As the other comment said, keycards are just a way to “activate” the game, you only need internet to download the game on initial load. So for now it’s fine.
But it’ll be a problem if you’re stuck somewhere without internet, or if Nintendo cuts support 10+ years later and you can’t activate any second-hand cartridges since they no longer have the servers up to download from.
Basically the only positives of getting a key card rather than getting the game from the e-shop is being able to lend the game to anyone or resell it. Nothing else.
Most people I could lend the game to are in my online group so I could do this with virtual cards of e-shop games too, including DLC, and I basically never resell games. One could remark that you need online and a functioning e-shop server to lend a virtual card…but you’ll also need it to install a game from a key card anyway.
If a game is going to require the internet to install/reinstall and is going to sit entirely in my console’s memory, I am not carrying around an extra empty bit of plastic just to be able to start it. I used to get the games I could in physical form, but to me, they finally made it. They essentially made physical cards worse than full digital in every way.
As the other comment said, keycards are just a way to “activate” the game, you only need internet to download the game on initial load. So for now it’s fine.
But it’ll be a problem if you’re stuck somewhere without internet, or if Nintendo cuts support 10+ years later and you can’t activate any second-hand cartridges since they no longer have the servers up to download from.
Basically the only positives of getting a key card rather than getting the game from the e-shop is being able to lend the game to anyone or resell it. Nothing else.
Most people I could lend the game to are in my online group so I could do this with virtual cards of e-shop games too, including DLC, and I basically never resell games. One could remark that you need online and a functioning e-shop server to lend a virtual card…but you’ll also need it to install a game from a key card anyway.
If a game is going to require the internet to install/reinstall and is going to sit entirely in my console’s memory, I am not carrying around an extra empty bit of plastic just to be able to start it. I used to get the games I could in physical form, but to me, they finally made it. They essentially made physical cards worse than full digital in every way.