Why does my physical game need a download?

The cart alone won't start the game. A download is mandatory.

What it means

Something is on the cartridge, but not enough to play. Sometimes it's a fragment of a much larger game that wouldn't fit — or wouldn't fit cheaply — on the cart the publisher chose. Sometimes the game shipped genuinely unfinished and the pressed build can't be completed.

Whatever the cause, the practical outcome is the same: this game depends on a server. When that server stops, the cartridge stops being a game. That's why we put it in the same band as DRM — not because the mechanism is identical, but because the failure is.

Worth knowing: this can change. If a publisher re-presses with a complete build, a later revision might be complete on cart. It's the exact case where checking the revision number pays off.

Before you buy

• Check the download size. A 200 MB patch and a 40 GB install are very different propositions in ten years.
• Check whether a later revision fixed it — the game's revisions tab lists every printing we know about.
• If preservation is the point, this one doesn't deliver it, whatever the box says.

How we know

From Nintendo Revised, the community cartridge-revisions sheet, with the download size recorded where the community captured it. Verified per printing, not per game.

Common questions

Related

• Game-key card
• DRM
• Partial on cart