A microSD card is virtually a necessity if you plan to download Nintendo Switch games

Shawn Knight

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If you’re planning on picking up a Nintendo Switch next week and have any interest in downloading games for it, you’ll almost certainly want to invest in a microSD expansion card.

Nintendo on Monday revealed the file sizes for several launch-day (and those arriving shortly after) titles, one of which will exceed the console’s integrated storage by itself.

Dragon Quest Heroes I & II checks in at 32GB which happens to be the same amount of integrated storage the Switch includes (and that’s not counting the 6.1GB the Switch’s operating system and software consumes). As such, you’ll need a microSD card slot for this download although with no North American launch date set, you’ve probably got some time to prepare.

Other game download sizes look like this:

  • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: 7GB (April 27, 2017)
  • Snipperclips: Cut it Out, Together!: 1.6GB (March 2017)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: 13.4GB (March 3, 2017)
  • Disgaea 5: 5.92GB (May 23, 2017)
  • Puyo Puyo Tetris: 1.09GB (April 25, 2017)
  • I Am Setsuna: 1.4GB (March 3, 2017)
  • Nobunaga’s Ambition: 5GB (2017)

The Switch will support SDXC cards with a capacity of up to 2TB… that is, once they exist in that size.

The Nintendo Switch goes on sale March 3 and will set you back $299.99.

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People are acting as if the norm has been to download games instead of purchasing physical copies, and that the Switch is literally stuck at 32GB, and you can't add more storage through Micro SD.
 
People are acting as if the norm has been to download games instead of purchasing physical copies, and that the Switch is literally stuck at 32GB, and you can't add more storage through Micro SD.

Thats been the norm on PC since steam became popular, and even more on consoles since the current generation, where you have to install games to hard drive even if it is a physical copy.

The issue is all the hidden cost associated with the switch if you want anything beyond the base console and physical cartridges.
 
People are acting as if the norm has been to download games instead of purchasing physical copies, and that the Switch is literally stuck at 32GB, and you can't add more storage through Micro SD.

Thats been the norm on PC since steam became popular, and even more on consoles since the current generation, where you have to install games to hard drive even if it is a physical copy.

The issue is all the hidden cost associated with the switch if you want anything beyond the base console and physical cartridges.

We're talking about consoles, not Steam. PS4 and XBox One users have no choice but to install the games due to limitations of the discs. From the people I know, I have not seen anyone buy digital over physical. But that's just the people I know.

This is very old news. People have known about the 32gb size limit, and the size of the cartridges. In the month since that information has been available I have seen no one saying that they are not going to buy the system because they have to buy the physical game cards to play the game, or buy a higher capacity micro SD card if they just want to go digital. The focus is overwhelmingly about the games and other features.

I'm not even getting a Switch, I just see the sudden outrage as immature. Like get over it people complaining who are probably not going to get system even if it came with 500gb of storage.

(Maybe I'm just annoyed with the whine of people, with comments on another site like, "I'm too lazy to get up and change the disk," though digital only is relatively new, and the norm had always been to physically change the games. Though in that person's defense, they didn't care that they had to, it was more of a joke.)
 
If you're going to pay full price for the game anyway(as we've seen steam do) why don't you just buy the cartridge version? You can resell the cartridge, you can't resell the digital download. I'm going to buy an mSD card so I can download games from previous consoles on my switch. As far as switch games are concerned, I'm going to buy the cartridges so if I don't like them I can at least get some of my money back.
 
If you're going to pay full price for the game anyway(as we've seen steam do) why don't you just buy the cartridge version? You can resell the cartridge, you can't resell the digital download. I'm going to buy an mSD card so I can download games from previous consoles on my switch. As far as switch games are concerned, I'm going to buy the cartridges so if I don't like them I can at least get some of my money back.
this guy knows how to play the game
 
People are acting as if the norm has been to download games instead of purchasing physical copies, and that the Switch is literally stuck at 32GB, and you can't add more storage through Micro SD.

Thats been the norm on PC since steam became popular, and even more on consoles since the current generation, where you have to install games to hard drive even if it is a physical copy.

