Topic: Switch Discussion Thread (Year 3: But where are the folders??!?!)

[Nile Boogie Returns]

My new question. Since this is cartridge based and will be receiving some same-day third party support will the day-one patches save on the cartridge or the systems internal memory? I hope these are 64GB Carts that leaves some room for patches to save to the cart thereby saving hard drive room for other games.

[MagicCow64]

When's the last time anyone put out writable carts? I honestly don't know. Neither the DS or 3DS had writable memory on the carts, did they?

It's a really interesting question, and given the state of how the non-Nintendo true reality works, that could be a real issue. Surely they're not going to ship physical 64GB cards that will have to be re-written in almost the entirety to have the correct version of the game. At the same time, the main unit isn't going to be able to hold more than a few 64 gb installs, if even that off the shelf.

[ShyGuy]

I think the CARDriges will be ROMS because that is cheaper.

WiiU held up okay with updates on 32gb storage. Downloading eShop games is what pushed me over to an external hard drive. If you the consumer throw in a 128gb SD card for it should fill in the gap.

Remotely related, I seem to recall a rumor early on that Nintendo was going to go heavy into cloud saves with the NX.

[oohhboy]

Cloud saves wouldn't save any storage space, it's less than 1% of a games install. It is going to need at a minimum 256GB of on board storage, anything less and it is going to get real bad with all sorts of size limitations, DLC, patches. An additional SD Card slot will help, but they have to be generous with the in built-in and allow the SD to function fully unlike the WiiU where it was bloody pointless as you couldn't store anything important on it.

[ThePerm]

Didn't they drop SD card game storage on WiiU?

I hope they bring that back. I used USB flash , which worked fine, but I like the form factor of SD cards better.
I haven't bought a hard drive for this, but that would be great. Hard Drives are now the price point where they are more affordable. I used a hard drive for my Ouya, but I never used it on wii u because I'd rather use a vanilla hard drive for it.

@Shyguy. I think I remember reading an article that Nintendo bought a company that does cloud stuff a few years ago.

[Shaymin]

@Shaymin
Nintendo usually releases something around my birthday. March 27th. Traditionally Nintendo has released a console in the US on the third Sunday of November. I think Nintendo usually releases software on a Tuesday. So, likely They'll release the info on Feb 3rd, and release the system on  March 29th, which pretty much follows your two month rule. That's still 54 days for everyone to get hyped up.

This is the first full console release for Nintendo since they transitioned to a "retail = Friday" release schedule, though. The last thing that broke this rule was Pokemon XY, and that was a Saturday because of the same day worldwide release.

[Nile Boogie Returns]

So I just bought Gears 4 which requires an 11.GB update and a 54.6GB install  so another thing I am hoping for is the architecture of the NX is built around dropping the necessity of the Full Game Install since we will be running off of cartridge that should have a much higher data bandwidth that would make the difference in playing from the cart or HD negligible. This is for Passive Mode (Undocked) as it shouldn't make a difference when in Active Mode (Docked) and running at full power and speed.

[Agent-X-]

If Emily Roger's rumored specs are spot on, the NS will feature a mere 32 GB of internal storage.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'm hoping there will be dual SD card slots for unlimited storage expansion on the go.

and maybe the option to connect an external HDD to the dock (if there isn't already one in there), so you can local store all your data, and only carry on the Switch what you need for that day.

It looks like good 128GB microSD cards are as cheap as about $27 right now

[BlackNMild2k1]

Looks like Michael Ancel found an old unreleased/scrapped version of Rayman for the SNES
https://www.instagram.com/p/BL5fSliA2bD/

and now he wants to bring it to the Switch!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BL5f5XIAfa5/

[Shaymin]

I'm hoping there will be dual SD card slots for unlimited storage expansion on the go.

and maybe the option to connect an external HDD to the dock (if there isn't already one in there), so you can local store all your data, and only carry on the Switch what you need for that day.

It looks like good 128GB microSD cards are as cheap as about $27 right now

If the 3 port rumor (1 USB3, 2 USB2) ends up coming to pass, pretty sure that shouldn't be an issue.

[BlackNMild2k1]

that's on the dock I assume?

but what about the handheld? that needs a dual SD card slot

[Stogi]

Why dual?

[Soren]

I posted this image to the RFN podcast twitter after they had their discussion on storage and badly-optimized games. Mind you none of the games are digital. All physical copies.



