Nintendo Switch Memory Can Be Expanded Up To 2TB

I hope the people complaining about the lack of storage realize how ridiculous they sound now.

Amazon has a SanDisk 64GB MicroSDXC for just under £18 if you don't feel like dropping that much cash for 256GB, and 128GB for under £45.

I will be getting a Samsung Evo Select 256GB Micro SD card , that's their best card at the moment but there's a cheaper option for the 256 for 150 on amazon. At 256 I was thinking of going all digital but that wouldn't make sense considering I have Gamers Club Unlocked through Bestbuy .

that's future proofing i guess

good to hear Nintendo future proofing there expandability but that huge 256gb card is still expensive.

Physical games all the way. I'll buy a 64GB card if/when I fill up the internal storage.

Cartridges for me whenever possible. If the digital side picks up considerably, I will have no problem expanding it with a robust SD. My main problem with the PSP is the exorbitant prices of Sony Memory Sticks so I am always happy Nintendo uses standards ways to expand their consoles memory.

Will the reading speed and longevity of ssd cards be an issue though? TotalBiscuit discusses this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCrjI3O0fWY

I'll just start out with a 128GB MicroSD Card I already own, move on to a 256GB once the price has gone down. With my PS4 and Xbox One I pretty much only buy digital (easier and there's a huge amount of sales), but seeing how Nintendo hardly ever has any interesting sales and due to limited storage on the Switch, I'll be going physical for this one. I'm guessing 128GB should suffice for quite some time if I only use it for eShop games and Virtual Console.

Yup, the price and longevity are still an issue.

Games aren't on carts.

@Shiryu Sony loves their proprietary accessories.

Amazon US have a 200gb SanDisk one for $70 which is not bad. It's an extra $100 for for 256gb though.I reckon I'll be able to get that 200gb here in Thailand for around $50 . I'll go and have a look tomorrow.

Now if Nintendo can release their own brand Micro SD cards at £10 for 2TB, the SWiners can quiet down.

@Shiryu At least with the PSP you can get a Micro SD > Memory Stick Pro Duo Adapter and save a lot, unlike with the Vita memory cards.

It's all well and good expanding via a Micro SD, but, isn't the read/write speeds compromised as a result - or something to that effect?

Fantastic news! Now, those who prefer a digital library won't have to suffer the most common inconvenience associated with one. Let's hope Nintendo continues the forward-thinking.

If they kept the cost of a higher harddrive out by outsourcing it to microsd that works for me since I don't really buy much digitally, but I do think that 32GB is crazily low for a 2017 system that you will be looking to sell things digitally on.

Gosh...!!
2 TB ?!
Even bigger than Mama... I mean even bigger than ps4.

@Gauchorino
Yup.
First step is... cut the price just like 3DS.

I’ll be buying a 128 gb one. I’ll buy a bigger one once they are cheaper.

Its unlikely you will need 2TB even if you downloaded all your games for Switch. Nintendo's biggest game thus far was Xeneoblade Chronicles X for Wii U at just under 23GB & Zedla Breath of the Wild is only 14GB. It's just third parties that you'd need to watch out for. 256GB is enough to last anyone at least 2/3 years.

Physical is the way to go beybeeee.

64GB should be more than enough for my games. I only need the memory for DLC. I am a fanboy for boxed copies

Two things come to mind when talking about the Switch's memory.

Firstly, what file system will the micro SD cards need to be formatted as? Will it be the Switch's own, as was the case for the Wii U's external storage, or will it be a more standard one, which could potentially allow us to backup save data, etc. on a computer.

Secondly, will they introduce an option to copy a game from a game cartridge to the system so that you don't have to take multiple cartridges around with you? (This could be limited by a time limit, e.g. having to insert the game cartridge once a week or the copy will stop working.)

You can get 200GB Micro SD cards for £70 on Amazon at the moment. So quite why 256GB is double that is just bizarre. I'll likely pick up a 200GB one ready for launch. I'll use this card for Virtual Console and eShop only games because I'm sticking with trusty physical media for the most part.

