If there is one thing a good amount of video game collectors don't particularly appreciate, it's finding a paper code instead of a cartridge inside a plastic case. Since Nintendo's hybrid device has taken off, this has become an increasingly common practice. Now, six peculiar listings have popped up on Amazon Spain, suggesting the Japanese publisher Bandai Namco will be selling a number of its existing Switch titles in physical form, without a game card.
According to NintendoSoup, these games include One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 Deluxe Edition, Dragon Ball FighterZ, My Hero One's Justice, One Piece Unlimited World Red - Deluxe Edition, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and Little Nightmares: Complete Edition. Until now, all of these titles have been sold as proper physical releases.
At this point in time, it's unknown if this offer will remain limited to this location (assuming it is an accurate listing), or if Bamco will eventually roll out the same deal across Europe and perhaps even beyond this region. One of the main reasons publishers remove cards from cases is to reduce manufacturing costs. The cost of a Switch card also depends on the size of a game.
What are your thoughts about this? Have you ever bought a physical release with a paper code inside? Tell us below.
[source nintendosoup.com]
Comments 73
To me this is complete BS. If they have released the games before as a physical form then this is just going to confuse people later on.
CEO: Let's just go digital
Marketing guy: But collectors like a physical copy
CEO: With the game inside?
Marketing guy: Yes
CEO: With a piece of paper instead of a cartridge?
Marketing guy: No
CEO: Yes
The most pointless thing I've ever seen and frankly should be illegal given the waste of plastic and materials
NO! This is a waste of plastic. Either do something whole heartedly or don't bloody bother!
*Edit. This has given me a fantastic idea for a business venture. (Who's with me?) We can sell the bodies of cars (any you want, any colour.) When you get in to drive it away, there is about 1000 bus tickets inside..because there is no engine. But hey, atleast they will have a nice looking 'car' parked outside their house (We would obviously have to deliver it.) Man, we will make a fortune.
Everyone see how this is despicable practice now? Not to mention a waste of plastic we are being told to manage.
An empty box is NOT a physical copy. (Now who will break it to the collectors out there.)
I despise this practice so much.
Well now I know from what company I wont buy games anymore
I won't buy the games of any company that does this.
just buy stuff digitally my 2c. I just despise switching cartridges.
Waste of plastic, just sell loose paper cards like it already is the case with stuff like PS+, eShop or Xbox cards.
Or don't bother and keep it eShop only (in switch it's case)
I don't understand all the hate. I like displaying game cases but I also like the convenience of having a digital game. This is the best of both worlds.
That's why i'm not buying PC games anymore unless there is no need for steam account. Most new games are all steam bounded with a code in the plastic... I could just google a picture and make a print and voila I have it "physical". I really dislike the new way gaming. And seeing that it reached console gaming is also heartbreaking. You'll see eventually we will forced to take a subscription so we can stream a game. No more download no more online releases so games can be save from pirates. I do get it, but it sucks for people who do own the consoles and real hardware and who wants to collect physical games and we won't have a chance anymore. Bye bye old gaming
I am not in the "never digital" crowd. But I do prefer physical copies.
But I really don't see why you would buy a box with a code in it. If I am going to buy a digital game, I will just use the eshop. Or maybe, MAYBE, I will buy a code gift card.
Conclusion, get the Asian version release in physical.
@Anti-Matter Then what if the import has the same practice like this?
@LaytonPuzzle27
If the games has physical release in Asian English version, then go for it.
@Fazermint
The one bit you forgot is ...
CEO: We'll paint it as a convenience of buying physical without having to worry about losing or swapping out a cartridge.
I've been in so many of these meetings. How do we figure out how to give the customer less and portray it as more? It's the way of business.
Seriously? This is so lame.
@Alber-san There is no hate mate. But there aren't too many people that are into displaying empty boxes around their house. Doesn't mean we hate the idea, just not into it. Maybe you could put up posters instead and save plastic?
army intelligence
jumbo shrimp
"in physical form, without a game card"
My standpoint on this is that I personally don't mind this being real AS LONG as there's still physical editions of all these games with the game cartridge inside it being released alongside the physical editions of the games that only have a download code inside.
If the cartridge editions are being completely replaced by the download code editions, that's when I'll have a big gripe with this business practice and voice my complaints.