Switch needs to be 500gb minimum. My PS4 feels like a Wii U Basic, I can only have a short amount of games installed. Hell, I've never had to fridge-clean my Wii U Basic model after I added a 250gb hard drive. But if Nintendo is going to work more with third-parties this time, it needs to offer storage solutions that are in line with competing systems. Otherwise some devs will balk at having to optimize more for one console than the other 2.

[Agent-X-]

@Soren Bingo!


They would have to be stupid to go with 32 GB of internal storage. I fear the only SD card slot they're going to offer is one that fits their proprietary cartridge.


We will have to wait and see, but until then SMDH that we even have to go through this discussion in 2016.


UPDATE: I'm also coming to the sad realization that the latest Pokemon game for 3DS is NOT even compatible with this thing. Any further support for the 3DS will have no benefit to this new hybrid portable, meaning basically that this thing has to wait for some brand new Pokemon title...


Why are they going the route of a proprietary SD cartridge? Are we still THAT worried about game piracy?....

[Spak-Spang]

Just because a Pokemon Port has not yet been announced doesn't mean it won't be announced. 

And the question between SD Card Support or Hard Drive Support is simple.  Can you read fast enough from an SD Card to support downloaded games? 

If so then having an SD Card as your Hard Drive seems pretty OK to me. 

[Agent-X-]

Spak-Spang, I don't think we're thinking about this the same way.


Here's how I'm seeing it, and maybe I'm missing the obvious. So we have the tablet that is the NS, correct? Inside the tablet is an internal storage of 32 GB. I imagine that this storage will be in the form of a micro-SD card just like a tablet or smart phone. Expect that opening up the NS voids the warranty.


Now let's assume they provide just the cartridge slot for their proprietary SD cartridges. It's possible there will be free space on those cartridges for updates and DLC, etc. I'm not going to assume anything, though.


I don't expect the tablet will have USB ports for external storage. I don't expect a second SD card slot, BUT if the device doesn't have one, how is the NS going to handle large software updates? 32 GB is small by comparison. Just a few games will chew that up once you start including DLC like extra map packs, extra race tracks, etc.


This isn't a question of whether SD cards are fast enough to be storage. They absolutely are. SSD (including flash memory) is blazing fast. The problem is I'm skeptical Nintendo will include a standard SD slot let alone dual card slots. How are you supposed to store game updates and DLC if there's only one card slot and extremely limited 32 GB internal storage?

[Nile Boogie Returns]

@Soren Bingo!


They would have to be stupid to go with 32 GB of internal storage. I fear the only SD card slot they're going to offer is one that fits their proprietary cartridge.


We will have to wait and see, but until then SMDH that we even have to go through this discussion in 2016.


UPDATE: I'm also coming to the sad realization that the latest Pokemon game for 3DS is NOT even compatible with this thing. Any further support for the 3DS will have no benefit to this new hybrid portable, meaning basically that this thing has to wait for some brand new Pokemon title...


Why are they going the route of a proprietary SD cartridge? Are we still THAT worried about game piracy?....

The Wii, Wii U, and 3DS all have SD support and the 3DS has that for game storage. I am fairly certain Nintendo has to allow for removable storage for a portable system with console level complexities. You shouldn't need to install the retail games physical game since the speed of the read/write cartridge should be a nominal difference from the internal memory. eShop games are a different deal and are going to require more than 32GB. Infinite Warfare won't fit on 32GB and Nintendo is not that daft. 


There absolutely with be both SD cards and Game Cards on the tablet. 100%


@Agent-x I think (hope) nintendo ships all games on 64GB cards and level a partition on every cart for the updates and patches and DLC. I think this optimizes both performance and barratry life.

[Spak-Spang]

Well  we haven't seen the bottom of the device yet.  All I know is that if you want 500 GB of Flash memory that costs money, and will raise the price possibly higher than you want.  This is one of the areas Nintendo is going to compromise on.  So I expect to see 64 GB to 128 GB.  That means for games we are going to need external storage.  There are a few options Nintendo can do.

1) Include memory in the Dock that you can easily and quickly juggle games between Dock and System.  I don't think this will happen because the Dock is being included in the price.  I think it is a simple charging dock and device to connect to the TV only.

