In a recent interview with JPGames.de, Final Fantasy VII Remake co-director Naoki Hamaguchi was asked if he was aware of the controversy surrounding Game-Key Cards on Nintendo’s platform. Unsurprisingly, he gave a similar answer to what we’ve heard recently from Ubisoft. According to Hamaguchi, the main reason that Square Enix went with the controversial form of “media” for FF7R’s physical Nintendo Switch 2 port is that the read speeds from the Switch 2 cartridge aren’t sufficient enough for making HD games of FF7R’s quality.
Using Google Translate, we can see that Hamaguchi said, “Perhaps the biggest issue for developers [is], certainly for people like us who are developing high-end HD games, is the loading speed, because if you compare that to an [SSD] drive and the speed you get from that when loading, it’s inferior.” He also said the reason for picking Game-Key Cards is always viewed in relation to memory limitations rather than cost.
Explaining further, Hamaguchi said, “So that’s really the bigger problem when it comes to developing games, high-end games for the Switch 2, and what’s possible with it.” He explains that making the title semi-downloadable and relying on SSD speeds makes the end product overall smoother. There’s also the matter of the game’s file size, which is in excess of 100 GB. The largest available Switch 2 cartridge tops off at 64 GB, so players would need to download more data, anyway.
Stepping back from talking specifically about FF7R, Hamaguchi relayed, “This is just my personal opinion, but I would like it if Nintendo fans understood the key cards and perhaps accepted them as part of the gaming culture on the Switch because they offer more possibilities. It’s an option that not everyone needs to use, but it’s another way to make the games available to fans, and I think we could miss opportunities if we didn’t have that option, because there might be people who wouldn’t be able to play the game otherwise.”
Truthfully, it seems as if developers have their hands tied when it comes to porting games to the Switch 2. Nintendo has practically kneecapped physical titles by opting for slower transfer speeds on cartridges and not allowing for installation from the media. It 100% makes sense what Hamaguchi is saying about read speeds limiting the potential of games, but these are all programs of Nintendo’s making. It’s certainly a sad state of affairs.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
