I just cancelled my Super Mario Odyssey pre-order, TSHBO!!! :o

I actually did just cancel my pre-order of Super Mario Odyssey. I did so because I have decided to buy the digital download from the Nintendo eshop on launch instead.

The reason is I really don't want to be switching out carts on the Switch because it's really a portable system as well. I love the idea of potentially having hundreds of games on the palm of my hand. The ability to 'switch' on the fly is phenomenal.

I had pre-ordered the physical copy because I got a 20% discount for doing so. If only Nintendo offered a discount for ordering the digital version of their games. I also noticed that Nintendo doesn't allow you to pre-order SMO in the eshop either although they mentioned this would be an option for some games. I thought that was strange.

Who else is ready to make the commitment right now to go all digital?

I been doing just that. At some point once i have an sd card I'll slowly replace the few physical games I have with digital copies

I forgot to mention that, the other day in one of these threads, someone posted a deal on a sandisk 128 GB microSD card and I took advantage of it. That sort of tipped me over the edge.

@Xplode_games: Im at the point where getting up to get cartridges is such a hassle

Nope. I prefer physical copies. The only digital copies of anything I have ever bought are when there's no physical alternative (ie: most recently Cuphead). I like a game in a case on my shelf, where it belongs.

I understand how you feel and it is a perfectly valid point of view. Back in the NES days, I remember the box art and manual were a big deal for me. When a game came with a thin manual I always thought that was a bad sign. If it was a game with a super thick manual and included a side map I was like wow, look how thick the manual the game must be amazing. I loved the gold Zelda cartriges and gold manuals. I hated the TG-16's basic little cards and thin manuals and CD cases for the CD player. The Genesis was nice, the SNES was nice. The Neo-Geo was glorious but $650 for system and $299 per game.

However, I guess PC gaming got me completely out of physical copies of games. On the PC, I can't even imagine wanting a physical copy. Now I guess that convenience is starting to feel like it's lacking when I play on consoles. Although on Xbox I have mostly digital games but not all. On Swtich I have everything digital except for Zelda and now Mario will be digital as well as everything going forward.

I think maybe there should remain the option of the physical copy for the purists such as yourself. In my opinion, digital games will not take off on consoles until they are priced considerably lower than the physical copy. That's how physical games became extinct on the PC.

Yeah I don't know why people still buy physical copies these days. Just remnants of a bygone era.

I have not bought a single physical copy for my Switch, and I have nine games on it so far.

I have developed a great preference of being digital exclusive with my games. Might as well get accustomed to it now, because one of these days discs and carts will be obsolete.

Switching cartridges is annoying. Since Splatoon 2 it's digital for me.

That on top of the amount of clutter that all these physical copies bring to our lives. I'm all for being a nonchalant gamer with more accessibility at my finger tips. Having less is more in this case.

@pyro1245:

It's the Grey area of the digital realm, being connected to an account or console. Switching cards in and out of the switch is a hassle if it offers all games digital. It is just a more intuitive method, especially factoring in the portability aspect it offers.

With that said, the physical cards will retain value. And are eshop purchases tied to what exactly--the system or the account? If someone decides to sell their system do they sell it WITH their account information on the system, or do they have to wipe it clean?

I pre ordered Mario Odyssey off Amazon but I get the point. Was thinking of going all digital on switch(save for the few games I have on cards)....... Switching games by means of game cards I swear is the most cumbersome of any console ever, at least when it's docked.

I really don't see the issue with having to switch between cartridges. How often are you going to be changing games in gaming session? Yeah, digital is convenient in that sense. But I can usually get a better deal for the exact same product in a physical format. Call me old school but when money is tight, you take the better option. Unless console stores start offering games CHEAPER than the physical release, count me out

bro... nintendo just opened up preloading for the game.

if i were you id download it today so you have it ready on launch.

remember to update your switch. i dont know if that unlocks the preloading or not.

Digital is convenient, especially on the go

I've pretty much went all digital on Switch, with only BotW being my only physical game.

Actually, aren't all Switch titles now bound by an account now?

I was anti digital before this gen

I has been converted

you are out of your mind

I thought I was going all digital. But the problem I have with that on the Switch isn't so much the space, but the fact that their game boxes are amazing.

They use lots of colors and their size and artwork is by far the best we've ever seen for consoles (hybrids, whatever).

I'm sick of plastic taking up my home. Switch is also portable. So yeah, 100% for the very first time. I noticed I wasn't playing games as much when I was physical because I couldn't be bothered swapping out the games. But being 100% digital has made me play a lot more games.

I do download all the titles which focus on local co-op or which are games I'll go back again and again. For the usual single player games like Mario Odyssey were I go through it once and leave it, I get it physical. My case has 6 slots for physical games, so I should be good.

to be honest im not all that confident in digital purchases in the long term on any console so im reluctant to go digital; especially on full price games. this is especially true of nintendo (who are shutting down the wii shop soon). thats really rocked my confidence in the long term support for these services. nintendos DRM is also really bad. if my wiiu fails then all my wii and wiiu digital purchases are gone unless nitnendo are kind enough to repair it (which, in 10 to 15 years they probably wont be).

i do get most of my PC games on steam but thats really due to a lack of options. its either use steam or PC gaming becomes very limited. i also have more confidence in the PC ecosystem in the very long term. i dont think valve are going to shut down steam and replace it with something else. i have a bit less confidence in the very long term support of other shops but i would still have more than, say, the PS3 store or the estore or live.

sure you could argue that no one uses the wii shop or is downloading games from the wii store but thats not really the point. if i purchase something i should be able to use it forever. if i buy the physical copy of mario odyssey then 30-40 years from now i will still be able to play it if it takes my fancy. will the eshop be around 30-40 years from now?

i suppose that could become a moot point though with the state of games at release now (nintendo generally being the exception). if the servers are gone and you want to update your launch copy so its less buggy then tough luck unless you do that which shall not be uttered to your console.

