[vel0city]

> whereas a cart should work forever.

Potentially true, but less and less so these days. I have a couple of physical games that are unplayable without a day one patch. The cartridge doesn't have everything it needs to play the game. Once the servers stop hosting the content and I swap consoles, I won't be able to play the game.

Chances are, it'll outlive my interest in the game so it's whatever to me personally, but I do get that for some people who play older games it means that game will eventually become officially unplayable.

[gjsman-1000]

It's not a perfect system, but I think the Nintendo Switch is the best system for collectors right now. There are still many things I would change, but compared to Xbox and PlayStation...

1. Games that require downloads are clearly labelled on the box. (Spyro being an example - clearly states that a ~10GB download is required on the back.)

2. Games that only include download codes are required to have a massive banner at the top of the box. There's also no "Smart Delivery" nonsense like on Xbox where the game might have a Xbox One version but no Xbox Series version on the disc.

3. Games can be updated offline from another Nintendo Switch. While not a perfect system (no upgrading directly from stored files), if Person A's Pokemon Scarlet has been updated to 1.4, and your version is 1.0; if the internet was not available, Person A could update you to 1.4; and then you could update other people to 1.4. Compare that to a PlayStation or Xbox which has no capacity for offline updating of games, of any kind. The catch though is that the Nintendo Switch System Software (OS) has no ability for offline updates unlike the PlayStation or Xbox, so keeping your Nintendo Switch System up-to-date is still important.

4. Nintendo occasionally revises cartridges to have newer versions of games, quietly. Super Mario Maker 2, for example, has had 5 cartridge revisions going from version 1.0 to 3.0.1. Breath of the Wild has had 4 revisions from 1.0 to 1.6. Third-party studios don't do this that often, unfortunately, but you can read the revisions list at http://www.benoitren.be/switch-cartridgerevisions.html.

[vel0city]

I will definitely give Nintendo props for ensuring good labeling on games which require digital downloads. So far all the games that have seemed to require it have had pretty clear warning labels on the back near all the other basic info graphics. At least I can decide if I'm OK with that before buying the game instead of finding out when I first put the game in. I haven't owned a Playstation/Xbox in a long time (Xbox 360 days), do they have any similar kinds of requirements?

Also, neat information about Switch consoles being able to share game updates locally. I did not know about that feature. It would be really nice if the Switch could allow local OS updates, like save the update package on the SD card and copy it over that way or something.

[gjsman-1000]

> I will definitely give Nintendo props for ensuring good labeling on games which require digital downloads. At least I can decide if I'm OK with that before buying the game instead of finding out when I first put the game in. I haven't owned a Playstation/Xbox in a long time (Xbox 360 days...), do they have any similar kinds of requirements?

It's a crapshoot.

For Xbox, many new games advertise "Smart Delivery." Code for, "we'll install the version of the game that's best for your console." Great, right? Not if you are a collector! The disc is only so large, so almost all games have to choose whether to have the old Xbox One version on the disc; or the newer Xbox Series X version on the disc. Almost all games opt for the Xbox One version because that's more backwards-compatible. The exception to this are Series X-exclusive games which are... uncommon.

This, obviously, sucks as a collector because it means almost all of your games, even new ones, are really just Xbox One games with a digital download for the newer Series X attached to them. PlayStation was a little kinder (or not?) on this, by simply selling two versions of games, one labelled PS4, the other PS5. No free upgrades - but at least it is patently clear which version you are getting.

But there's more to the story than just this. AAA game releases for Version 1.0 are typically horrifically buggy - so a day-one update is almost always a necessity. Nintendo isn't immune to this (Pokemon Scarlet and Violet), but Nintendo Switch cartridges cost a fortune to make compared to a Blu-ray Disc (dollars per cartridge) and Nintendo Switch systems are much more likely to be used in offline environments, which helps disincentivize this behavior. Better to release a physical Switch version later, when the bugs have been worked out, and when the lower margins are more acceptable. Blu-ray Discs cost... pennies to make, to go into systems that are almost always online, so a buggy 1.0 on disc is no big deal. And those updates can be monstrosities (take, for example, Star Wars Jedi Survivor. It's Series X-exclusive, so no Xbox One version on the disc. Great - except that it has 46GB of data on disc, but 104GB worth of updates and added content downloadable. No warning on the box because it is still technically playable from disc only. PS5 version has the same issue with download required after the initial mission. Yuck!!)

In fact, sometimes, having no game at all on disc is no big deal on Xbox. Case in point: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 which comes with none of the game on the disc, just a 100GB+ download upon inserting the disc. The disc is only 70MB to contain licensing data and an installer. There is a small warning on the front ("Requires content download") but that kind of undersells the situation. At least the Nintendo games that require a download (Spyro) have at least some of the game available and playable.

Edit: For more information, see https://www.doesitplay.org.