I was almost tricked by the original “physical” version of Hollow Knight. I had to research it because the description on the site never said anything about it being just a code in the box.
For me the main point of buying physical, if you're not a collector, is to save internal memory and money on extra sd cards.
I don't get the point of this practice for the consumer.
My thought is F U you greedy corporations.
All the mighties had fallen cause they all greedy now.
If they are going to give just activation code inside it's totally not worth it. Just make your own print from the internet you can find and make your own physical box. At least in the past we got in colour booklets. Now even those are not in the cases and they still charge people 60 euro for newest game without the book... yeah right. It really annoys me
Let it go people. The digital age is upon us. Let it go. The sooner you accept the digital age the happier you’ll be. Attachment to physical media is suffering.
Why do I get the feeling that some of the publishers are encouraging customers to buy digital over the physical.
@SuperWeird Ignoring the "The Future is now old man" of that, the problem is that publishers are exploiting people who do stick to the past by selling them a box with a code that can't be shared or traded in like a piece of physical media.
It's the worst of both worlds.
Seems like a waste of perfectly good plastic if you ask me. The only thing I can see this being good for is if someone is giving the game as a gift.
@Alber-san well I like physical and have Dragonball FighterZ on backlog to buy but how will I know what version to get?
Or will I no longer be able to get physical carts?
It's taking away choice and adding unnecessary confusion for some customers.
@GrailUK
This shady practice should be made illegal
And still full price?!.... So ill buy it on whatever other system has an actual physical release.
Playing a freaking videogame on the bus is not worth being robbed by publishers. Xenoverse2 didn't even have AA on switch. Jaggies everywhere. Inferior product, now with no physical value.
It makes no sense to me. Why would you make the choice to buy physical anything only to get a digital code? It's like they bought so many game cases and not enough game cards. I wouldn't mind a digital code in my game box if the physical edition came with it, kinda like blu-rays today.
On the other hand, maybe it's time Nintendo found a way to both find a more inexpensive provider of game cards and make them cheaper to their partners.
@GrailUK
Yeah, I totally understand the idea of wanting to use less plastic. But then wouldn't it be better to stop selling physical games altogether? There's no point in doing so when you can buy them digitally to save plastic.
@DABYX
I'm against taking away choice obviously but logically games will end up being all digital because it isn't limited by storage caps in discs or cartridges and isn't as costly to produce. So for now you might still have a choice but eventually you'll have to settle for digital.
@Alber-san Only a sith deals in absolutes lol. Seriously, making products is the back bone of commerce. Making faux-products isn't and should not be encouraged (fur being an exception lol). It's half hearted at best, cynical at worst. Manging making plastic games means not making more plastic boxes for the sake of it. Stopping making entirely isn't management. (Lost the word for it.)
@SuperWeird
No.
I will not accept digital download only.
I will get the physical copies while it can.
I'm a game collector, i hunt the physical games, not the digital codes that cannot be traded again.
And i don't like the convenience from digital download.
It sucked.
I will regret it later.
This is just more of the evil and greedy nastiness that corporations like to betray consumers with. Hey, evil corporations, how about doing what consumers want and building rapport and trust with them?! No, if they can get away with greedy manipulation and thievery, they'll do it.
namco pulling a crapcom move not surprised.
@SuperWeird speak for yourself most of gamers want physical copies of their games.
Then I dont Buy Dragon ball Xenoverse and Dragon ball fighters Z
for Switch , I cancel them on my buying list
Since Namco bandai europe remove the cartdige from the retail gamebox, only reason why I buy Physical games so i dont need to download them, i dont want it digital and that include a download code in a box, reason also why i canceled order of Wolfenstein youngblood for switch.
Oh, they're trying to lower the costs of manufacturing. So, OF COURSE they are going to pass those savings on to the customers by lowering the prices, right?
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!
Corporate greed never goes out of style, does it?
I'm refusing to buy ANY Nintendo game until I get my Animal Crossing!! You troll us in 2015, you tease us in 2017. You tempt us in 2018, then you finally reveal you've got one in the works for 2019 (barring any delay), but you won't show us anything about it?? In 2010 we knew that 3DS's version would have cliffs, we knew it was going to release the following year (delayed to 2012 for Japan, 2013 for us), so quit this already! I'm done with you until you put a new Animal Crossing game out, one that's not lootbox garbage!! I used to like Pocket Camp until you ruined it!
