Before the arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2, developers and Nintendo had a solution for third party developers who wanted more graphical advanced games to run on the original Nintendo Switch and that was by utilising cloud streaming bringing about Nintendo Switch Cloud Versions. Naturally these failed for a number of reasons including the pricing of Cloud Version games along with the infrastructure etc. Hitman developer IO Interactive chatted with The Game Business to discus what went wrong with the venture.
“Nintendo had a cloud solution at one point [for Switch], so we got Hitman on the cloud there. But without hurting anyone’s feelings, the cloud solution on Switch wasn’t as successful as Nintendo had expected. We felt it was such a shame that it didn’t take off, so we felt there was unfinished business, really, to get Hitman: World of Assassination on Switch in a proper way for players who have that as their prefered platform.
There’s also [various Hitman modes] that lend themselves really well for a platform like Switch 2. We thought we had a game that was very compatible with playing on-the-go, and that we owed our players to deliver that in a native way on the platform. So that’s what we did.”
Game key cards won’t be either.
The game key cards in the first Nintendo Direct for Switch 2 made me confused, and it made sense once I thought about it. It’s not for consumers, it’s towards publishers who want to save costs. But what they don’t know is that by going toward the key card direction, you are basically forcing people to download the entire game anyways. People call the key cards, “e-waste” for a reason.
Exactly. Which is why I’m focusing on true physicals or Switch 1 versions with possible Switch 2 upgrade and yes I’m “wasting” money that way but if it means supporting physicals then I’m fine with that.
I can’t help but chuckle whenever anyone says cloud gaming is the future.
Stadia did what Nintendon’t.
Died.
F*** every Cloud Version of any game. TOTAL and COMPLETE retardation and utter f***otry.
Correct.
Most of the third party games coming out I see listed on ebgames .ca site are game key and most of the big name games are $89.99 – $99CAD
It’s a tale as old as, well, the GameCube. 3rd party titles never sell well. Here’s to hoping switch 2 is the niche enthusiast console it appears to be and sales flop hard.
It’s not about 3rd party titles. It’s about cloud versions of games.
Too bad it’s already the best selling console ever go cry harder kiddi
Game Key Cards are no different than digital downloads. Just a different name for the same gimmick. But, millions of people will use it. Physical games are dying, which is why GameStop is losing business