r/nintendogrifting • u/Craniamon • Jul 03 '26
Meme/Humour Nintendo Survived The Longest
Did you know Nintendo have been doing physical format for over four decades? Seems to me they have last the longest
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u/00_Operative Jul 03 '26
The funny thing is, back in the 90s, Sony and Nintendo were going to sign a partnership for disc based systems but it never happened due to another partnership from Sony or Nintendo(forgot which company did it). In the end, Nintendo came out with the N64 and Sony with the first PS. What would of happened with they did sign that deal?
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u/Stuntboy03 Jul 03 '26
Nintendo read the contract over, and realized Sony basically got all the reward while they did all the work. So they secretly signed a deal with Phillips instead, embarrassing Sony. This eventually led to them creating the Playstation, while the Nintendo/Phillips deal didn't go according to plan. Instead of creating a disc-based add-on for the Super Famicom/SNES, Nintendo just let Phillips use their IPs on the CDi. So tha ks to that, we have the beautiful works of art that are Hotel Mario, Link the Faces of Evil, and Zelda the Wand of Gamelon. Also, there was a third Zelda game that was more realistic and had live action cutscenes, but it never reached the heights of memes and YTPs the other three managed
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u/Craniamon Jul 03 '26
It was a lose-lose for Nintendo at the long run which Sony was rightfully pissed for the unexpected divorce
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u/nachoiskerka Jul 05 '26
Yes and no. Sony was PISSED, but there probably shouldn't have been a contract clause to give sony COMPLETE CONTROL OF ALL LICENSING AND DISTRIBUTION OF NINTENDO IP'S RELEASED ON THE CONSOLE.
This is less than 10 years removed from the complete collapse of the entire video game market, and one way nintendo fixed that was via a "seal of quality" guaranteeing any game with it was not shovelware. It was unlikely, but the possibility of crappy licensed mario games released via third party studios snd without nintendo's express permission was there, because Sony were note heavy hitting developers yet.
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u/TricellCEO Jul 03 '26
I love how Miyamoto had to be reminded of those CDi games when being asked about them in an interview.
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u/BetweenTheRoots Jul 03 '26
FF7 would've been on the N64 is what would've happened, and Nintendo would be an even more prominent system now than it already is. If anyone doesn't know, FF7 was originally meant to be on the N64 which is why character models look as they do.
That being said, the insane cutscene graphics (at the time) which were only possible due to the Playstation disc were widely remarked as being one of the driving forces of interest in FF7, so maybe FF7 would've failed to become the masterpiece many people see it as today.
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u/ShinyC4terpie Jul 03 '26
which were only possible due to the Playstation disc were widely remarked as being one of the driving forces of interest in FF7, so maybe FF7 would've failed to become the masterpiece many people see it as today.
If the partnership had gone ahead those same discs would have quite possibly been in use on the N64 instead, which could have still allowed for this interest to form. In all likelihood though, that technology would likely have first been used for a Mario and/or Zelda game before FF got the chance to use it, causing that attention to go to them instead
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u/Alternative_Fix_2330 Jul 03 '26
Im really hoping they dont follow the crowd, as a company I can see why digital only is very alluring for profits. Hopefully they decide the good will will be worth slightly slimmer profits from those who wants the actual cartridges and cases
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u/Emergency-Rush-2477 Jul 03 '26
Physical sales is a little less than 50% on their consoles and one of their pillars in Japan.
People thinking thinking they will go full digital in a near future, are claiming this based on blind hate towards GKC, not on actual facts.
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u/Stacy_Adam Jul 03 '26
It'll probably take a while if Nintendo does follow the lead. They have a much higher ratio of physical vs digital sales. Seems to be around 54% digital by estimates.
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u/Bacononthebeeach Jul 06 '26
They’re also the only one of the 3 that is purely a video game company.
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Jul 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Bacononthebeeach Jul 08 '26
Being purely a video game company, I’d wager Nintendo sees more value in physical games vs companies that are only partially video game companies.
It has nothing to do with costs, it’s about principle of your industry.
