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Noticing a disturbing trend...


Rick Dangerous

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Super Mario Odyssey will be on a cartridge. Other large first party releases probably will be, too.

 

Personally, I think it's liberating. I like having everything downloaded to the device, less crap to lose that way. I'm too old for trading away games for pennies on the dollar, and I dislike the clutter of a "collection."

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Nobody wants cartridges anymore.

 

I dont mind physical media on home consoles that are chained to the wall and TV, but yea I have always hated it on handhelds, kind of defeats the point of being portable if you are dragging a sack of potatoes along with it

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well..im looking for actual nintendo switch games for my kids to play..willing to put up some of my atari collection for titles i dont have..even the crappy ones..

 

shoot me a pm if you have access to games i dont own which right now i own three games..zelda, has been heroes and splatoon...so he chances are if you have any games i might need em..lol

 

thanks!

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I can't really comment as to the future of carts. Especially on recent systems, but on the older ones, I prefer downloads. Almost every system I own has some type of flashcart, so I don't have a bunch of games to keep track of. The only 3 consoles that break that rule are the Gamecube, Atari 7800 and the PS3. I rarely play the PS3 or the Gamecube now. At some point in the near future, I'll probably hack the PS3, but I've been considering parting with the Gamecube. The library of games for it dosen't really have that many titles that I like. The only time it really gets any use is when I use the Gameboy Player. I do have around 60 carts for the Atari 2600, but it's just because I haven't sold them all yet. I do like having original hardware, mainly for the controllers, but emulation is starting to interest me more than it did in the past.

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I think it's being overstated how stuff isn't on physical. There's enough and more to come. It has only been out 5mo and while there are a lot more digital downloads, a good many are also stuff that only are digital anywhere too so it's not singling out Nintendo. I think it's oafish and rotten to give a digital only non-choice if another system gets it on real media. But, if that's the ONLY way you can get it at all then either get it, or protest and don't because there's enough games out there anyway there's no reason to reward digital DRM lovers with a purchase.

 

There is a known list of games to come and some have been shown/discussed as being physical, some like Skyrim for one is easily assumed to be as much too. Wait another 1-2 years, then complain if there's few games in a box. But when you see something like NIcalis taking digital games and throwing them on cheap $20-40 physical releases I think it's fairly clear we're getting stuff, perhaps just not stuff you want. I know I'm there with the lack of a want, still sitting on 5 games here because the others so far don't do it for me or they come out late summer/fall instead or later.

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I think it's more just that there aren't a lot of major games on the Switch.

 

I guess this post is probably coming right now because Sonic Mania was just released, which is a physical release on other platforms but not on Switch. I think that's largely just a result of Switch having a much smaller install base. Also, this was planned back before it was really known how popular the system would be, so they probably just didn't want to take the risk of ordering a million cartridges that then sit on shelves.

 

Personally, I'm getting more worried that there just aren't more games in general that I care about coming to the Switch. I had expected kind of an avalanche of major announcements after it was constantly sold out for months but that has not happened.

 

The digital games largely aren't digital because there's some anti-cartridge thing going on, they're digital because they're just smaller titles. Or in Sonic Mania's case, they were just planned that way long in advance.

 

I'm sure cartridges are also still more expensive than Blu-Ray discs. A BD disc in quantity is probably about 25 cents. A 16GB cart like the Switch uses is probably more like $2. Doesn't sound like much, but that's an 800% difference. Could be millions of dollars when you count up all the sales.

 

Personally, I just don't buy digital games on consoles. They don't exist as far as I'm concerned. It's physical or nothing. The PC is a little different because nobody's replacing the PC with something else in 5 years, so I'm pretty sure I'll still be able to play all my Steam games then. Less chance of that from any console digital store. Try getting on the PS store from the PSP right now, for example. (You can't.)

 

That said, I don't mind smaller games that otherwise wouldn't be released at all being released that way, I just personally won't buy them. But I don't like major games being released only digital either; I just don't think that's a big problem, at least not yet. Sonic Mania's really the only really major Switch game I can think of that only comes in a digital release. The bigger problem is just not enough big games in general on the Switch, which is a pretty standard Nintendo problem these days.

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The only time it really gets any use is when I use the Gameboy Player. I do have around 60 carts for the Atari 2600, but it's just because I haven't sold them all yet. I do like having original hardware, mainly for the controllers, but emulation is starting to interest me more than it did in the past.

