Nintendo's Switch 2 physical games look like they might not be as "physical" as we thought.

Mama mia...

One of the things that made me and many other gamers very happy when the Switch 2 direct came out is the fact that there's still a home for physical games there. Physical games are amazing. It's why I can currently play 3D Dot Game Heroes despite the fact that it practically doesn't exist anywhere else. It means that in the future I can come back and play some games I loved that don't exist on the server.

Hell, before the Scott Pilgrim game got rereleased I remember having someone offering me several hundred for my PS3 with the game still installed on it.

So again, I was hyped to find out that unlike things like the Steam Deck, I'd have permanent ownership of my games. But it turns out that might not actually be the case. Several games, all third party titles, seem to be, essentially, DRM chips that, once inserted, causes the game to be downloaded and allows the game to be played as long as the chip is in the system.

This. Sucks.

My hope is that companies like Limited Run (Limited Run, if you're reading this, I love you) finds out and starts to offer ACTUAL physical copies of these games so I can by them. If you're unfamiliar with Limited Run, they're a dope ass company that takes digital only games, gets permission from the company that makes said game, and rereleases them on a fully physical cartridge or disc so you can play it forever.

I have their release of the Blade Runner game on Switch because I lost my original CD-Rom version back in the day and I wanted to make sure I'd have this damn thing forever.

Back to the topic though, Nintendo themselves seem to not have any plans to put their own games on there as all their games have been confirmed to be fully on the cartridge meaning you can pop it in without internet connection and just go.

So it's kinda wild to me Nintendo is just letting third party people do this. Makes me wish they'd bring back the "Nintendo Seal of Approval".

If you look up the games on Amazon, if you were curious how to tell, it's not subtle. Check out the bottom of the box for Sonic X Shadow Generations on Switch 2 for example:

Look right there at the bottom.

It tells you right at the bottom that you're going to have to download the game, that's it's 24GB, and that you need an internet connection. Which, as many people know, is the exact opposite of what physical games are supposed to require.

And I don't want to here people telling me that this is fine. If you think this is fine, go ahead and download a 3DS or WiiU exclusive game of their eshop and tell me how that went for you.

For those curious, here's an alphabetical list of the confirmed games to be DRM chips followed by a list of games confirmed to be on cartridge:

DRM Chips confirmed:

• Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster

• Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion

• Hitman World of Assassination

• Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S

• Raidou: Remastered

• Sonic X Shadow Generations

• Split Fiction

• Street Fighter 6 Year 1-2 Fighters Edition

• Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut

Full game on cartridge confirmed:

• Cyberpunk 2077 (thank god)

• Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion

• Donkey Kong Bananza

• Kirby and the Forgotten Land

• Mario Kart World

• Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma

• Story of Seasons Grand Bazaar

• Super Mario Party Jamboree

• Zelda Breath of the Wild

• Zelda Tears of the Kingdom