Nintendo has typically lagged behind its contemporaries when it comes to its advancement in anything surrounding games. It was the last to adopt online multiplayer, made voice chat a convoluted mess, and doesn’t support some of the most popular streaming apps. For better or worse, Nintendo’s main focus has always been on making the most enjoyable software possible on its specific hardware. Anything surrounding that tends to come off as an afterthought.
As we approach the Switch 2‘s launch, we’re seeing a bigger push into these types of services. Nintendo Online is only getting stronger with GameCube games on the way, almost complete backwards compatibility, and built-in voice chat is a complete 180 from how chatting on the Switch started out. But it is the Virtual Game Cards that stand out as the most vital innovation.
Digital trading cards
Game sharing is nothing new. Both PlayStation and Xbox have their own methods for sharing your digital libraries across multiple consoles, though it isn’t the most intuitive or publicized feature. This was one area where Nintendo’s offering was about on par with the competition; it was possible, but presented a lot of hoops to jump through.
Virtual Game Cards feel like the closest we’ve gotten to a true solution to digital game sharing. It makes passing any digital game between friends about as easy as it could be, only requiring both parties to be on the same Wi-Fi network. In reality, it isn’t a drastic improvement over any of the current game sharing methods in terms of functionality, but what makes it so important is its readability.
By turning our entire library into Game Cards, the process of sharing games becomes far more approachable and intuitive. It is way easier to grasp the idea of passing your digital Game Card to a friend and understanding you lent it to them than decoding what limitations there are in accessing someone else’s library as a secondary console. While not nearly as direct, it feels similar to that famous PlayStation ad on how to share PS4 games — it shows how simple this concept should be but isn’t elsewhere. For as behind the times as Nintendo can appear at times, it at least understands that games are made to be played together.
Something like Virtual Game Cards needed to happen sooner rather than later. We’re long past the point where digital games were a novelty and now account for the vast majority of all game sales. Most major physical games are essentially performative releases now, with nothing more than a key on the disc for the digital download. We also learned about Game-Key Cards for Switch 2 games, which are physical cards that act as keys needed to access downloaded games. And yet, despite dominating physical game sales, our options with digital games remain as barebones as they were 10 years ago. We can’t sell, trade, or give them as gifts, and on consoles it is almost impossible to return them.
Right now, it feels like the only benefit of digital games is the convenience factor. Besides the downsides I already mentioned, they don’t cost any less than a physical product, and we technically don’t even own them. Virtual Game Cards don’t solve all these issues, but are an important step in bringing digital libraries on par with physical ones. I fully appreciate why game sharing has been so restrictive; the threat of someone discovering an exploit in the system could be devastating. This far into the digital era, though, there’s no excuse. Sharing games should never require a flowchart or how-to guide.
So many times I’ve spoken to friends and family who were considering buying a console but backed off because they didn’t feel they could justify the cost of a system and games for how much free time they had. Then there are the friends who I know would love a certain game but can’t afford to buy it. It’s these times when the hundreds of games in my digital library feel completely ephemeral. I get that it isn’t in a company’s best interest to let us share our games. It’s a war that has been raging long before digital games existed, which is why they’ve all dragged their feet on improving those services. That’s why I hope Nintendo’s move here forces the others to respond.
Nintendo has already rolled Virtual Game Cards out on the Switch in preparation for the Switch 2, but it has already become my main talking point for the new system. Better graphics are great, and I have high hopes for what the new mouse functionality can bring to games, but a simple way to share digital games could help Nintendo win back a portion of the audience who are turned off by how anti-consumer the current systems are. This is a long overdue renovation of how digital games work and could end up being an ace up the Switch 2’s sleeve.