 

That's a sign of a superior intellect. Most of us here will grow and mature into preferring emulation, or at the very least develop a strong interest in it. It is the way forward as the hardware to support emulation is becoming more and more available every week.

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Personally, I'm getting more worried that there just aren't more games in general that I care about coming to the Switch. I had expected kind of an avalanche of major announcements after it was constantly sold out for months but that has not happened.

 

Well. Internet hype doesn't have a lot of capacity or longevity. It burns out rather quickly. Complete opposite of the legendary games of the 70's, 80's, and even 90's. A time when the legends were properly constructed.

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It certainly does seem like the only companies producing physical copies of games for the Switch at this point are Nintendo and the really huge third party publishers like Capcom, EA, Bethesda, and so on. I don't know if it has something to do with production costs for Switch cartridges or if it's that digital distribution has just become the standard model for smaller studios at this point, but it certainly is disappointing to see. Maybe in time we'll start to see games that sell well in the eShop get physical releases like how Shovel Knight, Shantae, and Azure Striker Gunvolt did on the 3DS, but then again maybe not. It's entirely possible that game collectors like ourselves that prefer to buy games on physical media have become a dying breed and that the general public simply prefers digital distribution in this day and age.

 

On the other hand, if there's one thing that the game industry can learn from the music industry it's that trends in how society as a whole enjoys their entertainment media tend to be cyclical. After a decade and a half of digital downloads and streaming audio we're starting to see vinyl records and even cassettes become popular again, so it wouldn't surprise me if after a couple console generations of digital downloads consumers shift back to wanting to own their games on physical media again. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Edited by Jin
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Not sure I buy the "cyclical media" idea, but even if vinyl releases were nothing more than a cynical ploy by the music industry to relive their former glory/profits, people* /are/ buying them.

 

This NintendoLife thread discusses and lists all the current and known upcoming physical releases for Switch: http://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/switch_physical_boxed_games_list_and_release_dates

 

*some people, anyway ;-)

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You do? Well that's alright.

 

Well, certain carts, but my hoarding days are over.

At a certain point in my early 30s it hit me like a fist to the gut - Why have I got row after row of utter JUNK that I'll never even PLAY? For the sake of some foolish notion of 'completion'? Bah. Life = too short.

 

I'll certainly never begrudge someone for dropping a few hundred on a cartridge as that is their choice to do so, but as for me, well....

 

post-61233-0-93630400-1502893563_thumb.jpg

 

;)

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I think it's more just that there aren't a lot of major games on the Switch.

 

I guess this post is probably coming right now because Sonic Mania was just released, which is a physical release on other platforms but not on Switch. I think that's largely just a result of Switch having a much smaller install base. Also, this was planned back before it was really known how popular the system would be, so they probably just didn't want to take the risk of ordering a million cartridges that then sit on shelves.

 

Personally, I'm getting more worried that there just aren't more games in general that I care about coming to the Switch. I had expected kind of an avalanche of major announcements after it was constantly sold out for months but that has not happened.

 

The digital games largely aren't digital because there's some anti-cartridge thing going on, they're digital because they're just smaller titles. Or in Sonic Mania's case, they were just planned that way long in advance.

 

I'm sure cartridges are also still more expensive than Blu-Ray discs. A BD disc in quantity is probably about 25 cents. A 16GB cart like the Switch uses is probably more like $2. Doesn't sound like much, but that's an 800% difference. Could be millions of dollars when you count up all the sales.

 

Personally, I just don't buy digital games on consoles. They don't exist as far as I'm concerned. It's physical or nothing. The PC is a little different because nobody's replacing the PC with something else in 5 years, so I'm pretty sure I'll still be able to play all my Steam games then.

That's my entire philosophy on it. PC is an outlier because you have GoG or Steam at the worst going there, it'll keep on trucking well into new OS's or CPU revisions down the line - it's safe. Consoles/handhelds without hacking or hardware modding nope and it's hoops and normally not that easy even if someone is used to it it's not. So basically to me outside of some $10ish and under priced discounted games or naturally that and down on Android I'm fine with, kind of like GOG/Steam they carry over, but when it's consoles/handhelds if it's non-physical it does not exist to me as it's digital leasing vapor. There's more than enough games on whatever format around I don't need to support that nor have the time/money/cares to do so.

