Topic: Setting up Second Switch (for 5yo)

Hey folks!

While I have done a lot of research and think I have most of the rules straight in my head, there is still clearly a missing piece to get everything working ok in terms of accounts and permissions.

I have a Switch OLED and gave my original to my son, who is 5. So let's say that I want us to have separate profiles......I have a family membership and I can add him as a second, right?

I can share digital games between us, but on the second Switch, it is only if the console is connected online (and we can't play the same game simultaneously).

But I think where my problem is, is that my Switch is primary (with my account) and his is secondary (with his account). So him being able to play a digital game that I buy will only work with my profile on the second Switch, right?

So how do I work this? If I make his Switch primary, will it have to have both my profile and his on it? Do I have to buy games on that (primary) console each time? Can I still enact parental controls on it? And then, does that mean that I am the one who has to be online all the time to play the games I purchased since I'm the secondary?

I feel like Nintendo should have set this up a little better, that you could verify a small child on the second switch and let them play the games purchased by the family account owner........unless they did and I am just missing something.....because right now, I reverted to having only my profile on both Switches (fine while he is 5 but he may eventually want his own identity, esp for Mario Kart when he eventually discovers the online playing) and on his, I have the purchasing requiring a password while on mine, it's open. I'd rather he not have the ability to alter my profile accidentally or get into some of those settings.

Thanks for any advice.

@cordova94 I can partly answer. The switch ecosystem is designed to prevent family and friends from sharing digital games or nintendo accounts across consoles. The primar & non-primary system is designed for one owner, where only one console is used at a time - a switch for tv, and a switch for on-the-go (like the commerical). So, yeah, unless you have physical gems to share, your kid's console will need it's own account and its own games (buying games for that console).

The hassle you're encountering with two consoles IS what people have to put up with to share games, which is serious pain. For most everyone, it's untenable.

I don't have experience with maintaining two separate consoles & eshop otherwise to answer the rest of your questions. Unless someone else with a family speaks up, nintendo support pages, or the support phone line may be a quicker way to find answers (and they'll be reliable. There's always a chance one of us regular folk, here, will not have a tight grasp on the details of multiple consoles with a family.)

Ahhh thank you so much. I have actually never seen a commercial so I definitely misinterpreted the purpose of a primary and secondary console. I thought it was to allow families in the same house (especially with younger kids) to be able to share games like Animal Crossing and have their own islands and profiles for game scores and such. That's somewhat disappointing, only because most of my games are digital as well.....and of course, I'm not about to attach my credit card to my son's profile so him buying directly is a challenge.

Ok so, if I have a family membership and he has a profile under that, does that mean I can have one Switch attached to me and one attached to him and both will be primary since they are attached to different people (even under one family account)? Or does the family account owner need to maintain a profile on all switches?

Again, thank you!

@Raiko @WoomyNNYes thanks both of you! I think I have it straight now and I appreciate the great info.

@Raiko glad it isn't just me, haha. You did answer my questions. The Switch has reminded me how old I am......"in my day" game consoles were much simpler.

@cordova94 Just to add to what's already been explained, the family membership is only for the online service and you don't actually need it if your son isn't going online with his user.

As others have said:
Primary console = All users can play games bought on your account.
Secondary console = Only the account that bought the game can play it.

As mentioned, you can get around it by making your Son's Switch your primary, but one major restriction that I don't think was mentioned is that on a secondary console you need an online connection to check whether the account has permission to play - it's essentially checking you bought the title and you're not also playing it on your account with another Switch.

@dmcc0 I'll pretend I didn't hear that part just so I don't have to lament paying a lot more for my membership than I had to.......

Yeah, I gotta think a little about how (or if) I want to do this.......right now it's just my profile on both and he doesn't really know the difference yet........which gives me time to figure out what will work best for us......if it does turn out that the family membership is not required, then I suppose that might be my queue to drop back to individual and just activate the expansion, though I've already bought the ANCH HHP and MK8 DLCs separately so I'm not sure it will offer me much more than Paper Mario.

@cordova94 If nothing else, adding him to the family NSO will give access to all the NES/SNES games so not a total waste if you've already paid for the year.

Remember you can add up to 8 users on the family plan, and they don't have to actually be family or even live at the same address so you could add friends, relatives, neighbours etc and spread the cost a bit.