{"id":1164811,"date":"2026-02-11T11:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T11:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=551614"},"modified":"2026-02-11T11:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T11:08:07","slug":"farewell-physical-media-some-nintendo-switch-2-games-arent-on-the-carts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/farewell-physical-media-some-nintendo-switch-2-games-arent-on-the-carts\/","title":{"rendered":"Farewell physical media \u2014 some Nintendo Switch 2 games aren\u2019t on the carts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s a good thing that the Nintendo Switch 2 comes with a base 256 GB of internal storage \u2014 eight times more than the original Switch\u2019s paltry 32 GB \u2014 because some Nintendo Switch 2 games won\u2019t come on the cartridge at all; instead, so-called \u201cgame-key cards\u201d will simply contain a \u201ckey\u201d which you will use to download the game via the internet, according to a support page on Nintendo\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter it\u2019s 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,\u201d the page reads. Here\u2019s how that looks on the retail packaging:<\/p>\n

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In some ways, this is a new spin on an old trick. Some Nintendo Switch games have been sold at retail, but the packaging simply included a code used to download the game to your account. To be fair, this hasn\u2019t been as common on Switch as it has been on competitive consoles, but nevertheless, for the people still committed to purchasing physical games, it riles. This is, in fact, the same tactic that Microsoft (in)famously unveiled alongside the Xbox One; of course, that was over a decade ago and consumer sentiment has changed. We\u2019re all Game Passing and PS Plus-ing our games, and maybe potentially feel some \u201cownership\u201d<\/a> over the digital goods we\u2019re purchasing on Steam. Maybe.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m one of those physical media people! First, I\u2019m scientifically \u201cold.\u201d I was born in the 1970s, my first job was at a video store (ask your parents), and I still have a large collection of video games (and video games consoles \ud83d\udc85). I understand that I am not the target demographic, in many ways. But also, until the Switch, the prospect of purchasing digital Nintendo games was foolish! If you lost your DS or 3DS on a bus \u2014 a not-unheard-of scenario for a portable game console \u2014 your digital purchases were gone. Here I am yelling about Nintendo\u2019s shoddy online services<\/a> in 2012 just before the launch of the Wii U<\/a>, and again in 2017 just before the launch of the Switch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The good news: I don\u2019t need to write that same piece again! Nintendo has kinda figured this out. I still buy my Switch games in cartridge format, not because I\u2019m afraid of losing the Switch and, by extension, my entire library but because it\u2019s easier to share games with friends and family, including people in my own household. But I also genuinely worry about what happens when companies \u2014 and maybe, specifically here, Nintendo \u2014 take their own game servers offline. Can I download what I bought? How do I play older games<\/a> I care about? Microsoft has been working to address the unsatisfactory vibes of digital ownership<\/a>, and I often point out that my Steam library persists even as so (so, so) many of the developers and publishers behind the games in my Steam library no longer do.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s call this a sign of the times. We don\u2019t know how often Nintendo and its publishing partners will use this \u201cgame-key card\u201d solution, and maybe in some cases it\u2019s the right answer \u2014 surely some games will simply be too large to fit on this storage device. Switch game carts capped out at 32 GB, while the coming-to-Switch 2 Cyberpunk 2077<\/em><\/a> install clips past 50 GB \u2026 without the expansion pack. Even if it maybe makes sense, I don\u2019t have to like it. <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a good thing that the Nintendo Switch 2 comes with a base 256 GB of internal storage \u2014 eight times more than the original Switch\u2019s paltry 32 GB \u2014 because some Nintendo Switch 2 games won\u2019t come on the cartridge at all; instead, so-called \u201cgame-key cards\u201d will simply contain a \u201ckey\u201d which you will use to download the game via the internet, according to a support page on Nintendo\u2019s website. \u201cAfter it\u2019s 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,\u201d the page reads. Here\u2019s how that looks on the retail packaging: In some ways, this is a new spin on an old trick. Some Nintendo Switch games have…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1164812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1164811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"\nFarewell physical media \u2014 some Nintendo Switch 2 games aren\u2019t on the carts | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s a good thing that the Nintendo Switch 2 comes with a base 256 GB of internal storage \u2014 eight times more than the original Switch\u2019s paltry 32 GB \u2014\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/farewell-physical-media-some-nintendo-switch-2-games-arent-on-the-carts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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