The issue is all the hidden cost associated with the switch if you want anything beyond the base console and physical cartridges.

What hidden costs? We've known how it operates since before the console was launched.

Are we going to start circlejerking on how a tablet doesn't have a big, beefy 2.5-inch disk tucked in somewhere in the n-th dimension of space?
 
People are acting as if the norm has been to download games instead of purchasing physical copies, and that the Switch is literally stuck at 32GB, and you can't add more storage through Micro SD.

Thats been the norm on PC since steam became popular, and even more on consoles since the current generation, where you have to install games to hard drive even if it is a physical copy.

The issue is all the hidden cost associated with the switch if you want anything beyond the base console and physical cartridges.

What hidden costs? We've known how it operates since before the console was launched.

Are we going to start circlejerking on how a tablet doesn't have a big, beefy 2.5-inch disk tucked in somewhere in the n-th dimension of space?
he was talking about the very expensive peripherals and the fact that you'll have to buy an SDXC. it's simple, the Switch is very expensive for what it wants to be.

as for those "advocating" for cartridges: it's a freaking handheld. will you carry multiple cartridges with you? and Nintendo wants you to pay for online services so you can get better deals on the estore... this makes the paid subscription even more crappy than it already is.
 
he was talking about the very expensive peripherals and the fact that you'll have to buy an SDXC. it's simple, the Switch is very expensive for what it wants to be.

The very expensive peripherals that are par for the course for any set of 'pro'|high-grade controllers?
What about that, or the SDXC, that is a hidden cost? We've known all about it for a long time. I don't know what kind of world you live in, where a pair of cordless, motion-sensing, etc, etc controllers should cost less than bog-standard dualshocks.

as for those "advocating" for cartridges: it's a freaking handheld. will you carry multiple cartridges with you?

This is how I know you're trolling. "It's a freaking handheld! Nobody caries cartridges for their handheld!" Said no-one ever, who ever owned a handheld since the 90's. From the Gameboy to the 3DS, through every PS handheld, you took cartridges or disks with you for every single handheld you had. I'm guessing you never actually had one.

and Nintendo wants you to pay for online services so you can get better deals on the estore... this makes the paid subscription even more crappy than it already is.

You mean the $17-$27 yearly subscription? Yes, a crappy cash-grab for you money it is.
 
The very expensive peripherals that are par for the course for any set of 'pro'|high-grade controllers?
What about that, or the SDXC, that is a hidden cost? We've known all about it for a long time. I don't know what kind of world you live in, where a pair of cordless, motion-sensing, etc, etc controllers should cost less than bog-standard dualshocks.



This is how I know you're trolling. "It's a freaking handheld! Nobody caries cartridges for their handheld!" Said no-one ever, who ever owned a handheld since the 90's. From the Gameboy to the 3DS, through every PS handheld, you took cartridges or disks with you for every single handheld you had. I'm guessing you never actually had one.



You mean the $17-$27 yearly subscription? Yes, a crappy cash-grab for you money it is.
you have no idea what you are talking about dude. it's 2017 not the 90s. a cheap smartphone has more storage than the Switch.
I don't care how you spend your money, but don't try to sugar coat all of the stupid things Nintendo is doing.
you can download many games for the 3DS just fine as the biggest ones are between 250 and 500MB. (3DS XL has 4GB internal storage). you won't have to touch an SD for a very long time.
also you don't understand that only a small minority read tech news like we do. the majority don't even know that you have to pay to play online on the PS4/xbox one and they find out only after they buy the console.
as for the whole " advanced motion controllers", it uses the standard motion sensors (the DS4 also has six-axis motion sensors). the only thing they added was an "HD" rumble which might be better than what the PS4/Xbox controllers have and an IR sensor. (we have yet to see any games that take advantage of these 2 things)

EDIT:
all subscriptions for all consoles are shitty (just that nintendo is known to be more shitty when it comes to the internet). this is only a thing because people are gullible.

let's take an example of how much the average Joe pays to host his game on Amazon servers (AWS):

- an FPS game that has 10000 daily active users with 2000 peak concurrent players has to pay between 1000 and 2500$ per month (32-64 player servers).
- a MOBA game that has 10000 daily active users with 2000 peak concurrent players has to pay between 1500 and 3000$ per month (3.5k assuming that peaks are high all day long and your game uses a lot of bandwidth).

