The Nintendo Switch is set to arrive next week, and while, for the most part, that’s an exciting prospect, it seems as though there might already be an issue surrounding the size of the internal memory on the console. Set at 32GB, it’s not a bad capacity, but obviously some is taken up already by the operating system.
Nintendo have previously pointed this out, and added that the Switch’s internal memory can be boosted by using a micro SD card. Not too much of a problem, you would think, except now the size of some of the launch games has become clear - and that’s where the issues arise.
Kotaku is reporting the digital download sizes for various Switch launch titles (or those set to be released soon after), and it’s fair to say that having a micro SD card won’t just be a luxury, it’ll be a necessity if you want to hold more than two or three games in the internal memory. Legend of Zelda: Breath of Wild will take up 13.4 GB, while Disgaea 5 comes in at 5.9GB. The soon to be released Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will use just over 7GB. That means that Breath of Wild will take up over half the available storage space, when accounting for necessary OS usage, but it turns out that one game won’t even be able to fit on the internal memory at all.
Dragon Quest Heroes, which will launch in Japan (no date given for its release here, yet), takes up 32GB of storage, meaning an SD card - and a pretty good one at that - will be absolutely essential if you wish to download the game. It’s worth remembering, of course, that Switch games will also be available in cartridge format, and also, the idea of using an additional SD card isn’t exactly new; the 3DS used them too.
That said, it is irritating to realize that buyers will have to factor in that additional cost as well, when they purchase the Switch, otherwise they’ll soon run out of space. Nintendo have also previously stated that the SDXC standard will support SD cards with up to 2TB of storage; though these are not out yet, it’s still worth bearing it in mind. While the console won’t support external USB Hard Drives, the company say they are looking at a way of doing this in the future.
For now, when using an SD card in the console, game save data will be stored on the internal memory, while data that can be redownloaded, such as digital games and game updates will be stored on the microSD card. In short, if you’re buying the Nintendo Switch and intend on purchasing your games digitally, make sure you have an SD card with a large capacity, if you want the option of having a decent-sized games library.
The Nintendo Switch arrives on March 3rd.
Source: Kotaku