128gb $35
200gb $75
256 $150

512gb should be out within a year after launch. Most cost effective is to get a 128gb (or multiples, most cases come with SD holders) but the 200 gives more wiggle room for slightly less value

Me? I ordered a 256gb. I don't care what it costs, I want my space. I'll upgrade to 512 once those release though I may need to sell a kidney to afford one

@Anti-Matter You can upgrade the PS4 to a 2TB Internal Hard drive too. It's not bigger, it's the same.

Hm... 32 GB is still very huge space for me since I can treat Switch like 3DS, Physical games only.

@DragonEleven It will format as nintendo's. When I upgrade the PS3 with a larger internal hard drive, it took as Sony's...can't be moved when I wanted it to for the PS4...had to buy another one for the PS4. Same goes for ones that you put into your computer, unless you find a way to be able to delete and re-format the entire hard drive. Other than that, it took awhile to fill the Wii U up, but as long as you buy the big games as cartridges, and just download e-shop games and virtual console games, that 32GB should last quite a while...even though the system itself will probably keep 15GB of that storage. I know the PS3 and PS4 keeps that much of the hard drive for updates.

I have a 2TB HD attached to the Wii U that's barely half full despite having gone fully digital since launch. I think I'll get a 128GB to start and replace when necessary.

@8-Bit_Link No, they're on flash memory based cards. Hence the name "Game Card". They're not on, or the same as ROM Cartridges

An other way for Nintendo to spend less money and force people to buy memory and still dare to ask €299. The xbone and PS4 are around €299 atm and we get 1TB. Nintendo your system is not that much stronger and yet you give us 32gb flash. That should be at least 256gb! I won't buy your system for €299. I'll wait for the price drop. I hate it when Nintendo does this

@EllenJMiller ... why didn't I ever think of this!? Genius!

1TB HDD cost £45.00 for my other console.
The equivalent on microSD cost hundreds. I download a lot of games so 500GB total SD will probably be what I am after and I only get good quality cards. That's over £180 added to £279 cost of the console right there totalling £459 to make it equal to the lower end XboxOne or PS4 regarding storage.

I understand it is what it is but I wish they still allowed for external USB HDD via the dock. I will probably never use it as a handheld anyway. I really hope they consider this in a future update.

Then again are they any USB ports on the dock?

It doesn't have usb for HDD?

@Dazza Destruictoid is also reporting that the Switch will support, down the road, external USB drives connected to the dock as another option to increase memory! Maybe you could look into that, too?

At least the hdmi cable and power supply comes in the box. Thanks Nintendo. Thanks for keeping your cost down and the people cost h

@oatmealwarrior92 Same here, I plan on mainly getting physical releases since I have the gamers club. Best Buy has saved me a ton with that...

Either way, I'll probably get at least 100 extra gigs at some point.

@Hotfusion I read that external (HDD) storage via dock is an option. Can't remember the source, but it's worth a search.

I have decided to go primarily physical with this generation, and I do plan on picking up the largest SD card that I can find at a reasonable price.

My concern is whether that will be enough space for patches and DLC.

Then again, if I run out of space used solely for these purposes, then that would be a pretty good problem to have.

@Alucard83 Had they included an HDD drive, you'd be complaining even louder about the price. They weren't going to hand it to you for free.

The vast majority of the people with inside-info that were talking about the specs of the Switch said that it wasn't going to be another PS4-like console. If that's what you were expecting, you only have yourself to blame.

Personally, and European retailers being screwy with the prices aside, I find the device well worth the money. The 3DS + Wii U combo was much more expensive than this, and it wasn't nearly as convenient; not for the consumer and certainly not for Nintendo.

All in all, I find the Switch well worth the price. That's the only thing that should matter when considering such a purchase, and not how it compares to the device you imagined it would be.

@dubsmachine
Nintendo said the dock is capable of USB drives, but they haven't decided whether to utilize it since it defeats the purpose of taking your system anywhere.

I say they need to activate it and let the gamer manage their own games. Swap data back and forth between HDD and microSD. Worst case scenario, buy physical and a microSD card. You'll never run out of space I don't think. Not buying physical anyways

But if they expect people to go digital, they need to activate the external HDD feature. No one is going to go all digital without it.

This is fantastic news. Storage was one of my main concerns so knowing that it will be able to keep up with the every growing micro sd cards makes me very happy.