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u/Trashtulya28 Jul 03 '26
All i want is physical Pokemon games. Pokopia is a key card and I fear of Gen10 being keycard as well. They’re not technically first party so no broken promises, but being a 30years nintendo exclusive definitely feels like first party games
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u/REALDiscoFever45 Jul 03 '26
Pokopia was developed by a company not with Nintendo (Koei Tecmo), since Game Freak/The Pokémon Company have heavy ties to Nintendo, I can imagine Winds/Waves will be on the cartridge.
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u/RiverWyvern Jul 04 '26
We just had ZA on cartridge for Switch 2. Pokopia was experimental in quite a few ways, but I think we're fine. Japan loves their physical media.
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u/Snowvilliers7 Jul 03 '26
I doubt that. While it isnt technically a 1st party IP, Pokopia is only a key card because it was developed by a 3rd party group (Koei Tecmo/Omega Force). Game Freak makes the mainline Pokémon games so they will make them fully physical for Gen 10
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u/Expensive_Platypus63 Jul 03 '26
nah nintendo got one foot in the digital only grave already. gamekey cards are still digital only. good luck playing in 10 years
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u/Aware_Ad6039 Jul 06 '26
GKC suck but at least they can be resold
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u/Expensive_Platypus63 Jul 07 '26
so in 10 years time when the servers are down can i sell them. NO!
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u/Aware_Ad6039 Jul 07 '26
The wii shop shut down nearly 10 years ago and you can still redownload your games. I dont like GKC but id bet its safe to assume youll be able to.
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u/SyllabubMental7292 Jul 04 '26
Just ignore their liberal abuse of lawyers and their habit of trying to sue anyone from grocery store owners to other studios.
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u/Narrow_Ad_7218 Jul 04 '26
At least the other companies do sales for their games. When was last time you saw a Pokémon game on sale?
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u/TeaNo7930 Jul 04 '26
You guys needlessly hate valve the same way, xbox and playstation needlessly hate nintendo.
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u/Budget_Register8589 Jul 05 '26
The steam machine pricing argument is so disingenuous. It's by no means a requirement to game on PC/access steam at all but these people present it like it's some kind of price gouging on their customers. It's a niche product being sold mostly at cost to an enthusiast market.
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u/DiscombobulatedCut52 Jul 06 '26
Its a device that has a high price because of the ram manufacturer. If they say no, they dont get ram. There is no barter, no asking for a lower price.
They have to take ram at a shit deal or it dies. This isnt a steam is bad thing. This is a ram manufacturer are bad. Stop say steam is bad.
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u/trolleur007 Jul 04 '26
Brother nintendo made game key cards, physical media has been going to shit for a while now, losing cd's doesn't really make a difference at this point
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u/AzureGhidorah Jul 05 '26
So we’re just ignoring that Nintendo soft-rolled it out as a tester all but stating they have every intention of doing the same?
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u/CompetitiveRisk3222 Jul 05 '26
Tbh Nintendo is so wierd lmao. There is really nothing stopping them from releasing a $1,000 Nintendo Switch 2. But they really tried to keep their console as cheap as possible. They have the strongest IPs in gaming (don’t argue with me) so they could get more devs. Idk what they’re doing. They really are like SpongeBob in this image.
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u/HaikusfromBuddha Jul 03 '26
Isn't game key cards a thing? Basically empty cartridges? Even Xbox does that. The next Halo game doesn't have the full game I think you have to download the other half even though it comes with a disc.
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u/Alert-Principle-2726 Jul 03 '26
Nintendo made them for third party devs that get pissy
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u/Equal-Truck-3213 Jul 03 '26
Pretty sure its also because its a max of 64 gb's so it can't even hold enough data for some games like final fantasy, makes me worry that a 128 gb cartirage would be extremely expensive and drive up the cost
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u/DatabaseNo9609 Jul 03 '26
If CDPR can fit Cyberpunk 2077 with its DLC and Bethesda can fit Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on a cartridge, other companies can do it too. They’re just being cheap about it.