- if there are only monthly 10k who pay Nintendo will get 200k$ per month, but in general at 10k daily users we are talking about at least 5-10x more total players which means they will make millions.
- and let's face it, Nintendo won't get the average Joe prices for their servers.
- at worst Nintendo pays 0.1% for game servers
 
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you have no idea what you are talking about dude. it's 2017 not the 90s. a cheap smartphone has more storage than the Switch.
I don't care how you spend your money, but don't try to sugar coat all of the stupid things Nintendo is doing.
you can download many games for the 3DS just fine as the biggest ones are between 250 and 500MB. (3DS XL has 4GB internal storage). you won't have to touch an SD for a very long time.
also you don't understand that only a small minority read tech news like we do. the majority don't even know that you have to pay to play online on the PS4/xbox one and they find out only after they buy the console.

Some smartphones do have more storage than the Switch, but have you ever paused to consider why?
You can criticize and bash whatever the **** nintendo is doing, most people do, but have you taken the time to do an analysis, some critical thinking, on why things are?

Hardware isn't build at random, Nintendo didn't throw components at the wall and see what stuck.
When you're engineering a new piece of hardware you have three primary constraints: Cost, size and power.

Using your cheap smartphone example, you could try and run BotW on it, but it simply wouldn't. It doesn't have the power for it. You could make it more powerful, but that also would increase it's cost.

Let's assume you did beef it up, now you have a bigger handheld that can run BotW. It's bigger because, among other things, it also needs proper ventilation, or it'd do like the Note 7, so you have to increase the size as well. It can run it, but not for very long at all. You still have the 2-3k mAh battery, which will only last you an hour or two at the very best. So, you want a bigger battery. You swap it out with a bigger one, but you can't minimize batteries. So, to increase the battery, you increased again both the cost and size of your handheld.

So, your handheld is starting to get pretty big and pretty expensive. You have to cut down somewhere, or it'll be too expense and/or too big to be an attractive handheld for your customer base. You can't cut down in processing/graphical power, nor can you do it in the battery nor in the screen. At least, not beyond a certain point. But you still have compromises to make.

A very attractive compromise that you can make is the disk size. Your games will come in essentially SD card roms, you won't need much disk space at all for your consumers who buy physical. For those who buy digital, you can use SD cards, which have the added benefit of being modular. You can have 10 games in one, 12 in another and just carry them both and swap them out, seeing as the cards don't occupy much space at all. This is beneficial, seeing as you're not charging consumers for disk space they might not use and are cutting down both on the price and size of the handheld itself.

---
Of course, this is all an anecdote, but it should be roughly how the process went. There are no miracles in hardware. Could it come with more onboard memory? Sure, but you'd be paying for it.

you have no idea what you are talking about dude. it's 2017 not the 90s.

And yet, we still carry cartridges, disks and I still don't have a hoverboard.

a cheap smartphone has more storage than the Switch.

And a lot less processing and graphical power, a small battery, a worse screen and no controllers!

you can download many games for the 3DS just fine as the biggest ones are between 250 and 500MB. (3DS XL has 4GB internal storage). you won't have to touch an SD for a very long time.

And you blame me of not knowing what I'm talking about. HAH. Here's a handy list for reference. Those aren't even the biggest ones. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is 21,330 Blocks / 2667MB, nearly 2.7 GB. Pokemon X and Y are 1.7 GB. Pokemon Sun and Moon? 3.2 GB. SSB4 ? Also a handy 2.1 GB. Next time, use Google first.

The first thing I had to do when I got a 3DS, was getting a decent SD card.

I don't care how you spend your money, but don't try to sugar coat all of the stupid things Nintendo is doing.

And I don't care how you spend your time, but please don't spread misinformation.

also you don't understand that only a small minority read tech news like we do. the majority don't even know that you have to pay to play online on the PS4/xbox one and they find out only after they buy the console.