I'll get one Samsung Eco 256GB to start. When 1TB or 2TB hit (hopefully this year) I'll upgrade.

@JaxonH I wouldn't be surprised if they are working on a system where every game gets installed to an External HDD - but you can select what games to keep updated and on the Switch for on the go.

Makes sense and wouldn't take too long to implement. I think..

As long as games installed on a removable SD card can actually be launched from there, and can appear in the regular menu.

Condemning games to the SD card menu on the Wii was almost the same as uninstalling them, as you never saw them, and had to wait for them to be copied onto the main flash memory every time you wanted to play them.

I didn't use the HDD expansion option for Wii U ever, but I expect it to have been considerably better.

@Alucard83 Both PS4's and Xbox Ones HDD's are 5400rpm, which are relatively cheap and SLOW, although still faster than reading from optical disc. That's why most games need to be installed to the HDD to avoid even longer loading times. So a large HDD is essential in those systems.
Because the Switch uses game cards, which are in essence small SDD's, the load times will be much faster and it won't be necessary to install the game on the internal 32 GB memory first before playing the game. So the internal memory is only used for patches and digital purchases. There could even be the possibility patches get stored on the game cards themselves, so it doesn't even claim your intern storage.
If you go all digital you'll need to buy a MicroSD for that sole purpose. But plenty of people, probably the majority won't, so it would be unfair for those consumers to have to pay for something they probably wont use.
And you wouldn't be happy if Nintendo put in a 256 GB SSD; it would make the Switch even more expensive, which would shrink the install base.

@JaxonH
So no usb on the unit that you carry around, this is a shame.
External usb micro drives are about £30-£40 for 128gb, cheaper than SD cards.

I hope they have some good software to handle hot swapping of sd cards.
Would be nice if the system itself kept a record of your installed games and asked you to insert sd card if it was on one

As if you are going to need that much. Nintendo has always been really good at keeping their games small. I'm going to pop a 128GB in mine and call it a day.

@JLPick Not necessarily... the Wii and 3DS systems use SD/microSD memory cards, but still use a standard file system, allowing you to backup the contents on a computer... seeing as the Switch also uses microSD memory cards, rather than external hard drives like the Wii U, then it may use a standard file system for them as well.

@dubsmachine
That's how I did it on the Vita.

When it launched, 32gb cards were $99.99 proprietary format. I got an 8gb for $29.99 and made due until I could afford a 32gb.

Then I got a 2nd and swapped out as needed. Finally imported a 64gb from Japan after it dropped to $85 (didn't sell them in the west) and I've made that work for all my games since. I have had to delete some games to make room but I've got all the really good ones on it. It helps when installs aren't mandatory. I couldn't imagine going digital only for Vita, and Switch may be the same way unless they utilize the external HDD feature.

But physical is cool, I like owning my games. They retain value

@motorhue Well for one we need to do an apples to apples comparison.

Taking the PS4 internal as an example, it actually has a lower average read speed than a regular hard drive you can buy on the market (read speed on the drive is more comparable to that of a mid-high end SD card).

Also, today's SD cards go into the 1,000,000 range in terms of reads. That would never be used up under normal wear and tear of the console during it's lifespan.

To take a real world comparison: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1K63YZ7932&cm_re=micro_sd--20-173-111--Product

That card is actually FASTER than the hard drive in the PS4 (Xbox One uses a similar hard drive). Also, 70% off at the moment in case anyone needs a MicroSD

Is this 32GB internal storage or is it a microSD card? I mean, is any microSD card we buy going to add to 32GB?

Aside from increasing memory, this would be useful to keep saves even when we uninstall games.

I've owned an O3DS for years and only had to delete a game from my 32Gb card last year. Granted, I buy a lot of games physically, but in Euro region, many aren't available in any other form to begin with.
I'll be okay with a 128gig for Switch, I think.

Yeah not happening, the Switch will already have died by the time 2TB cards become available and would've had two successors by the time they were affordable. Meanwhile on other consoles, you don't have that issue.

I'm back to buying physical.

