There is a downside, and that’s why Switch 1 games have an option to become digital cartridges and it is not forced.
The downside resides in if a single account has multiple switches. With the current system, you have a primary switch on your account, and this switch can play any digital title whenever it wants. Any secondary switches on that account need to connect to the internet anytime they want to play a title. This leads to a flow where you may have your primary switch be a portable one (no need for internet to boot) and a secondary switch to be a dedicated at-home or docked device. Either switch can play any game you own without really planning much of anything. This will not be possible with the new system, where you will need to move digital licenses between consoles.
Additionally, you could have a friends account on your switch and you could borrow games that way, or they could sign in and play their games on your console while visiting you without having planned it before. Now, they will have to bring their own switch or otherwise preplan wanting to play a game on another console, and move that digital cartridge.
While I do think the new system is overall better, I also think its just wrong to claim there are no downsides when compared to the current system.
There is a downside, and that’s why Switch 1 games have an option to become digital cartridges and it is not forced.
The downside resides in if a single account has multiple switches. With the current system, you have a primary switch on your account, and this switch can play any digital title whenever it wants. Any secondary switches on that account need to connect to the internet anytime they want to play a title. This leads to a flow where you may have your primary switch be a portable one (no need for internet to boot) and a secondary switch to be a dedicated at-home or docked device. Either switch can play any game you own without really planning much of anything. This will not be possible with the new system, where you will need to move digital licenses between consoles.
Additionally, you could have a friends account on your switch and you could borrow games that way, or they could sign in and play their games on your console while visiting you without having planned it before. Now, they will have to bring their own switch or otherwise preplan wanting to play a game on another console, and move that digital cartridge.
While I do think the new system is overall better, I also think its just wrong to claim there are no downsides when compared to the current system.