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The story
It’s been reported that Macronix, the major semiconductor manufacturer that has handled production of Nintendo Switch game cards, plans to gradually withdraw from its ROM business. There are also reports that Rohm is already manufacturing game cards for the Switch 2, sparking debate on 5ch’s hardware/industry board over the changing supply chain and the shift toward digital downloads. With Nintendo staying silent on the future of physical packaging, the discussion split between those hoping physical media survives and those who want it gone.
Macronix, the major manufacturer behind Nintendo Switch “game cards,” to gradually exit its ROM business as its focus shifts for the AI era
Source: automaton-media.com / Original article here
What people said
https://eetimes.itmedia.co.jp/ee/spv/2511/10/news054.html
Relying on just one company is risky.
What happens if this company becomes unusable?
Lol, did they remake the thread because that comment made things inconvenient?
Analyst: "Macronix is withdrawing from Switch game cards. Nintendo will probably lean more into digital downloads too."
https://krsw.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/ghard/1793769015/
Being able to resell them used is huge.
What, so Nintendo-fanboy (derisive 5ch term for Nintendo diehards), turns out you were buying games used all along?
The thing is, if you say something that obvious, some dimwit pipes up with "Did Nintendo actually say they're pulling out?! Where's your proof they'll discontinue it in the future?!"
Lol, "obvious" standards for minor/niche hardware makers don't apply to Nintendo.
If you're a Nintendo fan, you'd want physical packaging discontinued, right?
Are you using used games?
That's the kind of media strategy you get from a company that jumps into something like download cards as a late follow-up move, then pulls out immediately (lol).
That's just how it is.
Nintendo, meanwhile, keeps going — trying things through trial and error, with the digital shift and this new "game card" setup.
Sure, the share of game cards will keep rising, but will packaging vanish entirely? Not so sure about that.
It'll probably stick around for at least two more generations.
Nintendo could scrap it right now, fine by me.
Any actual problem with that?
The fact that Nintendo hasn't said a word about game cards or key cards IS the answer.
Unlike Sony, which flat-out announced it's dropping Blu-ray discs, including for PS5 physical copies, lol.
Shocking, right?
I want Nintendo to drop it soon too.
The only ones who'd be bothered are the used-game crowd anyway.
What problem, exactly?
Even if every single Switch 2 game card disappeared going forward, it wouldn't bother me at all.
Nobody asked whether YOU'D be bothered, lol.
When did Nintendo fans ever actually ask for physical media to be discontinued?
A normal Nintendo fan would want that.
These days the only people still buying physical copies are the ones trading them used.
There's no reason for it to exist anymore.
For the record, I am a Nintendo user.
Since you can't actually name a problem with discontinuing physical copies, I'll take that as settled: "it's fine if Switch physical copies go away."
The fact that plenty of casual users still want physical copies is already a downside, though.
Well, thanks for everything.
Huh? You said "too" — so is some other company pulling out as well?
Isn't it simply a matter of just buying the digital version?
It's not a transition that simple — that's exactly the kind of issue that got Sony absolutely torched online over. Are you okay in the head?
What's actually come to light is that it was just a tiny handful of physical-media purists making an extreme fuss — that's the real situation here.
Even recent titles are showing 50-60% physical sales figures — how is that a "tiny minority," lol?
The advantage of it being ROM is gone now that it can be swapped for flash memory without even changing the circuit side — so realistically, you really can't say there's zero impact.
The company Nintendo actually contracts with is Megachips, not Macronix.
Megachips is fabless, and subcontracts the actual manufacturing out to Macronix.
But for Switch 2 game cards, Macronix still can't make them — Rohm is making them instead. Macronix kept saying "we'll make them, we'll make them," then flipped and said "actually, never mind, we're out."
Ah, that makes sense, nice and clear.
Well, I guess for a company like Sony — one so bitter (sore losers, basically) about users actually owning a physical disc that they just kill it off — there's no arguing with that, it just ends.
Are there really people like that?
So you never buy DLC either?
You're an odd one.
The only company that actually gets bitter about it is money-grubbing Nintendo.
Seriously.
Background and key points of this topic
Macronix doesn’t have a direct contract with Nintendo — the company actually dealing with Nintendo is the fabless chipmaker Megachips, with Macronix acting as the subcontractor handling the actual manufacturing. There are also reports that Switch 2 game cards are currently being produced by Rohm, so Macronix’s withdrawal doesn’t necessarily mean supply will stop. What split the thread was how to interpret the shrinking ROM business: does it signal the end of Nintendo’s physical packaging strategy itself, or is it merely a change of parts supplier? The fact that Nintendo itself hasn’t officially commented on the future of game cards is what’s kept the debate going.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch Hardware/Industry (Geha) board thread “[Bad news for Nintendo fanboys] Macronix, the major manufacturer behind Switch “game cards,” to gradually exit its ROM business.”
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