Download-only was a waste of money. eShop download games never were as cheap as in the stores. I never got Bayonetta 2 or Tokyo Mirage Sessions because I could find them 20€ cheaper in the stores.

Also, I'm aware that SWITCH will most likely have a 300 game limit as well (just like Wii, DSi, 3DS, and Wii U), no matter how big the SD card.

For Wii a 16GB card was good enough to put 300 games on (games were 40MB max), and my Wii U 1TB harddrive also has 300 games and 400GB of unused wasted free space.

It'll depend. If the sales for digital software are better, I'll have put a huge card in just in case. Otherwise, my only issue with physical software was not really having the space to house them. That's solved with cartridges being used. Plus, I like being able to sell or trade in a game I know I probably won't play again.

@AVahne The current roadmap for the SD Association has TB range cards coming out by the end of this year.

@JaxonH There's a sale on Newegg right now for a high end 200GB Sandisk card for about $74 if you need one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1K63YZ7932&cm_re=micro_sd--20-173-111--Product

The real cost of the Switch: WAY TOO MUCH

@Ernest_The_Crab
Already got a 256gb in the mail and on the way

Nintendo needs to get into the the SD card business because these cards will be more expensive than the console.

@GammaPhonic But how will you earn points on My Nint--
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcSmlSok32g
Sorry, couldn't keep a straight face.

YES!!! That's all I needed to hear. I thought we were gonna need an external drive again like Wii u. 2tb capacity of flash memory has me sorted for the duration of Nintendo Switch. Never even half filled the 2tb I bought for the wii u

That's good, even if the cards cost an arm and a leg but still better then the Vita's "Limited Expensive Memory Cards" that you could only use on a Vita.

Its a pity they can't release like a "Deluxe Hub" stand in the future with 2TB memory inside. Yes, you won't take it with you, but we're not dumb enough that we can't choose what games to bring and leave at home....

I'm glad they've done it this way, I buy mainly physical but will probably download some vc (hopefully transfer my Wiiu VC library ) or snipperclips type games that are download only so will get a sd card, probably 128gb for now. At least I can choose what investment I want to put into storage space. I can also shop around and do it in my own time rather than Nintendo pander to the negative nancy's and '' I only buy digital crowd '' and pass on the resulting cost to me in an even more expensive Switch.

As for my ps4 & xbone, that 500gb on my ps4 fills up pretty quick with all the installs and day 1 patches even when you do buy physical. If I want more storage I've got to take it apart and install a bigger internal drive. Same with my Xbone regarding the initial 500gb filling up without even trying. At least with the Xbox it's as simple as just plugging an external dive in and it's so easy to manage swapping things from internal to external. You can even take just your hard drive to a friends house, sign in and play your games at their house.

With the Switch i'd try to get as much on my sd, keeping as much space free as possible on the Switch's internal

well i never go digital unless i have no choice but i think i will probably just buy cheap smaller cards if i have to and just keep swapping or should i say "SWITCH" them out, hey, hey...........

i'll get my coat

Physical all the way, however I have already decided on a 64gb just for the smaller VC games I will no doubt have to buy AGAIN(🙄!) from Nintendo, despite buying them on WiiU ... 3DS ... the wii ... not to mention the Mini NES Classic lol

For people going digital, this is the cheapest I have found.
128gb micro sd for £35.

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/4131164

I'm going physical but will be buying this as it will last me forever.

What is that smell? Oh, the smell of very expensive Nintendo made memorycards. Just as in the Gamecube-years!

On a sidenote: It surprised me quite a bit that Nintendo didn't flood their event with downloads. They love those, but they don't give us the memory!

@JaxonH "Nintendo said the dock is capable of USB drives, but they haven't decided whether to utilize it since it defeats the purpose of taking your system anywhere."

They'll activate it as soon as they realize like 90% of Switch owners undock their consoles like 3 times a year tops.

I'm so torn with this issue and need help! I preordered BotW physically of course which is fine but do I go all physical or all digital or both? My OCD says physical (so I can sell back I don't need anymore too) but my practical side says all digital. That's what I did with my N3DSXL and I gotta say, having 70+ games ready to go at all times was really nice.....