@GrailUK
But the product is the video game, not the cartridge. So they're still making the product. And why do people want physical if it's not for display purposes? There's literally 0 advantages to having a cartridge over a digital version of the game (and I know technically you don't own a digital version of the game but no company is ever going to take it away from every user)
@Alber-san I have a SNES. I can still play my games on it because they are cards. Can't put my hand on heart and say if all the games were digital, it would be the same story. Imagine if I lost all my games! Eek. Absolutely no way of getting them back. If my games got stolen, I could maybe hunt down the ones I wanted from (ulp) Ebay maybe. But either way, physical games get re-used eventually. What the fudge is someone going to do with an empty case!?! Really not the same dude.
@Alber-san
Video games without real physical media = nonsense for me.
I paid for the real product that i can touch and see their existence.
I play the games with cartridge / disc media while i display the game boxes inside my shelf.
Just go digital instead of this nonsense. What a waste of plastic.
Gamers these days are bunch of fussy, whiny, and immature its not funny. This needs to stop if you can't say anything nice keep it to yourself. If you want to comment about this be be more civil I really am sick these hateful comments.
@Alber-san - Can you apply the same logic to books with the same sense you feel with video games.
I don't own the words, or the characters, or the story. That's for certain, that's not being argued, it never was. That book is a physical form of your right to access that story, those characters and so on. Making it digital makes your right to access the product you purchased the right to back in the seller's hands. Doesn't sound safe to me and my purchased right to access my entertainment.
Hell, automobile industry is looking into ways to incorporate such a practice on their cars. Cause it is extremely seller friendly, not buyer.
This is a terrible practice, and a complete scam due to the strict return policies of the video games industry. Someone going for a physical copy won't even be able to return it once they open it up and realize they've been duped. I would go so far as to say this deserves a class action, or at the least a more forgiving return policy for video games across the board.
I bought Putty Squad from Argos for £9.99. It came in a box with a code. To download it direct from the eshop is £14.99. So I saved a fiver and got a box.
I'm not sure what I will do with the empty box but the £5 will be useful.
@Alber-san Well there's timing. Minecraft story mode is being taken down. So no one will have access to it as of 25th June. Your digital argument kinda went down the toilet. I mean I feel foolish as well. I used my SNES analogy thinking this wouldn't be a problem until 12 years time or longer. Had no idea it would occur during it's 3rd year on sale. Stupid me. You were right. Enjoy your plastic case.
I get everything digitally so I don't mind. What I'd love ideally would be to have something like we have for movies: Physical AND digital. Then I would probably go back to physical.
But the convenience of digital is way better to me.
Also yeah... we gotta start thinking about environment a little more.
if i dont have a physical option then you dont have my money period, its that simple.
you have to be naive if you think im paying more then ten dollars for a digital game, its worth no more then that
That is absolute Garbage. An Awful practice. This happened with Sonic Mania Collector Edition that came with the Sonic Figure on the Genesis. It came with all this great collectible stuff, and then a Stupid paper with a Download code. Then they had the Nerve to release a physical PLUS edition with stuff that didn't come in the collector addition FORCING you to have to pay again. TERRIBLE PRACTICE. What about those like myself that don't really have a ton of time on my hands to play Games because I , you know Like most of you reading this, Have a life. Therefore I get these wonderful pieces of ART like a TON of games that came out on the WII U that I now own but haven't played yet. Ooops. there is no more WII U STORE to get those games digitally. Should have bought them or downloaded them sooner. Ooops. only had 32G of space on the WII U. can't re-download what I did have purchased but want to play again... NO ISSUE WITH PHYSICAL Media. I'll stick to Physical always. I paid for my game, I'll play it whenever I want without limit or fear that it's no longer available. It's there on my shelf.
@Alber-san You want to play a game but don't have enough at the time to buy it. you save up for it, but they took it down from the site/ store. now what? it doesn't exist anymore. Or you did buy it, and played it but deleted it to make space for a new game, cause hard drive size issues and you want to play it again much later, or your machine get's busted. and now you have to replace it, but the store shut down, and you can't re-download it. say like Wii U or Wii exclusive to e-shop. You see a fantastic review on youtube to this great hidden gem. you now want to buy it and oops. you're 3 years too late cause it's GONE from existence. You can't buy it anymore. However, with any physical media. It's yours. it's there. it's playable Always. until you kill your machine. or that media. or just plain get rid of it.
