why it matters: Digital game purchases facilitates immediate satisfaction without leaving your couch, but they lack the portability of physical media. Nintendo wants to make your digital library easier with any system with virtual game card.
For the first time, Nintendo is hosting two nintendo direct events which is almost back-to-back. The first was today, which featured everything coming in the switch. The second is scheduled for April 2 – less than a week. This will fully focus on an upcoming switch 2.
Apart from many new sports and as many remosters, today’s direct presented an interesting new concept called “virtual game card”. This is a more streamlined way to share digital games between devices.
Virtual game cards act as physical media as physical media. Users with another switch can quickly move the game purchased after a one -time local verification handshake between the equipment. This is a universal feature, so it will work for standard, light and switch 2 variants. Additionally, since the switch 2 is backward compatible, this feature game will make migration an air.
This feature also provides a way to share games with friends or family. Users can have eight tools in their nintendo family group. The owners can play “loan” to anyone in that group, with some important limitations.
First, two devices should be on the same WiFi network during exchange. After that, the game is playable anywhere. Second, users can lend only one game to their friends at a time. Unlike physical titles, users cannot only transfer their library to a friend N Mess. Third, the lended game is good for 14 days. After that, the card automatically returns to the lender. Finally, users cannot play games they have given loans.
Similar to physical media, a virtual card represents a game license, not a copy of it. This feature also applies this restriction when the user owns both systems. For example, transferring Metroid Prime 4 from your switch to your switch 2 means that it is no longer available on the first device until you take it back. This issue should not be troubled until the interface is simple as moving one game from one box to another.
Nintendo virtual cards will not revolutionize in digital downloads or will not make a better virtual library than having a physical game owner. However, it takes some headache from Nintendo’s Digital Rights Management Scheme. Switch should also be made very easy to switch to switch 2 (punishment intention).
Nintendo virtual cards are coming in the first-jen system through a software update in late April and will be available on Switch 2 in release. For the date of an official launch, see the next week’s Nintendo Direct.