@jswhitfield8 I know...but it still isn't a lot once you think about it. Seems like with current systems, if they give you a bigger hard drive, the games or saves or downloads take up way more, to where they (and this is what I think) the companies try and get you to buy another console...which kind of makes sense, because they want to make as much money as possible. Other than that, I kind of wish it was like the Wii where you could add just a standard SD card for extra storage (at least they were cheap). The Micro's aren't too expensive, but they haven't gone down that much...PSP used them and they were outrageous at that time...at least we're not getting the ones that the VITA uses (far too expensive). Other than all of that, I'll be happy with the 32GB on the Switch for now. When it comes time, then I'll fork over the extra money for that...other than that, $60 for a card or $60 for a game...I'll take the game! Tax Return time is when I'll be updating the PS4, which is something I don't really want to do (all the headache of redownloading the games, updating everything and moving the save data back over...not my favorite part). Guess I'll wait and see how the save data is on the Switch...hopefully the save data is on the Game Cartridges themselves, and not the system...if that's the case, the 32GB will last for a few years!

@gatorboi352 That would be nice...buy an external hard drive that you can plug in and take out. Would be nice if it works that way!

@Henmii Playstation 2 memory cards were expensive too...and later on in the years (including Gamecube) the games took up more space on the cards so you had to go out and buy more cards. I kind of hope it's not going to be like that, but if it is, I hope they make large cards...I remember Gamecube only having 59 block cards for more than a year, before 4X cards were made, then it was a pain to move all the data over.

Yeah, I heard that those ps2 cards where also expensive. That's not very good.

At least the Switch CAN natively read games from the SD card slot, unlike the Wii U (there is that workaround though... https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/11/simple_workaround_allows_you_to_play_wii_u_games_off_an_sd_card).

I'm a physical media guru, but I may buy a small-capacity micro SD card if I truly need one. A lot of that will depend on VC games though.

I plan to play everything on hard copy initially, but eventually I will get the biggest microSD card my money can buy.

Lol at 2 TB. There's no way logical people would buy that--it would be more than the system itself once released.

The obvious question that should've been asked AND answered by now, is how the digital purchases are going to be linked. If it's account bound, I'll go 100% digital in a heartbeat(save for the occasional collectors and limited editions) If it's hardware bound, I'm sticking to physical copies. Nintendo needs to answer this question if they haven't done so already.

@JaxonH More than likely the 256Gb mSD card will go down I price by then lol. I was going to get a 128gb mSD card when they first came out for $200 and I decided not too. I waited like three months and I got it for $65 with prime shipping. When the switch comes out, the 256gb mSD will probably be around $80.

@RenanKJ The 32GB is internal. You can expand that by buying a mSD.

@Steven_the_2nd
?
Did you accidentally tag me? I know the 32gb is internal. I have a 256gb microSD on the way as we speak.

@JaxonH Lol the comment system screwed up. You were supposed to get the reply below. The one you got was for someone who asked if it was internal or included SD card.

"More than likely the 256Gb mSD card will go down I price by then lol. I was going to get a 128gb mSD card when they first came out for $200 and I decided not too. I waited like three months and I got it for $65 with prime shipping. When the switch comes out, the 256gb mSD will probably be around $80." All the best!

@MarcelRguez i just ordered a 200 GB one off of Amazon for 65 (usa). That should last me until they let us use external drives with the dock.

@MarcelRguez comment #1 If only that were true, but you know that "real" Nintendo fans will continue to complain across generations of consoles about all that they didn't get and the things that they would have done oh so much better when they would have been the CEO of Nintendo...

With most games being around 20GB or more, you won't be able to have many games downloaded at once. That's about 12 games downloaded at once if they're all around 20GB on a 256GB Card... Then you also have to consider saves and other information it needs space for.

2TB SD Cards don't currently exist and the price of them will be insane. Wait... here's an idea, why not use expandable storage via USB? You know, HARD DRIVES? They are currently cheap as chips and have sizes varying from 500GB to 5TB. SD Cards are good for phones, nothing more.

@DESS-M-8 yeah same here but if we end up with more games than Wii U we will need more! Lol please let this be true lol. Not having enough storage because you have way too many games is a problem i think we all would want for Switch.