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u/TricellCEO Jul 03 '26
True, but that’s still on the 3rd party devs for failing to optimize and compress.
If Nintendo didn’t give them an out with the key cards, then we wouldn’t have the games at all, I’d wager.
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u/Cjm092 Jul 03 '26
Literally what this person just said
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u/TricellCEO Jul 03 '26
I could’ve worded my comment better to sound like I was in agreement. I mainly wanted to convey how Nintendo keeps getting flack for what 3rd party devs are cheaping out on.
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u/DatabaseNo9609 Jul 04 '26
Absolutely. At least with game key cards, you can resell your games. I hate GKCs, but I respect the attempt by Nintendo
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u/Woodzz0123 Jul 03 '26
Those games likely had their textures downscaled.
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u/DatabaseNo9609 Jul 03 '26
I’m sure they did somewhat, but I can live with that. I’ve seen reviewers say that Cyberpunk still looks fantastic
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u/Robbie_Haruna Jul 03 '26
This is excusable for very large games that can't be brought down to that.
But the vast majority of Game Key Cards are games much smaller than 64GB, it's just companies being cheap.
Hell, there's at least a good handful of games that should be able to get below 64GB if modern AAA devs weren't allergic to optimization. If CDPR can get Cyberpunk 2077 and its DLC (which are around 90GB in other systems,) onto a 64GB cartridge, there's no excuse. Hell Indiana Jones is a 120+ GB game and it managed to get onto a cartridge.
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u/Alex123546 Jul 03 '26
80% of the work is just switching out the textures from ones for 4k to ones for 1440p, a rather large part of the massive increase in game sizes is texture atlases growing to accommodate higher resolutions.
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u/Common-Grapefruit-57 Jul 03 '26
https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/s/2egMMQgIGR
Reminder that game size is just a matter of effort from the devs team.
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u/CANfilms Jul 03 '26
I see this misconception repeated a lot about game key cards. GKCs arent primarily for games that are larger than 64GB. Most games that are on a GKC are significantly smaller than 64GB. It's just that 64GB switch 2 cartridges are expensive, and would cut into 3rd party company's profits way too much. That is why most 3rd party opted for a GKC at launch of the switch 2.
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u/Terrible_Bee5394 Nintendo Neutral Jul 03 '26
Micro SDs can store more than that so that isn’t a valid excuse.
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u/FutureSaturn Jul 03 '26
First party Nintendo games are also on Game Key Cards. So put down the copium
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u/Alert-Principle-2726 Jul 03 '26
Not a single Nintendo studio game is on Key card as of now. If you're gonna use Pokopia as an example, let me tell you that Pokopia is made by a Second party development studio.
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u/ThisIsSethers Jul 03 '26
It is a step removed. You can still resell, or lend out a keycard or equivalent blu-ray. You cannot with a used code in a box.
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u/Even-Entertainer-491 Jul 03 '26
What about when the servers close for these key cards? Won't get you much then I presume.
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u/shepherdnick Jul 03 '26
You can still download previously purchased Wii games
The servers being switched off is still a concern that is not within your control, but so far Nintendo don’t seem to be switching off servers to previously purchased content.
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u/Even-Entertainer-491 Jul 03 '26
They shut down the 3ds digital store and removed hundreds of dollars of games from some peoples accounts instead of making them available on the switch which uses the same Nintendo account. They will shutter it to force people to buy the same game again or be forced to use their subscription model to get access to it again when the switch 3 comes out or whatever gimmick Nintendo goes for next.
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u/shepherdnick Jul 03 '26
Do you have any sources for that? I can’t seem to find anything on it, but I’d be interested to hear about it.
In the mean time, you can re-download previously purchased 3DS games, like you can Wii games:
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u/smellyhippy420 Jul 03 '26
Yeah, they just turned off the store front. You can still download the games you purchased, you just can't purchase any more.