 

I don't worry, yet, but if we see 2019 looking like a dry well of physical releases then I will be. The WiiU was a clusterf*ck to be nice and ran off almost every single physical developer let alone any of the older guard from the 20th century pretty much entirely. They minimally at best with delays touched it. Now they're seeing something more Wii like in hardware/sales numbers but are still leery about it. Capcom is slowly coming about due to SF2 selling like crack so we see RE Revelations1+2 hitting Switch, Square-Enix have stepped up more things including DQ Builders2, Bethesda who wanted nothing to do with Nintendo havnig Skyrim, and even EA is now toe tipping with a FIFA that really doesn't look like they halfassed it as an excuse game to bail and publicly whine to sabotage like they did on WiiU.

 

It could all crumble anyway but time is needed and if the Switch sales keep blowing it out and more of the key old players step up to the plate along with all the newbs doing their physical (or not) releases it'll be perfectly fine and just down to personal taste in games if Switch works for you. I find 1stparty/2ndparty aside I don't miss Sony gaming as the worthwhile hit the PC too.

 

 

Like Good_Times there, for me these days with a nearly 6yo girl and what comes with that, a job, and the rest the amount of f*cks I give now isn't so much with gaming. I never thought I'd go that way but I'm up to 3 flash kits (never owned more than one at any time before.) I'd rather not support the shenanigans of retroscalpers or digital on new stuff as my time and funds are limited as much as my cares. I don't need a wall of garbage that's why you can see that lengthy sales thread I keep here or the wheel rotating of stuff in/through ebay too. At this rate I'd rather buy one old system (GB) and one new (Switch) with the GoG/Steam stuff on the side as that's more than enough. I'll keep what I grew up with plus a percent or two of goodies I really still care for and that's that. It's easier, no burden, and no annoyance over the existing status quo of some years going on now in both industries (present, and flippers of the past.)

 

I just won't be taking pictures of my NGPC SD Kit, Super Everdrive v2 +DSP, or my Everdrive GB either but you get the point. :D -- Next one I'll snatch up will be the Everdrive N8 and/or Everdrive X5(GBA) so there's no temptation there either outside of a few (handheld side) games I really do wish to own as I still snap up a few GB games still that have some kind of meaning.

Edited by Tanooki
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I'd rather buy one old system (GB) and one new (Switch) with the GoG/Steam stuff on the side as that's more than enough.

This is so sane and reasonable, I can't stand it. For me, it's mobile, and the occasional 3DS/GoG/Steam excursion.

 

Part of me wishes I never bothered with the PS4/Xbone, because I don't have time for either -- they're "seasonal" machines for me, at best. I think it goes back to my deprived childhood ... if only I had gotten games out of my system via C64 or AppleII warez like my peers, I'd be so much healthier!

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Well I'm trying to be rational about it now because they're just so much crap to deal with so the KITS allow that freedom. I don't see it likely me buying anymore NGPC games unless I got some super sick cheap deal that'll never happen on Rockman and Cotton since I used to own those so the kit gets me all I need. Gameboy though it's all stupid cheap so I still like to play on the kit, and the amazing stuff I'd still buy it potentially too. Handheld, the mobile, ever since I got more into it than consoles during(and thanks to) the N64 era is more my thing as it has freedom no matter how many bits are behind it.

 

Right now I'm messing with Rebel Galaxy and No Man's Sky on GoG(PC) and then the Everdrive GB, that's it. Nothing out on Switch at the moment I'd like yet which is why I'm batting around erasing my Zelda save which I'd hate to do. I wish I had 2 slots.

 

I agree and I basically regret this generation (Switch aside) entirely. I'd be upset/mad if I had sunk a lot into it, but I bagged a PS4 new for $200. The few games I had (around a dozen) I enjoyed but they weren't replay worthy and most stuff I got on the cheap so I broke even selling it off more or less. I just have a really nice blu-ray/netflix/amazon prime box now and I like it for that (same as the PS3 in the other room but it did have excellent games that kept me entertained.) I know it costs more up front but the total utility of it, I don't see buying another me-too from Sony(or ever to start MS) console as the PC got me covered -- and that which Nintendo does is unique enough and won't go there so it's justifiable.

