Farewell physical media — some Nintendo Switch 2 games aren’t on the carts

It’s a good thing that the Nintendo Switch 2 comes with a base 256 GB of internal storage — eight times more than the original Switch’s paltry 32 GB — because some Nintendo Switch 2 games won’t come on the cartridge at all; instead, so-called “game-key cards” will simply contain a “key” which you will use to download the game via the internet, according to a support page on Nintendo’s website.

“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,” the page reads. Here’s how that looks on the retail packaging:

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’t 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’re all Game Passing and PS Plus-ing our games, and maybe potentially feel some “ownership” over the digital goods we’re purchasing on Steam. Maybe.

But I’m one of those physical media people! First, I’m scientifically “old.” 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