Nintendo has found itself at the center of a controversy over its new "game key cards" for the Switch 2. Since the console’s launch, fans have taken to social media to voice strong frustrations over ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. George Yang is a critic covering Japanese and Western games. Mar 25, 2026, 12:04am EDT This voice experience is generated by AI.

Japan’s historic National Diet Library (NDL) has deemed Nintendo’s controversial new game-key cards ineligible for preservation. According to Japanese video game magazine Famitsu (via Automaton), ...

Gabriel has been playing games since he was a kid. Loves most RPG games, platformers, and innovative indie games, and can talk for hours about how the first Fallout is the greatest game ever. He ...

Use left and right arrow keys to seek audio. The release of the Nintendo Switch 2 introduced a hotly debated feature, the Game Key card. Instead of getting the entire game on the cartridge, the buyer ...

The use of Switch 2's widely-disliked Game-Key Cards was defended by a Ubisoft developer who worked on the Nintendo port of Star Wars Outlaws. Writing on social media, Ubisoft audio architect Rob ...

Nintendo adds a new wrinkle to its game-distribution system. Here's what game-key cards are, how to spot them, and a workaround if you prefer physical games.