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Comment by freeAgent | Hacker News Reader

I really wanted a Switch 2, but when it became clear that all games were essentially rentals and could be shut down/off at Nintendo’s whim, I decided I couldn’t have one. Perhaps the need to compete with piracy again will make Nintendo more consumer-friendly. Probably not, but one can dream.

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“All games are essentially rentals” applies the least to Switch 2 among consoles.

Among all gaming platforms, it’s only behind DRM free storefronts like itch.io and GOG.

Unlike PS5 or XBOX, not all switch 2 games require downloads or day 1 patches.

Seriously. The Wii, Wii U, DS, and 3DS eShops are still running to redownload your past purchases. The Wii shop is actually 20 years old now! It feels disingenuous to read people bemoan Nintendo for their "license vs ownership" when Nintendo has an extensive history of supporting its online shop customers.

But locking their cards to the hardware preventing a resale market is pretty crumby. I only purchase Switch2 games that are physical, no download codes. Vote with your dollars.

> locking their cards to the hardware

Are you talking about game keycards? Those don't lock to the hardware, you can resell them or lend them to others with no issue

What are you referring to? The Wii and 3DS shops quite famously shut down years ago. Yes there’s hShop now which simulates it and provides every ROM for free, but you can hardly credit Nintendo for that.

Nintendo only disabled the ability to buy games. The rest of the stores is still open, so you can still redownload games you already bought

Yeah hilariously you can even still use old Wii U exploits which allow you to download games you don’t own directly from the eShop with proper signing and everything despite the shop being shut down lmao

Only if you ignore the hardware aspect. Nintendo treats the Switch 2 as a fleet of machines they control, and reserve the right to shut them down for any reason as they see fit. It's sort of a non-starter (for me), honestly.

Steam Deck + Heroic + GOG is basically perfect.

You can use switch 2 offline, with physical games. Nintendo does not require the console to connect to the internet.

Indeed it requires software updates for some games; but even that is the most “innocent” in console space.

Nothing can beat a linux handheld + drm free store in terms of freedom. But apples to apples.

Connecting the Switch 2 to the internet to get those updates exposes you to their kill switch. It effectively can't be used except for a few physical launch titles without placing you under the recourse-free banhammer.

Switch 2 actually still has lots of boxed games. Plus, when you buy games on the eShop you can use the virtual game card feature to gift them or lend them to friends after you finish playing. It's the closest experience to having a physical copy out of all the main digital stores.

And they can revoke that whenever they want

I just assumed that a jailbreak would be inevitable sooner or later, with full game ROM dumps including DLCs becoming available sooner or later as well, and that's good enough. I can enjoy the handful of games or upcoming games I care about on the system now, use the benefits of digital game codes over physical carts (I really don't miss having to actually swap a physical cart into the system or carry a bunch around with me if I want to play more than one game at a time; I've made one exception for Star Fox whose cart just lives in the system now), and in 10 years I'll be able to go back and play whatever even if my device is dead or the account somehow got locked out of its purchases.

When did it became clear exactly? I own over 300 boxed games that I can sell any time.

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