Nintendo Switch 2 Game-Key Cards reveal the death of physical console games

The latest Nintendo Direct revealed details surrounding the long-awaited Switch 2 console. While the hardware specs look to be a nice bump from the previous generation, concerns surrounding other aspects of the upcoming launch are jarring.

Earlier, we touched on the $80 (possibly $90 physical) price tag of Nintendo's upcoming first-party games. Now, it appears that true physical media is all but dead.

Nintendo has introduced Nintendo Switch 2 Game-Key Cards.

"Game-key cards are different from regular game cards because they don't contain the full game data. Instead, the game-key card is your "key" to downloading the full game to your system via the internet.

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."

What's the point of having a physical copy? Why does it also come with a possible $10 upcharge, as well?

The news is probably the worst bit of information I've read regarding the Switch 2 launch. While $80 games are one thing to swallow, the loss of physical media is another. To top it off, Nintendo is delivering the first major blow in the console space.

The concept introduces more questions in the gaming space as well. How will this affect other console manufacturers like Xbox going forward?

Will Microsoft follow Nintendo by removing physical media from its discs? Like Avowed, the company already has editions of games that come without a disc.

What's stopping Microsoft from taking the next step and removing media altogether from Xbox discs if this flies?

Nintendo is the one company that I assumed would guard physical media til the end of time, much like it guards Pokémon. However, the company has determined you'll never own a piece of physical media again.

"Well, it's still a cartridge that you own and can hold in your hand," one might argue. Is it, though? If there's no actual game on the cartridge itself, and the game files need to be entirely downloaded from Nintendo themselves, what happens if those servers go offline?

You'll never be able to play that game again. Forget the corruption of a piece of physical media; your game is only there for as long as Nintendo deems it to be.

Not only does the game need to be downloaded, but it also requires an internet connection to authenticate for the first time.

"An internet connection is only required when you launch the game for the first time. After this, the game can be started even without an internet connection. However, like regular physical software, the game-key card must be inserted into the system in order to play the game."

Remember when the Xbox One was revealed, and the whole internet was in turmoil over the authentication process and disposal of physical media? This is one step removed from that, but we have the ability to sell our used games to others since the key remains on the game-key.

Maybe I'm just an old man yelling at a cloud here, but I can't shake the feeling we're one step closer to losing physical media forever.

Game-key; I hate that phrase. How about you?