On Wii U i have 70% of my games digital and the rest physical.

@Chris720 There is a USB 3.0 port on the back of the dock, right above where you plug in the power cable. Also Zelda is 13.4GB. Other games will range probably from 500mb to 30GB. Really in theory you could have your favorite games on the switch and then transfer over the ones you want to play onto the Switch. Yeah I know there is some people who just love to have everything on them, but really how many games will you need to carry around with you. At the moment 256gb is enough.

@jaymacx That's a good catch. I'm not too sure about to what extent Nintendo will allow the use of USB storage, however.

@ThanosReXXX To be completely honest, I'm extremely disappointed in the fanbase's reaction to the Switch. There's nothing wrong with being critical and there are aspects of the console I'm not happy with (launch catalog and the lack of info in online services, mainly), but the overreactions and lack of common sense are disheartening.

I mean half of the posts in this comments section are just sad. Drama queens, the lot of them.

@jaymacx my entire PS3, PS4, 3DS and Wii u library are 100%
Tempted to go back to cartridges after I found out Switch was cartridges. But if the flash storage will go up to 2gb I'm in!

Because of Moore's law, there's no need to worry about the memory capacity of a device that can have expandable memory. Complaining about the Switch's memory is starting to sound silly since you can just get a beefy Mirco SD, but I hear less complaints about IOS devices that only have internal memory.

I think the people on here praising Nintendo saying the memory can be expandable to 2TB are in La La land.........and who pays for it!!!!!!!!!! Not Nintendo but you the public, the Switch isn't £280, it's now £330/£350/£370 and the costs keep on growing. There should already be at least 500Gb in side it in the first place.

I'm going physical for most games, mainly because I love the design of the game cases for Switch. However I'm still gonna get myself a pretty decent sized Micro SD, as i'm hoping we'll get good a good amount of digital only and Virtual Console games.

@Shiryu It was the first thing I looked for when I found a PSP in a charity shop almost brand new for £25.

@EllenJMiller Nice! Mine was 50€.

that's great news for me, I like to download games but I had pre-ordered Zelda in a box out of concern. now I can cancel that order and start looking for a good size sd card.

for right now I would be more interested in knowing whether it's possible to simply swap SD cards! this would be great because then you have basically unlimited memory for a very low cost.
right now the most GB per money are offered by 64 and 128 GB microSD cards so you could just buy a couple of those and swap them as needed.
I saw at least one third-party switch gamecard case that had two spaces for microSD cards, so I'm hopeful!

OK, that's amazing. 2 TB. Wow. Nice one Nintendo.

Going to Walmart today to pick up a 128gb microsdxc card for $45. That should be more than enough space for me since I buy mostly retail for the bigger games. If I need any more memory I'll just buy another 128gb card.

As much as I'd love to have all the games digitally, the memory restrictions are making it seem a lot easier to just buy all games physically to save space...especially since they didn't allow for full-size, larger, faster SD cards, only MicroSD which only goes up to 256GB right now.

I'm probably going to get a 128gb card and upgrade when needed. I like to download games I expect to play constantly and buy the rest physical.

ill do whatever needed to keep my switch dl only.

@jswhitfield8
What you say is true regarding different storage requirements between the consoles.

But that doesn't change the fact that I used up over 400GB on the WiiU external HDD with game downloads. I am speaking from my own experiences with Nintendo consoles. If I did 400GB on the WiiU why not the Switch?

Yes, again you are right with Nintendo stupid pricing, but at launch the price is the same retail as download and that's when I usually buy games I want.
If I buy a game long after it has been launch I would always buy retail disc because it is way cheaper.

Thanks for letting me know it has USB ports on the dock.
If they do confirm that external HDDs work with system then I will be very happy as I won't need any SD cards as my Switch will most likely never leave its dock.

@Splatmaster
"I think the people on here praising Nintendo saying the memory can be expandable to 2TB are in La La land...and who pays for it!!!!!!!!!! Not Nintendo but you the public, the Switch isn't £280, it's now £330/£350/£370 and the costs keep on growing."

They don't see it the way you do - and very likely the thinking public. They are fanbs of the system. I understand their reasoning. I don't buy into it but I understand it.