2) SD Card Support.  Nintendo has shown that they like the SD memory solution.  These Days it is fast, and cheap.  It would be completely easy for Nintendo to allow game installs on SD memory and players could bring and organize their collection with 1-3 SD cards.  Not a perfect solution, but if the SD card is easy to access and remove then this will work.  And again this could easily be on the bottom of the device. 

3) Special Memory Cards that are basically blank Switch Carts.  I don't think Nintendo will want to go this way because of the possibility of piracy, but perhaps they decide to do this.  That means that  A) Like you said carts will have enough memory on them for saves and perhaps updates.  B)  Nintendo will be making money on selling special memory cards good for Nintendo bad for us.  I also don't think this will happen.  The SD card seems most likely.

To me SD storage just makes perfect since with a portable system.   

[Ian Sane]

This storage space talk is kind of freaking me out because if there is a way Nintendo could screw up this whole thing it would be something stupid like too little or too restrictive of storage.  There are details that have not been revealed yet like that or battery life, online infrastructure, price, etc. that if buggered up could sink the whole thing.  This all seems like obvious stuff but I usually don't fear Nintendo screwing up the hard stuff.  They've always been the camper that remembered everything but the tent.

People download games these days.  As for as I know every Wii U or 3DS game is available as a digital purchase.  This has to accommodate that.  In a portable system there is a considerable benefit to being able to bring your entire library with you at all times and they should know that from the 3DS.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Why dual?

Wishful thinking mostly...
Because people will want lots of storage if they are going to be taking this thing around with them, and no one wants to constantly swap out microSD cards.

I posted a link to Amazon earlier that pointed at a 128GB microSD card for ~$27.00 and being able to put 2 of those as external storage would give me an additional 256GB ontop of whatever the system had internally. You could spend $150+ on a 256GB card... but 2x128GB is the price of a game, and allows you to have 1 SD card strictly be for eShop/VC purchases/apps, and then the other SD card could have pics, music, videos, game saves and whatever other random stuff you wish to carry on that extra card.

and besides, to include a 2nd SD card reader is really cheap. Much cheaper than bumping up the internal storage while still allowing cheap memory expansion.

[Spak-Spang]

I think this is a big enough system.  Nintendo needs to just support full sized SD cards.  I think they are easier and safer when traveling.

[crashnnburn]

So I don't want to be all negative nancy with the Switch, but several points that have me worried.

First, how big will the pad be? It looks well sized in some scenes, but then in the basketball scene where 4 guys are looking at the pad it looks so tiny. I think a good size at least would be around 8-10 inches. I mean you're gonna play console level games not notepad crappy games.

Second, an ipad 9 inch is $300.00. If all goes well, the Switch is probably going to be around $250 - $300. How will this console be so powerful and play the latest games and be the same price as an iPad that can play candy crush and angry birds? It just doesn't add up to me.

And well the rest of the things already mentioned, heat... battery life... space.

I think that a great idea would be if Nintendo decides to tier the Switch's docking station. Offer 2 or more versions. The Pro version will have a better processor to help the Switch play AAA titles at max graphics 1080p 60fps games when it's docked. Something of that nature would be excellent.

And I think they won't leave the 3DS market cause of the Switch. I'm pretty sure I read something they said in regards to the NX not being a replacement of the WiiU or the 3DS. Besides, the 3DS has 2 screens and very different market, that one fits in your pocket.

Lastly, I remember I saw a rumor a long time ago about NX running on Android or something like that. Maybe, since it's a pad, it might have a Android Emulator or something of that sort. This way they would have the whole google play store library in their hands. You can play any games you want, from mobile to console. And with them getting into the mobile sector, it's a possibility

[ThePerm]

With microSD you can always store them inside adapter sleeves.

@crashnburn. You will have options for your pads. Nintendo is good about that. There were rumors a few months back that it might connect to a bunch of bluetooth devices. Meaning you might be able to connect an xbox or playstation controller to it. I think the little controllers are if your in a bind and just want to set up a game real quick.

for your power question.  The nvidia shield k1 is a tablet and it costs $200 and its in terms of power in the middle of an xbox360 and an xbox one.

[ShyGuy]

Switch developers will have to use more compression for their games. If you look at the install sizes of cross-gen games for Sony and MS, the sizes would balloon up, even if the textures and audio files weren't that much different in quality.