Random: The Switch Won't Let You Download More Than 64 Games In One Go, Apparently

Well at least we know the switch has an N64 reference now 😁

@kobalt Hahahahah...very true!

Nothing really shocking or new, to be honest. Similar limitations were already a thing on older systems as well, albeit not always in the exact same way.

On the 3DS for example, there was also a limited number of games you could download in one go, if you preferred to download them in sleep mode. You didn't get an error message, but at some point, the next game you chose would immediately start downloading, and not give you an option to select "download in sleep mode", and no more games could be added to the list, until at least some of the games were completely downloaded.

And in the case of the 3DS, it was a heck of a lot less than 64 games...

I had to redownload most of my 75 game library. Thankfully it was only 60 or so.

64 is an interesting limit to have, can’t help but to look at it as a Easter egg

I figured that's what it was. I upgraded microsds twice, and it was very annoying to check in to click on another icon or few to get those games going when redownloading.

Rich people problems

That's a clever easter egg. I just don't understand why that's the limit though...

@ultraraichu it's because of the way binary works. An integer value of 64 converted to binary is 111111 (assuming that you can count 000000 as a usable value).

First world problems.

Back when I got a new card (and the old one, carelessly formatted within Switch itself to exFAT - curse you, smartphone owner habits, - only started showing up properly on my old PC after I redownloaded everything), I didn't have the luxury to get more than one or a few titles per day regardless. Instead, it's the eShop wishlist cap at 200 item that I've ended up learning the hard way.

I've never had to download more than one game at the same time so don't think I have to worry yet.

Wow. This is interesting. I'd honestly have been afraid to try downloading more than one or two at a time, let alone 64. (It's not like I have that many anyway, but even if I did...) Still, good to know, I guess.

Who is stupid enough to make it to 64 downloads anyways, 5 is enough to me and craps on the eShop doesn't take ages to download unlike on the other three systems.

@NintendoFan4Lyf You can't download more than one item at a time on Switch, though. Nintendoes the exact same thing

I keep my games on multiple cards. Why fill up a new one with the same games from another one? Some people are just too lazy I guess.

@ballistic90 Somehow I doubt that the system could only deal with 6 bit numbers. Unless the Switch really is as backwards as the naysayers say 😉

@nessisonett no, but integer definitions in programming typically require you to define the size of the variable when you start, and they probably decided on a six bit integer with the expectation that it "probably" should be plenty.

Happened to me a few weeks ago when I got a 400 gb card

@NintendoFan4Lyf wow, that means you ran out of slots even sooner than I did.

I had this issue when I went from a 200gb to 400gb SD. I assumed the Issue was my internet connection, I ended up downloading in batches

Still better than the PS4, where I still have to wait hours for one download to finish, and can only do one at any given time.

@retro_player_22 So true

@DFaceG_Rebooted true I’ve given up buying new games for the PS4 just can’t be bothered with ridiculous download times it’s turned into a white dust collector

Easter eggs for a number limit based on a famous number can only impress so many people....

Maybe the title should have been clearer and worded more like "You can't download more than 64 games simultaneously"

Good to know but damn downloading 64 at once is insane! Lol 😂

@NintendoFan4Lyf Same here. The blessings of being able to play something else while downloading is marvelous!

Really? Wow! Thanks Ryan!

This needs to be sorted out. The times I've wanted to download 65 games and couldn't is a real downer.

@BensonUii
Yes.

When I got my 512gb microSD and redownloaded my software, I was perpetually capped at around 60 downloads at once.

Who the hell else will do that anyway? However, this can be fixed by leaving the games on queue. Let the users choose if they want to download one at a time or how many simultaneous.

well... just dowload in two times your 128 games or 3, if 192, etc.

Doesn’t look like a big deal unless you are buying a new switch or you switch memory card and you have hundreds of games with on the system....

dam it and i was just going to download 65 games this weekend too lol.

@ultraraichu 64 isn’t an strange number. It is a common binary number (5 bits, all on, or 1). It is one of the most common numbers in the processor world. The whole x86 world are 64 bit chips, for example. We started with 4 bit processors, then 8, 16, 32 and now 64.

@Denoloco not really there's a ton of games you can get for a dollar on sale that are good enough games. The Way Remastered has been a dollar, Plague road is a dollar today...

Yep, I ran into something similar last year, it capped at 60 games pending and wouldn't add any more.

There wasn't any error message back then, so I guess now they've added one to be clearer.

There's probably some piece of memory set up to remember pending downloads, where each 'pending download' would occupy 1/64th of the space. Using powers of 2 (like 64) makes it easier to split up and manage memory, so it could be more technical reason than easter egg.

There's something like 150 Switch demos already and demos count towards the same limit, so it doesn't take that much to trigger it.

@ultraraichu Likely a limit of bring a power of 8 like most computer limits (8,16,32, 64,256,512...) but being an Easter Egg is more fun:)

@whalehome Well Said,Well Said...... )))

There was a weird thing with Wii U that I shared on here before. I had plenty of room on my harddrive but it would only allow so many games on the actual system regardless if they were huge or small.

I had a lot of games on Wii U but these numbers are just a rough guesstimate as I can't remember. Say the limit was 400 games. No matter what size game 401 was, it would not be allowed to dl to the system. It would show as purchased in the shop but no more than whatever the total number was allowed could be on the system at the same time.

Kinda worrying but whenever they announce the wii u shop getting taken down I will just get rid of some crappy games and make sure all the good ones are on my hd.

@Dysnomia x86 means 32 bit. 64 bit is literally x64.
unless you mean x86-64. But thats still just x64.

I see this being a HUGE problem. I know most of us want to play 65 games at once...

This is an anti-piracy measure. People had been doing mass downloading of games from Nintendo servers since last year. By donwloading I meant: using their Windows PC to download all the games from Nintendo server, decrypting them before installing in the Switch.

I mean, I can't say I am surprised. If asked I would have assumed there would be a limit somewhere.

@kobalt N64 Classic confirmed!!!

Surely some of the games would have finished downloading before one could even manage to reach the 64 game threshold.

It's not a reference or easter egg to the N64 guys, 64 is just a common number with computing (it is an interval of 8, i.e. 32, 64, 128, 256, etc.) Has nothing to do with the N64, I can almost guarantee.

@Varelius uh, yeah I know what bitness means. I don’t really understand your comment though. X6-64 is just one 64 bit architecture. The Switch uses Arm though. The 64 bit Arm processors don’t only allow for 64bits of data, but the instruction set is different as well. Just like 64 bit x86 processors also doubled the general purpose registers. Full disclosure - I worked at AMD during the bring up and years after they shipped the first AMD64 (btw, officially that is the name, not x86-64 as a intel will have you believe.)

But none of that has anything with my reply asking why 64 downloads. I just stated 64 isn’t an uncommon number in the tech industry.