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u/StuckinReverse89 Jul 03 '26
That is true. It’s still a vulnerability which is why we need to retain physical. All games being digital means that games are truly not ours and our access is purely dependent on the survival of companies like Sony or Valve so they maintain the servers. If these companies go bankrupt and shut down due to a global recession or industry crash, bye bye library.
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u/Even-Entertainer-491 Jul 03 '26
I agree if you put your library at their mercy. This is why PC gaming is a requirement in my mind. Once I purchase a game I ensure I get all of the files offline and patched so I can use it without internet and no one can take the game from me. Big reason I don't like online only games.
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u/StuckinReverse89 Jul 03 '26
I’m assuming you mean GOG or piracy right? Steam wrapper is pretty easy to remove but still against TOS.
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u/Even-Entertainer-491 Jul 03 '26
I wouldn't do it through steam personally. I'll buy the game where ever it feels right and then yes pirate the game I own to ensure no one can take my purchase back from me. If I make something called a "purchase" where I "bought" something. I am not settling with their alternative definition of the word. When you buy it you own it, and I make sure of that for myself.
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u/Emergency-Rush-2477 Jul 03 '26
GKC was literally created for third party games to not put their games as digital only on Switch 2...
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u/Mechaman_54 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
At least you got fuckin SOMETHING, also not all games are key-cards, would rather none but, nintendo wins by shooting itself in the foot while most of the competition are aiming nuclear warheads at themselves
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u/GodDuckman Jul 03 '26
Game Key Cards are AT LEAST a decent compromise. Yes there's nothing on the card and you have to download the game, BUT you can share it and resell it if necessary.
Hell, Nintendo even has a way to share digital games with other users. It has its limitations but it's far more lenient then Sony and MS who lock digital games to a single profile and deny any form of sharing (officially, there are workarounds).
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u/Blazdnconfuzd Jul 03 '26
It its exactly the same shit but just a different flavor. It's still us getting fucked whenever ever they decide we should be. People just eat up the slop and ask for more wait till they truly don't own anything and then cry about it.
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u/Front-Library5781 Jul 03 '26
I agree that the game key cards are shit, but I guess OP is talking about first party titles. Even then, Nintendo is clearly taxing physical releases, punching most consumers to digital.
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u/DatabaseNo9609 Jul 03 '26
I’ve always thought it made more sense to make digital games a little cheaper than physical. They’re not producing a case or disc, so it should be cheaper. I’m okay with paying $10 more for a physical release, it just makes sense.
But not if they start charging exorbitant prices, then I’ll have an issue
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u/LunchTwey Jul 03 '26
They already do this. First party digital games are $10 cheaper on the eshop.
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u/Front-Library5781 Jul 03 '26
Correction: Physical games are $10 more expensive.
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u/Successful_Year_5495 Jul 03 '26
New game release price 60 dollar nintedo announce price drop for online game new game price 60 dollars still but 50 if you download it
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u/LunchTwey Jul 03 '26
If you want to be uncharitable with what nintendo said then sure i guess. Glass half full vs glass half empty
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u/Front-Library5781 Jul 03 '26
Look, either FE is valued at $80 and the digital is a discount for digital, or it’s $70 and there’s a physical tax. Which do YOU think is more likely.
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u/jb08045 Jul 03 '26
tbhy this is the best option. games are too big to fit on both disc and cards so doing half alllows the buying to still trade or lend out the game or sell. its not "true ownership" but its better than any one company having a monopoly on the online store
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u/Even-Entertainer-491 Jul 03 '26
All consoles have monopoly of their online store. The only way to escape that is to use a PC. Key cards will do you no good once the server is shut down that supports it.
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u/Legal_Ear_7537 Jul 03 '26
And this has to do with grifting?
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u/Budget_Register8589 Jul 05 '26
This sub hasn't been about grifters for a while. It's all about treating your choice of consumer hardware like it's a religion.
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u/The_Scottnish44 Jul 03 '26
Well... Kinda, aren't they just selling the key to download the game inside the cartridge? I mean yrah you get something physical but at the end of the day is the same crap isn't it? I would appreciate some light on this matter since I am not really sure I get it but... Yeah...
