[STEAM] Switch 2 Dev Says Nintendo Has Cheaper Cartridges Coming as Alternative to Game-Key Cards, Then Backtracks, but Either Way Its Title Will Now Be a Proper Physical Release

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Fans expect Nintendo to soon make cheaper

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cartridges available to game publishers as a fresh alternative to Game-Key Cards, though one developer has said it expects its game to still cost around $10 more as it shifts to a proper game card.

In a statement today, R-Type Dimensions 3 publisher Inin Games initially said it would take advantage of two new Switch 2 cartridge size options that Nintendo will offer to developers currently stuck choosing between an expensive 64GB cart or a cheap Game-Key Card release.

Inin Games has now reworded that same

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to clarify that Nintendo itself has not made any announcement concerning cartridge storage capacities, and in a further

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on social media said that any references it previously made "should not be interpreted as official information from Nintendo."

That corporate snafu aside, Inin Games is still now launching R-Type Dimensions 3 as a physical release where previously it was not, due to what its hastily-edited announcement now blandly describes as it being able to "recalculate the production in a way that wasn't possible before." (Such as with a smaller cartridge size, hypothetically.)

Game-Key Cards — mostly-blank cartridges that simply prompt users to download the game's contents — have proven unpopular among Switch 2 fans, though some developers have defended their use, saying they are necessary for games that otherwise would not fit on a 64GB cartridge, and a cheaper option for both publishers and players alike.

As if to demonstrate that, Inin Games has said it will switch its physical production run for R-Type Dimensions 3 to cartridges rather than Game-Key Cards, though at a higher price point that's €10 (just over $11) more expensive. Still, that's cheaper than the "at least" €15 higher price Inin Games previously said it would have cost players had it used the standard 64GB Switch 2 cards. Not that other, smaller cartridge sizes are confirmed for now, of course.



Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky

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