@rjejr I see your Jumbo shrimp and raise you a Biggie Smalls. (love the Army Intelligence part) Truth.
@SuperWeird I'm in complete agreement. I'm going to be totally suffering years down the line because I'll still be able to play each and every one of my favorite works of art, genius story, totally fun, excellent music, Still on display, physical games as often as I want. Especially since the console is way obsolete and I cannot download the digital form. Oh.. Wait..... nope.
@Paraka where is the library of congress for games. . . I'd like to play this Wii Eshop game that I saw a great review on youtube for that it is a hidden gem. I can go to any library and find a book but you can never again go to the Wii Eshop. It's GONE. Apples to apples friend. and Wii is pretty recent. books are literally ANCIENT and you still can find some form of a copy. Not so with Games. No Comparison.
@Paraka
I feel like in the case of books it´s different tho. Part of the experience of reading a book is turning the pages and looking at paper instead of a screen all the time. With video games the experience is the video game, the cartridge or disk has no importance.
@namtab78
Yeah, that is a good point, hadn´t thought about that. I guess when a digital only future happens then people will start offering ROMs of the games that no longer exist. The problem with that is legal issues right now but if that´s solved then there´ll be no problem to do so.
However I don´t really want to argue against physical media, I still buy physical games as well as digital, what I´m saying is that in the future when all games are digital, this will be the solution for exposure in stores and people who buy physically to display their games.
The real reason why they are doing this is to prevent second hand sales where the original publisher doesn’t make any money off of. If they use this business practice they should provide limited demos so you know what you are buying since you are stuck with it.
eh...cheaper game sharing, i dont mind that
Man, its been so damn obvious how many of these 3rd party pubs have been frothing at the mouth to go digital only or GAAS to keep everything in their control.
I hope it all beautifully backfires in their face at some point.
That wouldn't surprise me at all, seeing the way the industry is evolving. That strategy would presumably cater to those who see the convenience of digital games when it comes to switch between them but also like to see the boxes on the shelves. Well, they would see the boxes there literally.
It isn't a physical copy if it's digital.
Do we have any idea of the physical/digital split on all of the consoles?
@Alber-san - If turning a page is part of the experience, one can argue opening a box and pulling out the cartridge/disc is part of that experience. And digital books aren't books cause pages don't exist.
@Alber-san
Digital games are not the "be all end all" of game storage, nor is it particularly forward, "hip" or innovative.
Even in the situation of digital-only, data is still stored on the device. The memory is still being used on a device you own, in your home or wherever you are gaming from.
Even if say, cloud gaming, became the norm, it would still have its disadvantages, such as having no access to actual gameplay when connectivity is lost. It's nice for consumers to have an option between actual physical, and actual digital, as purchasing options. And, the last time I checked, that's a good thing.
I think a few people on here have already clearly stated why putting game codes in physical cases is at the minimum, a deceptive business practice.
These publishers are testing the limits of just how much bull consumers are willing to put up with. This is the same situation in which many will gladly buy the same game two or three times, even if it is only with little tweaks and updates. Or, say spend hundreds of dollars on costume DLC that does little to affect gameplay.
Good for those people if they like that type of thing, but many us of simply do not. If those consumers want that type of thing, that is fine, but it shouldn't be mandatory for the rest of us.
Also, in regards to your statement, it would do you well to note that what applies to you does not necessarily carry over to other people. By your logic, that since I like eating tapioca pudding butt-naked while watching scary movies, I can casually assume that other people like doing the same thing as well, and should just get with the times, because we're all eating tapioca pudding butt naked in front of scary movies in ten years from now.
Anyway, that's all I have to say for now. Thanks.
This is not physical its just plastic wastage.
I've asked this many times but never get a good answer (maybe there isn't one)....is there ANY site that features a database that keeps track of which physical editions on Switch include the whole thing in the cart ? So no Megaman Collection X where half of the games aren't even there.
As for what this article details: disgusting. I'm not against digital games at all: sometimes there are cool sales and it's very convenient for indie developers that can't justify the expense of producing a physical version...but that's where I draw the line. I like collecting physical copies and for them to include a playable, decent version of a game without the need of a patch to make it "good" (so i.e no MK11 or Doom on Switch, to name a FEW).
Please make it stop!
What would the code even be use for...
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