This only helps in areas where internet is scarce or non existent. Even banned switches are allowed to download firmware updates even if everythint else is blocked (source: just did this myself recently)
So, I have a hacked switch 1 and I can assure you that any game that has had a "complete overhaul post launch" still uses about 80% of the data on the cartridge. Or rather, it loads the entirety of the cartridge, and then every update to the game after that gets strapped on top of it to overwrite whichever sections of the game it needs to or adds new stuff.
So let's take animal crossing for example. If there were 2 major updates for Animal Crossing, youd have something akin to the following list of files:
Animal Crossing New Horizons.nsc [8 GiB] (the cartridge itself, if you dumped it - in this case we're referring to the actual cart itself here though)
base.nsp [16 B] (some kind of token file for DLC attach points or something)
184810dheincoiepn02.nsp [300 MiB] (patch 1)
01849...ahd4819.nsp [24 MiB] (patch 2)
The switch loads the entirety of the cartridge, then it loads the base patch over the top of it to hook into the right location, then it loads patch 1 over the top of that, then it loads patch 2 over the top of patch 1, base, and the cartridge. Theoretically you could delete the latest update file and still have a working downgraded game. No original data is lost.
I'll be real, I love what Nintendo chose to do with HDR and I wish more companies would follow suit. I hate it when they make the content crazy bright. Tone mapping for SDR games on PC and Steam Deck is notoriously bad, with oranges getting blown out into vibrant reds instead (I love my steam deck but basically have to leave HDR off).
Subtle but higher color accuracy/range was always HDR's selling point. I'm angry at Nintendo for a lot of things right now, but this is one thing they got right. High quality HDR LCD screen for high longevity and not overturning the colors to blind the hell out of you with "vibrancy."
You are thinking of the Bill of Materials cost, which is not the same as fab cost. Higher data densities absolutely do cost more to fab, and are upcharged to companies and individual consumers for profit. Nintendo has to pay more for higher density storage amounts and so do you.
What I am telling you is that while that sounds like an amazing idea in theory, in practice almost no stores offer it. How can we do that if its not even an option? I have literally never seen it done anywhere here or in any of the other places I've traveled to (I've been to about 5 different states this year alone).
You can do a quick and dirty test by opening copilot chat and asking it something like "outline the vulnerabilities found in the following code, with the vulnerabilities listed underneath it. Outline any other issues you notice that are not listed here." and then paste the code and the discovered vulns.
I did this recently, scared the shit out of them and they quickly found a spot to turn off and park. I think they thought I was trying to do some kind of pit maneuver to get behind them or something, when I just wanted them off my ass.
That seems to be the direction the industry is headed in. GHAzDO and competitors all seem to be converging on using AI as a force-multiplier on top of the existing solutions, and it works surprisingly well.
Having actually worked with AI in this context alongside github/azure devops advanced security, I can tell you that this is wrong. As much as we hate AI, and as much as people like to (validly) point out issues with hallucinations, overall it's been very on-point.
That exists, its called GPT4chan, and it went exactly like you'd expect.