Don't forget to throw in the play online cost soon to be added.

@MarcelRguez Yep, sad but true. After having made a long comment in this thread I was already done for the day with all these whiners and glass half empty prophets...

@JaxonH Homeless people make good targets for kidney extraction. How do I know this? Oh um...I have a cousin that works at Nintendo?

@MarcelRguez it lacks storage lol even ps3 has more storage than switch.

@MarcelRguez and not to mention the price of the sd cards lol only a dumb stupido would pay so much for 256 gb...

Can someone please explain why physical would be better then digital? Why would I want to carry around a bunch of game cartridges when I could have them all on the switch. I don't care about price or trading in the games so what would be the benefit are they faster? Better performance?

I've already got two 128 gig cards I'm not using. Ironically, they were standbys for my Nvidia Shield when I ran out of memory on the current card. Hopefully, the Switch supports the 2 different cards I have. I guess it'd make sense to get a bigger card too. Hmm.

@8-Bit_Link
I agree, they are both cartridges using read only memory. Similar to 3ds, vita, mega drive, whatever. All cartridges.

@Dakt Nah, nah, don't skimp on anything 128GB and above, get at least the 150 MB/s, UHS-II/U3 model. It's comparable to SSD speeds. Trust me, the extra £10 or so is worth it.

So, that means no external hard drives? All my Wii U games are forever locked to that system. That kind of sucks since I intend to use my Switch as home system, and I get the issues with installing and detaching from the dock and the game not carrying over, but it'll just be odd for me I guess since I'm not always aware of sd card memory compared to my hard drive.
On a side note; what's the point of the USB plugs on the dock then? Charging the pro controller and charging grip sure, but what about the gamecube adapter? Now that I think about it, what about USB add-ons like microphones and game specific controllers? If you undock the system those games just don't work with switch.

@Ernest_The_Crab Nah, Nah, that's only 90 MB/s UHS-I, that's a gimp card. The good ones right now are 150 MB/s+, UHS-II/U3.

@King_Boo The USB ports are compatible with USB-Ethernet adapters, headsets, hopefully USB-mic adapters, and mod... Uh... Nevermind...

@Chris720 Because HDD's have garbage read/write speeds compared to modern SD cards, SSD's, and other solid state memory. Those 150 MB/s+, UHS-II/U3 SD cards in particular are 10s of times faster than HDD's at random read/write, which is important for game loading, especially for open world games. Look no further than the nearly one minute loading times for games like Watch Dogs and Witcher 3 on PS4 and XBone for the perfect reason why HDD's are obsolete for anything other than raw data storage. SSD's and faster flash cards on PC cut those loading times down to 5-10 seconds. Hopefully it will be the same way with NS.

Hmm, they said in the live Treehouse it could take up to 256GB. But 2TB is craaaaazy.

@PlywoodStick Is this something that only Lexar has been putting out so far? I'm struggling to find other brands that have a read speed that fast.

@PlywoodStick how do you know it will be compatible with a uhs-2 ?

There are some 256 gb on Amazon that cost a little less than $100 actually if u look. For now that will we be until they start developing games from the ground up for the switch instead of porting. Since they explained storage already they gave me enough time to buy a sdxc card and save up.

@Mikess1 If the NS onboard tech can handle SD cards with up to 2 TB, of which will utilize a greater standard than currently exists in the consumer market, then it will certainly be able to use UHS-II/U3 cards. Also, this is corroborated by the Tegra SoC used in the NS. It will technically be able to output in 4K (2160p), even if that ability won't necessarily be used for gaming. Thus, the cards an NS can use include those designed to be used while recording, reading, and writing 4K (2160p) content.

This was quite the amazing tech reveal by Nintendo- yet it seems very few people have caught onto the significance of it.