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Part of me wishes I never bothered with the PS4/Xbone, because I don't have time for either -- they're "seasonal" machines for me, at best. I think it goes back to my deprived childhood ... if only I had gotten games out of my system via C64 or AppleII warez like my peers, I'd be so much healthier!

 

My PS4 is my Blu-Ray player, which is where it gets most of its use. I do play games on it, though, and I think I'd miss what I can play on it that isn't available on PC if I didn't have a PS4. So for me it's worth having a PC and PS4 - I don't think they're interchangeable.

 

I don't have an Xbox One, though because that is a little redundant. I drew the line there; it's either PS4 or Xbox One, not both. With the Xbox One S I could at least justify it for its 4K BD player, but I still don't have a 4K TV yet. (I'm one of those snobby Panasonic plasma owners, so I'm still waiting for a 4K TV I can actually afford that gives me better overall picture quality. Some of the OLED 4K TV's do, but they're still pretty expensive.)

 

I went back and forth on the Switch but finally decided to buy one because of the interesting form factor. I still only have 2 games for it, and one of them is Zelda which is a series I've honestly never been a fan of. So really I have one game that I play on it (MK8). I do want to get Puyo Puyo Tetris at some point because I have it on PS Vita, but only in Japanese, so I know it's great but would love to be able to understand what's going on.

 

Other than that, though... I mean Mario Odyssey is a game I will buy, but after that, I dunno. Metroid, I guess. That's really about all I'm interested in that I know about.

 

I feel like Nintendo started out on basically an even playing field with everyone else in the 80's, but gradually they have evolved from that point on a totally different branch than the rest of the industry. And like with the Switch itself before buying it, I go back and forth on whether I respect that or am just infuriated by it. It's true that when you look at PS4 or Xbox One games today, they don't bear much resemblance to console games of the 80's... but I honestly feel like that's true of most Nintendo games too, just in a different way.

 

Anyway, this definitely is on-topic, because I think their hardware decisions have a major effect on how much third party support they get, not only their sales. Even if a device is constantly sold out, if it's a complete 180 from every other system a developer works on, they're still just not going to develop for it. The PC, PS4 and Xbox One are all really similar now, so except for paid exclusives and first-party titles, everyone basically develops for all three simultaneously. But the Switch is just a whole other animal. I feel like Nintendo at some point (prior to the Wii U) made the decision that they just no longer cared about third party development. Their systems are for their games, and if anyone else wants to come along, great, but if not, that's fine too.

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For all of us old people who only buy something like Switch because it's "different," there are probably 20 younger people who get a PS4 or Xbone because it's the same, because it's what they're friends are having, because it's the cheapest way to play Call of Duty or whatever is popular.

 

My PS3 is my optical disc player ... something I use less and less as streaming has gotten so good. My PS4 is in an inconvenient place for inserting and removing discs, and I've only put a disc into the Xbone once or twice, just to make sure it works. Physical media, pooh.

 

Speaking of hardware decisions, are people still bummed or boycotting Switch because it doesn't have a Netflix client?

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spacecadet I don't agree entirely on Nintendo, but they do suffer from making a system that historically supports their needs first. The Switch though doesn't, it's alien when it comes to Nintendo if you discount the quirkiness value of all the junk within joycons. The system is a somewhat bone stock sorta custom but not Android Shield TV2017 system and has been designed to use the same developmental tools that the PC, Android, PS4, One and even PS3/360 used as well between Unreal 4, Unity, Vulkan, and the rest. It may fart out notably less polygons, but the tech aside is right there with it and games can be moved over just with a loss of roundness to things with less polygons possible. Sure some may use a game for more raw AI math, perhaps it would deserve exclusion as it's just not there, but in the big picture support on this one can happen and well, which isn't something they tried for since the Gamecube.

 

I can only speak for those I know with one and myself, but while a hair bit annoying Netflix isn't on there, it's not a minus or something to get bitchy about or boycott over. Modern TVs have usually wifi built in with apps like Netflix, and of course it's on all those tablets, phones, android set tops, and even normal laptops and computers so while it maybe a hair less convenient having to switch to another device, it's not a big problem. I hope they add it in time, that would be nice, and if they could wrangle a deal Amazon Video and the other big fish but it's fine.

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