Nintendo will play tricks with the store (physical) versions of its first-party titles…

Physical copies of Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games are supposed to be Nintendo Switch cartridges with download codes in the box. Their covers say that they contain the Nintendo Switch game and the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Update Pack. The update pack is also sold separately. There was some confusion about whether this meant that the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition content had to be downloaded, which essentially means that Switch 2 Edition games cannot be played without an online connection. It turns out that’s exactly the case.

According to a Nintendo customer service representative, the physical versions of these Switch 2 Edition games will not include the full Switch 2 Edition game on the cartridge! When a customer asked if these Nintendo Switch 2 Edition cartridges would include the full game on the cartridge (including the Switch 2 Edition update), the customer service representative confirmed that they would only include download codes, which raises the issue of game preservation.

It is worth noting that customer service representatives are often employed by agencies that do not have detailed knowledge of such a niche issue. For fans, the main concern is that this means that preserving games with Nintendo Switch 2 Edition titles will be a challenge, as there will not be a full physical version. If something has to be downloaded and is then no longer available online, the games will be lost (unless they have been digitally archived in some way).

We’ve already written about which games these will be – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Kirby and the Forgotten Lands, Pokémon Legends Z-A, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Mario Party Jamboree – and we’ve also detailed which games will be getting updates on Nintendo’s new console.

Source: VGC, Bsky