Apologies if I ask silly questions, I am not v technical!
So, we have a Nintendo Switch already as a 'family' console which lives in the living room so all can use. We are about to buy another one for our 13 year old daughter who desperately wants one as 'her own' (so she can take it to her room, over to see friends etc (when Coronavirus is over!). A couple of questions...
1) We have always bought games as physical cartridges. I like the fact that when the kids loose interest I can then resell them on ebay. I'm guessing you can't 'resell' downloads?
2) She wants downloads but I'm keen on cartridges (for the above reason). Are there any downsides to downloads, eg. do they take up storage on your Switch console and what effect does that have?
3) Are there any positives to downloads that I might not have considered?
4) Are multiplayer games still possible with a cartridge?
5) For multiplayer games, do you still need to get a family account even if you have bought the game (either as a download or a cartridge)?
6) Is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe a multiplayer game?
7) Is Animal Crossing New Horizons a multiplayer game?
Thank you!
I too prefer physical media, but if there's one advantage to download games for someone who plays using a television, it's much more convenient not having to swap out the game cards when I want to play something else. The main downside is that you cannot sell a downloaded game.
Multiplayer is the same between physical and digital - with some games, you can even play in groups that mix the two, but if you're playing over the Internet, a 'Nintendo Online' subscription will be required.
Both Mario Kart 8 and Animal Crossing not only allow multiplayer, but also allow local multiplayer to various degrees. In this case, a Nintendo Online subscription is not required.
@Mummylonglegs Not to worry, that's what a forum is for: to help people out.
The answers to your questions:
1) No, you can't resell downloads.
2) Downsides to downloads are not being able to trade in/resell, and ownership longevity issues, such as: what happens when the servers go down, and the game can't be re-downloaded anymore? This could be a thing when you buy a new SD card for extra storage, or you have to move, for whatever reason, your account and games to another console. Cartridges are sturdy, and will more than likely outlast any such issues, and can of course be used on multiple consoles, such as when she's over at a friend's house and they want to play each other's games.
3) Positives to downloads are like @edhe said, not having to get up from the couch to switch out cartridges to play another game, and you'll always have a decent library of games ready to go, if you already have multiple titles downloaded. Personally, I have a mix of both: all first party Nintendo games as physical, and smaller games as downloads. Especially some so-called "indie" games, which is short for "independent developer" are only available in digital form, and there's plenty of REALLY good games among them, so limiting yourself to cartridge only, just for the sake of it, may not always be to your own benefit, because you might just miss out on quite a few great or entertaining games.
4) Yes, multiplayer games are possible with one cartridge. The Switch itself is already a two player console by default, due to the detachable controllers, and if you buy an extra set, you could play a four player game on the TV, or in table top mode. There's plenty of games that support this, especially Nintendo's own titles.
5) No, you don't NEED to buy Nintendo Online account to play multiplayer, as long as it's local multiplayer. If you want to play online, there are some examples of games that offer parts of their game with built-in online functionality (such as in the examples mentioned by @edhe), but most other games do require Nintendo online. But you don't need a family account for one console, unless you want to make multiple separate accounts to play online. If you take a single online membership, and tie it to one account, then everyone can play online on that one account, just not at the same time. And you'd need multiple consoles for a lot of games anyway, to be able to play online with multiple people.
6) Yes, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a multiplayer game , but you can also play the game in single player mode.
7) The same goes for Animal Crossing New Horizons.
EDIT:
I somehow overlooked the fact that you mentioned having one Switch in the house already, so a family membership for Nintendo Online would actually be advisable.
On a side note: you can make that cheaper, if you can find other people to share in the membership, because it can be used by up to 8 people, so if you know of any family or friends that also have a Switch, but no online, then you could ask them if they'd be interested for a couple of pounds per year. (total cost per year for a family membership is £31.49, so you can divide that by 8, for the cost per user, which is roughly £3.95)
@Mummylonglegs Just a heads up, I don't think it's been mentioned above, Animal Crossing game progress cannot be transferred to another console. So, if your daughter started an Animal Crossing game on your fiRst Switch, she'll have to start over on the new Switch. It's a bummer, but Nintendo was trying to prevent cheating/hacking.
Apologies if I ask silly questions, I am not v technical!
So, we have a Nintendo Switch already as a 'family' console which lives in the living room so all can use. We are about to buy another one for our 13 year old daughter who desperately wants one as 'her own' (so she can take it to her room, over to see friends etc (when Coronavirus is over!). A couple of questions...
Nothing wrong with asking that's how you get some questions answered.
1) We have always bought games as physical cartridges. I like the fact that when the kids loose interest I can then resell them on ebay. I'm guessing you can't 'resell' downloads?
That is one way to recover cost for games bought used or new compared to eShop. eShop can't be sold or transfered to another person-if transfer to another person that would be great but then again NIN would loose out on sales.
2) She wants downloads but I'm keen on cartridges (for the above reason). Are there any downsides to downloads, eg. do they take up storage on your Switch console and what effect does that have?
Some are only eShop and eventually a Publisher pickups the Digital to Physical conversion but that depends alot demands for that game. There are some Publisher that do that but that list is small.
3) Are there any positives to downloads that I might not have considered?
Digital is no Physical carts to handle or loose and sometimes cost less to purchase. Down - You will need a bigger then needed SD cart to store the downloads. aka you want a 400gb SD but if you downloads exceeds the 400gb SD then you will have to delete some games or data to allow more downloads. With the Physical all that it does is download DLC or updates leaving the Main Cart still playable.
4) Are multiplayer games still possible with a cartridge?
AFAIK yes but one must be the hosts for the game and some Games on the back will tells you what setup you need for Multiple players local or online or Lan setup. So look at the Game Description and that will info about the setups.
5) For multiplayer games, do you still need to get a family account even if you have bought the game (either as a download or a cartridge)?
That depends if it's a Online game then you will need a NIN family account depending on how many are playing everyone needs a NIN account to play Online games.
7) Is Animal Crossing New Horizons a multiplayer game?
Thank you!
Haven't tried multiplayer for ACNH but make sure others don't create their own world on the same Switch less they get their own Switch and want to play a ACNH on their unit they can't transferred to the new system.
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