Big games for Switch 2 are... big. Yes, it's silly to write and read, but the reality is that AAA games developed for the new console are big! The device's display capabilities, significantly higher than those of the Switch 1, also require heavier textures — Nvidia's DLSS can only do so much.
Expanded storage, but beware the price
And the console's raw performance also gives developers the opportunity to design larger games. Mario Kart World is certainly a kart simulation, but it's also an open world with plenty of activities and things to discover. Result: the game is three times larger than the previous installment (23.4 GB compared to around 7 GB).
This is why players may quickly feel cramped in the 256 GB of the Switch 2 (the operating system alone takes up around twenty). Don't panic, Nintendo offers a solution: a microSD card slot. But don't plan on using the microSD card from your old Switch 1 in your brand new Switch 2.
The console requires a very specific type of SD card: a microSD Express card. The read and write speed is higher than traditional microSD cards; in fact, it's close to the performance of an NVMe SSD, with a theoretical maximum speed of 985 MB/s via PCIe Gen3x1. By comparison, a microSD for the Switch 1 boasts a UHS-I speed of 95MB/s…
Such speeds are necessary to "transport" the textures and environments of the most demanding games. The problem is that these famous MicroSD Express cards remain relatively uncommon. The Switch 2 and its likely success will accelerate production rates and therefore lower prices (let's hope!), but in the meantime these cards represent a small investment.
Nintendo sells a 256GB microSD Express card for €60, when you can find a "basic" microSD card of the same capacity for around twenty euros. When purchasing, you should pay close attention to the description and the image of the card, which should have an "EX" symbol.
But the biggest problem right now is finding microSD Express cards! And in particular the high-capacity models (512 GB, 1TB, up to 2TB). The launch of the Switch 2 depleted stocks that weren't huge at the start. The best thing to do is to wait a few weeks until the launch hype dies down a bit and suppliers' manufacturing capacities gain muscle. There's still a bit of margin in the console's 256GB...
However, don't throw away your old microSD cards! The Switch 2 can use them to load screenshots and videos recorded from a Switch 1. But that's it: a microSD card does not allow you to save or access game data, nor of course to load a game stored on the card.
Source: Nintendo
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