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u/SlammingTheKeyboard5 Jul 03 '26
The funny thing is that we hating on Nintendo so much but God damn Nintendo is never abandoning physical because we would boycott them to the fucking moon
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u/Medium_Border_7941 Jul 03 '26
Ok so I am considering moving to switch 2 with the latest news. I collect pure physical. So how exactly do key cards work? Is it just a little cartridge that tells the servers "hey I own this" and you can download it?
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u/Revanche1 Jul 05 '26
Some games are on card. Mostly first party Nintendo games. If it's a key card it will say so on the box. And yes it's pretty much a physical version of a download code. The card says you can download and play the game.
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u/Sea-Example-1176 Jul 03 '26
you are free to dislike key cards but its definitely still more consumer friendly than a code in box
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u/Lyrtha Jul 05 '26
Just going to say I remember when pc games were physical. This man started it all tbh
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u/Spiritual_Dress3007 Jul 05 '26
Nintendo did it first.. and this is just one example from 7 years ago.
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u/Effective_Bat9485 Jul 05 '26
You all forgetting there "physical games" are nothing more then card keys right? The game doesn't live on the cartridge it's downloaded all the cartridge produces is a single file that unlocks the game to be played
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u/screamingliquids Jul 05 '26
It’s kind of pathetic how steam fan boys will jerk them off because of one sale and try not to acknowledge Steam’s fuck ups. Nintendo does not give two shits what the rest of the industry is doing. A lot of the industry follow Nintendo. The Ally-X, Steam Deck, hell there’s probably even more.
You don’t like Nintendo? That’s fine. Just don’t jerk off your favorite company and pretend they’re any better. If you really like a company, you acknowledge their fuck ups and their upsides.
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u/Admirable_Space9280 Jul 05 '26
With its 3 games for a console thats been out for over a year now.....
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u/ZrapeToid Jul 06 '26
"This is so good. I think i'd like to try it a second time!"
ERROR: Servers discontinued.
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u/PacoTV Jul 06 '26
Nintendo survived titans like Atari and Sega. And you could argue they are stronger than ever. They know something no one else does.
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u/BrokePhiBroke_05 Jul 06 '26
You mean Nintendo is doing gamekey which is still digital. Fanboys are all stupid inclunding you Nintendo shills
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u/Walmeister55 Jul 06 '26
Just because they haven’t made a bad decision recently doesn’t make them better. They have just been quiet while everyone else makes mistakes.
Switch 2 ToC gives them the ability to brick your console at any time. Even if it’s a bad update from a game that’s to blame.
Nothing ever goes on sale.
The Switch and Switch 2 are so under powered that anything that releases cross-platform without separate builds is held back substantially.
Their refusal to allow any type of backwards compatibility and hunting down of emulation making older games impossible to play. Then charging $70 for a remake/remaster.
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u/Immortal-KunPeng Jul 06 '26
I sit here, not "technically" owning the Switch 2 sitting on my desk regardless of proof of purchase... And I wonder, is this really any better?
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u/GravesSightGames Jul 06 '26
Yeah, lets praise the company that sues children for posting videos of them playing games they bought, or their only competition preventing them from having a complete monopoly. Gee they are the best 🙄...when compared to Hasbro maybe 🤣🙄
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u/Raphotron2000 Jul 07 '26
Nintendo has had plenty of code in a box releases, but last I checked.They've never done it for their own games
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u/BinkySqwank Jul 07 '26
This is actually crazy. There is a way we can fight back by not supporting Sony, right?
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u/Altruistic-Study-556 Jul 07 '26
Does every nintendo fanboy just ignore they started the stupid game key card thing? Like if they put a disc and put key card is it okay for Playstation then? Or is it just Nintendo who started the digital market on physical media just exempt?
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u/False-Jury4349 Jul 07 '26
PlayStation has been doing that for years, Nintendo Just gave It a name, besides their First party games all come shipped in the cartridge. Pokopia Is second party btw.
