiny memory allocation, whereas the PS1 could hold 350mb a CD and was dirt cheap to produce for>Gamecube>fucked over by the proprietary mini DVDs that had barely any storage space, also the only console of its gen that couldn't play DVDs which set it dead last (the Panasonic Q really doesn't change things, that was japan only, unreliable, and comically expensive)>Switch 2>fucked over by high read speed demands instead of just installing to the internal storage for some reason, 90% of the "physical" games need internet to install on a PORTABLE consoleHow did Nintendo fuck themselves over 3 times with their choice of storage format, you'd think they would get this by now.
>>728891815Them doing it different makes their games feel special. There, I said it.
>>728892030Yeah "special" as in special needs.The NES Battery cartridges, SNES games, Wii and Wii U discs didn't fuck anything over. They suffered in some ways, but it wasn't primarily because of the media format.
>>728892151Are you trying to convince me that Nintendo's products haven't been successful?
>>728892202No? The NES, SNES, and Wii were huge hits. Of course they suffered in some way, all consoles do, but not nearly to the extent the N64 Gamecube and Switch 2 did. The Wii U is the outlier, but the Wii U itself is an outlier with the giant fucking gamepad controller.
>>728873929tendies were made to believe their scrimblo 2GB indie game requires nvme-tier read performance
>>728873864Finally some good news for once.
>>728878004>>728878105Yeah I'm pretty sure this is just damage control because they weren't allowed to reveal it to the public yet.
>>728878843>As from my understanding, the one cart size thing was a tactic to try and squeeze more money from 3rd parties by forcing them to buy in bulk more expensive carts for their physical releases for whatever retarded reasonIf that was the case then they wouldn't have given them the option to go with Game Key Cards.
>>728894060Key cards are still more expensive than discs or digital distribution. Nintendo hates third parties and sees them as goyim to be milked same as consumers
>>728891815>instead of just installing to the internal storage for some reason, 90% of the "physical" games need internet to install on a PORTABLE consoleIt's a hybrid console and people usually install/play their games at home, as nearly all the games also require updates of some kind for the optimal experience.
>>728875508i will keep bought'nt then
>>728894213The fuck are you arguing about? You can't use discs on a handheld unless you make expensive proprietary formats like UMD and publishers are free to release their games digitally.
>>728874287Most are botposts from countries looking to disrupt our morale and make us frustrated with "ourselves"
The card key backlash was huge enough fot this to happen, THANK GODnow give me a proper Bravely Default release and Ill buy it
Nintendo won
>>728878251The hardware's gonna be their bigger issue. They've locked in a lot of their loyalists and FOMOfags, but that market segment alone isn't going to carry them far into 2026. Switch 2 already got clobbered pretty hard in the west (especially America) in November, less than six months after launch.>>728878737The next 3D Zelda is absofuckinglutely going to be $90-100 now with the storage crunch (on top of inevitable "fuck you, because we can" tax like what TotK and standalone MKW got).
>>728882697>Is there a problem with $100 games?That's my annual OSRS sub
so what's going to happen now. will existing copies get some update or will future editions have a version with the data in it? I don't have a switch 2 yet.
>>728878183The 64gb original cart they didn't want to pay for, costs 17€ per unit.
>>728885457>they're selling you nothingso they should be free, right
>>728873929Before Nintendo even makes any hardware, the very first question they probably ask is "How do we prevent piracy on this thing"
since FFVII Remake is 90GB, would that mean two cartridges?
>>728890737lmao why would they do that when they can make you pay $50 a year for the privilege
>>728890737They'd lose money with each sale at $15
I just buyed boughted a Switch 2 because the store I was in had some Christmas event and I drew a ticket that let me get 20% off any item in the store excluding guns or alcohol, so I got the MKW bundle for $400.I don't really have any interest in the system for now other than Air Riders and Bananza but I know shit is going to start getting much more expensive in the future so I figured I'd go for it.
get a switch2 now due to the AI RAM prices
>>728902260
>>728873929Literally the PlayStation Vita
>>728901382They won’t backtrack from GKCI wonder if Pragmata would switch to full physical, it’s just 17GB in S2
>>728891192>I never got why they didn't just make cheap "install cards"Even for fully physical cards, I don't get why installing them to increase FPS isn't just an option. The fucking PSP allowed this.
>>728891815Gamecube was their only real problematic media choice. It was a marginally better Dreamcast disc, which makes no sense when DVD's exist, and it's slower than cartridge because it's a disc.
>>728905683>which makes no sense when DVD's existThey would have to pay for licensingJewtendo refused to pay Snoy
>>728873929This is literally the newest SD tech retard
>>728882697>I bet you're just some incel NEETJealous?
>>728901003 Exactly, anon. If they can sell you a download code for a digital license that they can revoke at any time, and the data isn’t even on the damn physical cart, what are you actually paying for? The privilege of being milked, apparently. Should just be a free “rental” at that point if they’re gonna treat it like a glorified access token.
>>728878843Far more likely an issue with manufacturing costs making smaller cart sizes not worth it, and changes now making them worth it, I do remember that the company manufacturing the rom chips for Nintendo were making a large change to production, either a new process or new plants, that could now be paying off making this possible.
>>728878843>the one cart size thing was a tactic to try and squeeze more money from 3rd parties by forcing them to buy in bulk more expensive carts for their physical releaseThat literally makes zero sense, if a cheaper alternative was available and it was say $5 cheaper to Nintendo, it would make more sense economically for everyone involved even if Nintendo only charged $1 less per cart, Nintendo would not only get a significantly higher margin per car, but companies not needing that extra space would still be saving $1, and even over 100k carts those savings add up, and that's assuming a worst case greedy situation where Nintendo decides to charge only a sliver less.It's clear that there were problems facing manufacturing making smaller carts economically inviable, with changes now flipping that over.
