This is based on an inaccurate analysis from a non-expert.

Switch game cards use Macronix XtraROM. These games are rated by the company for data retention shelf life of 20 years at 85°C / 185°F. But it depends on environmental conditions like humidity, and 20 years is an extremely conservative estimate. It’s safe to say they will last much longer than that.

DS and 3DS games use an older version of Macronix technology, and critically also write to the cartridge itself. These will likely have issues long before Switch games do, although it should still be a long time.

Magnetic media was rated for a similar lifespan and in most cases still works fine 50 years later. The rare issues with CDs are due to manufacturing defects like glue separation, not the technology itself. These are, again, exacerbated by environmental factors. CDs are 30 years old at this point and the worst iteration of optical media, and the overwhelming majority work fine.

Different technologies, but just included for comparison.

If you’re concerned about it, dump them to SSD RAID storage.

One of mine developed drift again after a couple years. Not calibration related. I ended up buying the Hori joy-con replacements and they’ve worked great so far.

Why did they never release Disgaea 2 and 3 for Switch? Then you could have the complete run on one console, not counting D2.

With Final Fantasy, ignoring 11, you can play 1-12 on the Switch.

If you have to prioritize one feature over the other, my personal suggestion is to prioritize 4K and HDR over 120 Hz. You’re going to get 60 FPS for the vast, vast majority of Switch 2 games. Currently only one title in the launch lineup supports 120 Hz: a single game in the Welcome Tour. Mario Kart World, their premier title, is 1440p at locked 60 FPS in docked mode.

I suspect Switch 2 games in 120 Hz will be only slightly more common than PS5 games in 8K: Sony eventually removed the 8K logo from the box because basically no developer could achieve it and virtually no TVs supported it.

There may be game-specific performance modes with lots of caveats, like 120 Hz at 720p in docked mode for single player, but you would think you would see that with the showcase title. Instead the frame rate for MKW is crushed when three or more players play via couch co-op.

I was skeptical about how complete this effort would be, but I’ll admit when I’m wrong. I’ve got to say that Nintendo has impressed me with their thoroughness and the fact that they completed this audit by launch. It must have been an enormous undertaking.

tl;dr: The Switch 2 go to market strategy sucks, but it probably doesn’t matter.

I will never buy a game-key card. I will stop buying new games before I buy one of those.

I’ve got to say, the fact that these lists are so small is impressive. I haven’t compared the lists, but it seems like many of the issues that were previously found have already been addressed as well.

Not a great sign for physical media if even something like Dragon Quest I & II is a key card release. I can’t imagine they’re exceeding the storage budget.

This is hilariously melodramatic

It’s just not interesting for anyone else to read. The majority of us just want to keep up to date with video game news and occasionally discuss it. We aren’t interested in taking up the cause.

Down voters of this rule should really just unsubscribe and move along.

I always like to investigate these analyst firms. In nearly every case, it’s just some guy. Usually their predictions are about as enlightening as a horoscope.

In this case, the person behind DMC Intelligence is David M. Cole, and he’s got some contractors who work with him under inflated titles to make the company seem more reputable. He’s been doing this since 1994, basically since he graduated college. I always assume people like this have trust funds, or else they did other work until the prognostication business became enough to sustain him.

Here’s one such report, which makes the vague guess that Nintendo will come out on top and either Sony or Microsoft will struggle in third place because “there isn’t room for more than two major console systems.” There’s no justification for that assertion at the link; presumably you need to pay for the report.

Technically Sonic the Hedgehog was released before Super Mario World for regions outside of Japan.

Yes, this was announced at the beginning of April.

Nearly 90% of physical games can be completed without a download of any kind. I can’t say how Switch 2 cards will end up, but I would hope it’s not as dire as everyone seems to think it’ll be. If it is, I guess I won’t buy Switch 2 games.

https://www.doesitplay.org/

This list is right about those three times leading to economic catastrophe (1828 also caused a recession). But it’s missing all the other times mass tariffs caused depressions in the US: 1816, 1837, and 1890 resulted in depressions from 1816-20, 1836-43, and 1893-95, respectively.

The history of the US is the history of devastating cycles of economic depression until the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, monetary policy, fiscal stimulus, banking regulation, and other economic tools moderated the boom-and-bust cycle that dominated the first half of US history. These were the lessons of that era. WW2 may have lifted the US out of one depression, but it was these tools that kept future ones at bay.

Oh yeah, and because Congress wrested control of tariff authority from the executive branch and then used them sparingly until 2025.

FYI, a US depression will be a global depression, and the effects will be felt worse in many countries.

Edit: I forgot which channel I was in, lol. Oh well.

God help you if you page too far into the results. Eventually it will just run out of memory and crash.

I’m also tired of hearing about disc rot. The vast majority of people just repeat it like a meme and have never experienced it first hand. It affected a fraction of CDs and a much smaller fraction of DVDs. Blu-rays will outlive you. Most “rot” is the result of manufacturing defects where the glue layer separates, and they recognized this after CDs and made significant improvements with each subsequent disc generation.

Also, nearly 90% of physical games do not require a download to play and complete.

None of this is to say you shouldn’t enjoy digital games or rip your media. I just want people to stop unintentionally spreading misinformation.

Set a reminder but then my phone was in do not disturb and I forgot. D’oh. Oh well, I can wait.