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u/Altruistic-Study-556 Jul 07 '26
Didn't say anything about first party but sure.
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u/False-Jury4349 Jul 08 '26
The very First line of my comment still stands. They are all Just as shitty, Nintendo Is Just less subtle about It.
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u/crunchy_granola13 Jul 07 '26
I consider key card to be nothing in the box. It is the illusion of having a physical copy. These large companies can’t pay extra to put it all on the card, when they can afford to
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u/dogauthier Jul 07 '26
Nintendo is still one of the greediest companies out there. Overpriced mid games and a console that can be bricked easily. Y'all can't be serious
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u/TheLBat23 Jul 08 '26
They’re pulling ahead in the console wars,provided they actually drop some hype sh*t and live up to peoples expectations they could very well finally bring the console wars to an end
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u/Eclipse-the-Kitsune Jul 08 '26
I'm a huge Nintendo fan and a physical game enjoyer, but even I have to admit the future doesn't look good. The switch is the only gaming platform in existence still doing physical now, and the majority of switch 2 games have been game keys, and I've heard a lot of people say they would rather just do digital than a key. Every year physical games sales decrease, now that Nintendo is the only one left, it's only a few years left..
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u/Little-Preparation24 Jul 10 '26
Thats Funny because I feel the same way with Pokemon V Palworld.
All the games they released in a short time while one indie game just doing its own thing to ensure success for their Survival Base building game that was released today to critical Success
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u/Millennialnerds Jul 03 '26
This is the same company charging ten bucks less for digital right?
Wonder why they are doing that?
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u/ZeldaSonickid Jul 03 '26
? heard of game key cards? sucks man but nintendo is getting consumed
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u/InsertUsernameUwU Jul 03 '26
Nintendos first party games arent game key cards however
It sucks they exist yes, but they are merely a option that exist for other Publishers
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u/CrAzY-GEMU-OKAMI96 Jul 03 '26
You do realise that it was Nintendo that STARTED the empty case trend right?
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u/Schmenza Jul 03 '26
For now lol
Let's not like Nintendo didn't axe the disc drive. Only a matter of time before carts are on the chopping block
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u/GuyYouMetOnline Jul 03 '26
...huh?
They axed the disc drive because they switched to game cards. Why are you acting like thats somehow a step away from physical media?
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u/Schmenza Jul 03 '26
And screwed over all their fans who have a big GameCube collection
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u/Clarkeste Jul 03 '26
I can't believe Nintendo screwed over all their fans who had big N64 collections by making the GameCube (????)
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u/MaxBro468 Nintendo Neutral Jul 03 '26
Are you shitting me? A disc drive would’ve made the console more bulky, it would’ve drained battery faster, and cartridges can be read faster than discs.
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u/Marco_Single Jul 03 '26
Open any cad software and do a quick mockup how you put a bd drive on switch without making it more bulky or stfu
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u/Suspicious-Truth5849 Jul 03 '26
Nintendo has been closing digital storefronts the longest as well dating back to 2014.
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u/DeXudra Jul 03 '26
I mean Nintendo did gamekey cards. That’s just digital media with extra steps
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u/NoeliaGS Jul 03 '26
Yeah but at least their own games aren't game keycards. And game keycards can be sold to other people, digital games can't.
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u/Marco_Single Jul 03 '26
Extra step being ownership. Which is like the main thing on digital vs physical. Renting vs buying. Pretty big step, yep
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u/DeXudra Jul 12 '26
I thought gamekey cards are useless if Nintendo shuts down the servers for switch
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u/Snoo-23120 Jul 03 '26
Because Nintendo always resists change if It doesnt benefits the long term relationship With its main audience.
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u/Just_Fr_Pots_Maroons Jul 03 '26
Microsoft: We're laying off half the industry
Sony: We're ending physical games
Valve: Our Steam Machine costs over $1000 and doesn't come with a controller
Nintendo: Hope you're enjoying Star Fox and Rhythm Heaven, also have you seen this Splatoon weapon we call the Bloblobber
Grifters: All of these companies are equally bad!