Nintendo's online service is terrible, wouldn't buy anything digital untill they get their service to level of the competition.

I like having my Switch games physically. The 3 seconds it takes to change a cartridge doesn't bother me very much.

And you are saving the trees!

nvm. They use plastic boxes now.

I know your pain. My fingers cramp up so bad from shoving Doritos in my mouth all day I have a hard time switching discs in my PS4. Just thinking about it I'm breaking out in a sweat.

Digital purchases are really convenient. Especially on platforms like Xbox One where you're not really saving up on internal storage by purchasing the games physically. The advantage to physical purchases on Switch is that you do save up space but it's awkward switching out cartridges when you're playing on the go.

I play my Switch on my tram journey into work. It can be cumbersome swapping out games. Digital purchases make the portability aspect more accessible. I still like saving up on digital storage and having the physical box though.

Thank you, I just pre-ordered it and started downloading. I am ready for midnight.

@Xplode_games: I’ve been thinking about getting an SD card to go all digital but I do like getting the 20% off on amazon or Best Buy with the physical copies. I have a case I carry mine in and it keeps all my games in it as well.

@kuu2:

The initial plan according to schematics leaked on the Switch was that Nintendo was at first going to use a 4k blu-ray drive. What happened then was everyone thought that idea was idiotic, thus shifting to something akin to a proprietary SD card.

Nah takes me 5 seconds the change game.

@Xplode_games: switching out carts and disk are so chaotic in this day and age. i left that format 9 years ago and i will not be returning.

I agree with you 100% that Nintendo definitely should drop the price of digital games. It costs them more to manufacture the physical copies so why does the digital download cost the same?

I will say this though, the the Nintendo eshop doesn't charge tax. That means it's a flat $59.99 vs $47.99 plux tax so it can be a little less than 20% if you were paying tax with the discounted game.

Physical or digital, the 1 that i can get cheaper is what i care.

@Xplode_games: doing that would be risky and hurt physical game retails sales as well as the providers of it such as gamestop and other companies who sell games. I think Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft dont drop their digital games price vs physical because of these companies.

physical media lol

I've always loved physical media, so I never thought that the day would come when I would go digital, but it has.

I still love physical media, but the physical media for the current gen consoles is not as great as what the physical media on older consoles used to be. Games generally release buggy nowadays so I'm usually going to have to download updates for the game anyway to bring it to a non-buggy state, games need to get installed to the hard drive before they are playable on Xbox/PS4 anyway even with a physical copy, the Switch cartridges are so small that I can't enjoy the artwork on them or the feel of them in my hand like I used to do with older cartridges, and the final straw for me was that they don't even include manuals anymore.

Plus, some games don't get physical releases anymore, so if I would still buy the physical releases for the games that do get released physically then my collection would have to be a mix of physical games and digital games and that would annoy me. I want my collection of games for a console to be uniform either as an all digital collection or everything in a physical collection so that I can look at my collection all together at the same time.

Add the conveniences of digital on top of what I listed above and it was enough to convert me to the dark... err, I mean digital side. Thankfully, I can still enjoy physical media with my retro consoles which have far superior physical media anyway.

They've more value in the collectors market. I see no value in Digital downloads.

See the thing this way. There are those who casualy hear music so they often download the mp3 file or flac... and then are those who "breathe" music aka audiophiles, who still buy CDs and Vinyl to this day. I dare you to find a music lover who doesnt have a CD or/and a Vinyl collection.

I'm a gaming lover so I collect games. They have emotional value to me and the fact I have a physical piece with those memories in it gives me (and many collectors) more security than a bunch of downloadable files.

Remnants are relics and relics... have value to the right persons in the right times. So, enjoy your "future". I'll keep my past

What games? Indies with low budgets? Of course not, they never did ever since they became a thing. As a matter of fact more indies get a physical release today than they did when they became a thing (see cases like Terraria, LIMBO/Inside collection, Rime, Dreamfall chapters, Stardew Valley, Little Nighmares, etc, etc, etc)

Outside of some low budget games (some are self-published online thus dont need a retailer publisher) I dare you to find me a AAA game that has not a Physical release.

so, thats pretty much bullshit

Nope. Destiny 1 burned me of buying digital games on console. The fact I bought a terribad game and couldn't do anything with it once the gig was up, it was infuriating. Digital on PC is just the way of things, but if given a choice, I will take a physical copy every time. I would have been happy just to get even a fraction of my money back in store credit.

Digital is for suckers.

No installs, minimal loading times, compact.

Cry more.

So... how is that different from discs?

Nintendo having a digital store is exactly what this thread is about

Did you just come in and decide to troll without even reading the OP? You being informed about anything other than Xbox is not something I even expect at this point, I've long given up on that, but Jesus f*ck, at least read the threads you post in.