The onus is on the consumer, to inform themselves. The information is available and well publicized, that's not an argument.
 
@Mr Dude did you just really say that smartphones have worse screens that the Switch? are you that delusional? and are you also on some shrooms when you are talking about the Switch's power? The CPU on it is weak and when it comes to GPU, the are already SOCs that definitely have better performance. It's not that you can't run Zelda on them, it's that Zelda won't be released outside the Nintendo ecosystem.

And no, nobody believes that having more SD cards is beneficial, it's just an annoyance that could have been avoided, especially for their asking price.
You should also read the edit I made in the last post to see just how much companies like MS/Sony actually pay for their game servers. The reason why you don't see it happening on PC is because game servers only need a few cents for every player, which you already pay when you buy the game.

yes, I was wrong about the game sizes on the 3DS (I did google, but I may have read something old), but that's about it. the rest are pretty much facts that you chose to ignore.
 
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@Puiu Well trolled. I'm not going to continue the conversation, seeing as it's entirely pointless.
indeed it's pointless when the guy you are talking to has his "Nintendo is never wrong" glasses on all the time.
Or when the guy who is reading has his "The Switch is the worst console ever" glasses on all the time. You just garbage it every post you can, since the release of the previews.

Long story short, you can buy an additional m-SDCard for $15 for additional 32gb, yet if they had to sell the Switch with more internal storage, it would've needed a bigger and more expensive drive, which means easily an added $50 (Yeah like... check a phone with multiple storage options and how much it goes from 32gb to 64gb to 128gb, it's like, yeah, really expensive to do one upgrade) and imagine what "ooooh nooooooooes the Switch is too expensive, damn Nintendo and their cash grabs techniques"...

"Cheap" smartphones don't have more storage than the Switch, the standard is switching slowly from 16gb to 32gb and there are even some that are still being sold on 8gb... unless by "Cheap" smartphones you are referring to iphones or flag-ships (Or Chinese knock offs). Heck the Moto G's which are medium range phones on the cheap side come in 16gb with the option for 32gb.
 
I love reading about people who don't live day in and day out of an engineer and crafting technology that balances between cost, function, ergonomics and performance, have so much to say about what they did wrong then continue to surf away at the internet all day just tossing around how much trash said technology is because they didn't include more than 32GB like it was an intentional decision by the engineers to cripple their own work.

That or they seem to think that what doesn't please them shouldn't please others like the cartridge argument. One thing I can say about that is I recently acquired a 3DS XL and have only purchased ~2 games but yet have run about 8 games, physical games mind you, on it to see if I liked it. Wanna know how? A co-worker dumped a handful on me to see if I liked any. I don't see how physical media is a bad thing by any means.

If you don't like what the Switch has to offer, don't purchase one. I don't see what the problem is.
 
@Mr Dude did you just really say that smartphones have worse screens that the Switch? are you that delusional? and are you also on some shrooms when you are talking about the Switch's power? The CPU on it is weak and when it comes to GPU, the are already SOCs that definitely have better performance. It's not that you can't run Zelda on them, it's that Zelda won't be released outside the Nintendo ecosystem.

And no, nobody believes that having more SD cards is beneficial, it's just an annoyance that could have been avoided, especially for their asking price.
You should also read the edit I made in the last post to see just how much companies like MS/Sony actually pay for their game servers. The reason why you don't see it happening on PC is because game servers only need a few cents for every player, which you already pay when you buy the game.

yes, I was wrong about the game sizes on the 3DS (I did google, but I may have read something old), but that's about it. the rest are pretty much facts that you chose to ignore.


You most likely haven't seen the teardown video that has already surfaced. The amount of tech stuffed I to that housing is very impressive. As others have stated throwing in more memory adds cost, heat, and takes more space. As for the GPU it is a highly modified X1 so much so that it is as close to being a new chip without being a new chip. Show us a mobile GPU that is better than Nvidia's for what it can do. As others have stated you are a troll through and through. Go and bug your mom for some more money to buy candy and quit consistently being a hater.
 
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