@PlywoodStick I'm only asking because I'm a photographer and only the high end camera can except a uhs-2 card but all can except a uhs-1 so they are different

@Ernest_The_Crab

Here's an example of one:

Edit: Yeah, it's really hard to find anything other than Lexar going for the 150 MB/s standard at the moment...

https://www.amazon.com/Lexar-Professional-microSDXC-UHS-II-LSDMI64GCBNL1000R/dp/B00U77V5IW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484633223&sr=8-1&keywords=microsdxc+UHS-II

But in fact, if you're feeling really adventurous:

https://havecamerawilltravel.com/photographer/fastest-sd-cards

https://www.amazon.com/Lexar-Professional-microSDXC-UHS-II-Reader/dp/B012PKPU5W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1484633223&sr=8-2&keywords=microsdxc%2BUHS-II&th=1 (best value)

https://www.amazon.com/Delkin-microSDXC-UHS-II-Memory-DMSD190064GB/dp/B01EA0Y448/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1484633223&sr=8-10&keywords=microsdxc+UHS-II

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-UHS-II-U-3Card-SDSQXPJ-064G-ANCM3/dp/B01G89ZY9I/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1484633751&sr=8-13&keywords=sandisk+extreme+uhs-ii (worst value)

http://www.geek.com/news/sandisks-new-microsd-cards-got-a-300-speed-boost-1648037/

Granted, 250-300 MB/s is pretty damned overkill, considering it's designed to handle 4K (2160p) streams handily. But the NS will be able to use them. The 150 MB/s cards should more than suffice for the time being, though. Personally, I would wait until the next big holiday sale for them.

Have to watch carefully when buying online.
China would probably be happy to sell you a Micro SD card that claims to be 2TB but really isn't.

@Mikess1 Normally, UHS-II is backwards compatible with devices that can read UHS-I. The UHS-II SD cards have an extra row of pins, which utilize the improved performance over UHS-I. On devices which do not have contacts for the extra row of pins, it shouldn't prevent the card from functioning if it can support UHS-I, it should just use the first row of pins. It could be that those cameras which cannot read the UHS-II cards either have outdated internal specs, preventing them from recognizing the newer format, or have some metal in the card reader contacting the extra pins, causing a read error. Otherwise, they may have been programmed to only accept up to Class 10/UHS-I.

@PlywoodStick thanks for the info I hope your right! Can you tell me the benefits of using a game cartridge vs the sd card other then price or trade in value.

@Mikess1 I wish I could say, but only Nintendo knows the answer to that right now.

@MarcelRguez I'm complaining about the lack of storage because I'd like to be able to play Kyrim without paying a couple thousand dollars just to get enough space

@Seamoose Lol, if you spend that much, you could fill a kid's size swimming pool with the cheaper SD cards, if storage space over speed is your priority.

Something I've noticed nobody has asked, can you swap in and out multiple microSD cards? If you can quickly and easily do that then you won't even have to worry. Carry around several 256 or 512GB's and you're more than good to go.

@MarcelRguez I hope you realize that buying a 2Tb card for $500 to store games you paid full price will make you realize how right those people were in the first place...

@Mommar Yes the only problem with that is that you will be paying full price for the download plus for the SD cards.. thats why internal memory is important and is good marketing .. "here I give you all this free space, now buy 1,2 Switch for $60.. or ARMS.." and there they got it covered.. those games should cost like $5...

@FreakFerrett Unless they somehow need 2TB for a game system that doesn't use optical media, I don't see how. That would be nothing short of an achievement, to be completely honest.

@FreakFerrett I'm not going to buy either of those games you mentioned so I don't care.

So even if it's in TV mode, I couldn't just plug an external hard drive into one of the USB ports of the cradle or whatever that thing is the Switch slides into?

As much as I applaud Nintendo for finally going region-free (like they should have done a damn long time ago!), I doubt I'll be getting a Switch, at least anytime soon. I need massive storage on an affordable device, and I don't even know how stable a Micro SD card can be.

Carts, and avoiding games that need downloads until I can afford the biggest card. Hence, I wish Resident Evil Revelations 2 wasn’t download only.

First off yes you're right it's cheap to get a cheap 64 Gb SD like 20 bucks at most but if the switch supported usb storage for 50 dollars you can 1 Tb of storage. I truly hate how Nintendo fanboys are so against themselves when it comes to upgrades that need to be made by Nintendo.

@EllenJMiller 1 Tb is like 40 bucks.... Think about that for a sec. For double of what you pay you get over ten times the space. Anyways, no one is complaining because prices but rather the lack of support for usb external drives.