Pokémon Sword And Shield File Size Revealed On The Japanese Switch eShop

Not surprised at all that it's much bigger than Let's Go Pikavee. That game was extremely basic.

10 or even 14GB is nothing on almost any other platform. Yes it's kind of annoying that you do need a microSD card for your Switch, but if you have to expect to need one if you prefer digital in the first place.

I for one pre-ordered the double pack, physical.

Downloading under my Japanese account as we speak. I’ll be going to the Nintendo Store for the midnight launch but perhaps I’ll be able to play the Japanese version while in line since Japan will be 14 hours ahead (Daylight Savings Time starts this weekend)

Just waiting for the pre-load option to go live so I can install it on my system and have it ready for launch!

All right everyone, let's complain about this!

Knowing gamefreak half of it is assets they didn't know how to reuse like in Sun & Moon

I’m pretty sure hackers are gonna datamine this to reveal the full Pokédex very shortly.

Btw anyone noticed Pokémon Shield isn’t in the eshop currently?

File size doesn't matter to me.
I'll be getting the double pack physical with $10 rewards back from Best Buy.

@StarViruZ Not possible given the three stages of encryption on preloads to prevent access. They’re missing the access title key one gets when you purchase digital titles on the day of release and require an internet check to tell the system it’s time to unlock the game on release. And the preload has segments of missing data as well until that key gives permission to access, putting the last bits of info in place. We’re more likely to get leaks from physical copies shipped too early from overzealous retailers. And strange... I saw Shield present when I downloaded just a little bit ago

@ShikabaneHime13 That's some dedication I can respect! I imagine the people in line around you will be annoyed. lol

@Heavyarms55 Lol. I’m going to be in that line from 6am to midnight, so I’m going to need a distraction. And I remember for the X and Y launch, people were in line with physical copies of the games hours before midnight because a local shop a few blocks away had started selling ahead of time. If we don’t have leaks before then, I can only hope I don’t have people craning over my shoulder or asking me about the starters. Might play strictly in Japanese for that very reason

@Xaessya I mean, you got downvoted, but that's a real possibility. Both 3ds games were bloated because gamefreak did a dumb. Given that this game apparently runs at 720p docked, which even xbc 2 does better than that, I'm willing to bet that, yeah, these games aren't going to be as well built as they could have been. Doesn't mean, I'm not excited for them, but gamefreak arent, you know, the best at making games.

@Xansies
I dont think anyone has confirmed the game's resolution through a technical analysis. It's just speculation at this point.

@TheLightSpirit Eh, it's Nintendo games are mad compressed. It would kinda make sense if it were bigger, but, well, the pokemon and characters, while there are a lot of different models, there doesn't seem to be that much complexity in terms of animations, lighting, textures, or sound. That cuts down a lot of space. I mean, that sounds like I'm hating on the games, but not having voice acting saves a tremendous amount of storage space. For the graphics, I mean, luigis mansion looks way, way better, but has way fewer environments and characters to work with.

What I'm saying is, the file size, big or small, doesn't necessarily reflect how much content is in the game. Most of a games disc space is take up by sound and textures.

@westman98 Thank God. It's not like 720p docked would really bother me, or mostly anyone, people in general sit far enough away from their tv for it not to matter, framerate drops are.much more noticible, but that had me worried about undocked play. It's not like it's a deal breaker, I still play xbc 2 and others in handheld, but it's like being really excited for an HD handheld Pokemon and then being like, well I guess I'll have to wait for the next one, I guess. i guess it's just a first world complaint.

@ShikabaneHime13 I don't think playing in Japanese will stop anyone from looking over your shoulder. lol.

But now that the games are out for pre-download, dataminers are probably already pulling all the info. If we don't already, I bet we will be hearing about the size of the Pokedex, starter names and text based stuff within a few hours. Pictures probably in a couple days. If not sooner.

@Heavyarms55

As I mentioned above, impossible to datamine from a preload. Several renowned hackers have already established this: https://pastebin.com/c9LikXQj

Leaks are likely to only happen with someone getting a physical game early

I'm just waiting for them to let me predownload mine...

@ShikabaneHime13 I mean, that is a strong argument. But nothing is unhackable. You might be right though, it could be that nothing will leak until Walmart inevitably breaks street date, again.

@Heavyarms55 Yeah, broken street dates feel like the only way anyone will get early info. The owner of that link/site is one of the biggest console hackers in the gaming community and he put this info up with an update tonight to reaffirm that it couldn’t be done after giving it a try

Huh. Weird. Pokemon Shield is gone from the eshop. I wonder what's up with that.

@ShikabaneHime13 I mean, I don't remotely have the expertise to despite anyone on this issue, but I'm still pretty confident that if the info were there, it could be done - the Pentagon and other governments around the world have been hacked, so I find it hard to believe Nintendo has better security.

That said - the amount of effort needed to do it, could well mean it just wont happen.

@Heavyarms55 files downloaded from the eShop are encrypted with multiple keys. For instance an account key, console key and for pre-downloads an "unlock" key. When the game is released Nintendo will send this unlock key to your Switch which allows the specific game for your account to be unlocked.

And as long as this key is strong enough it would require a powerful quantum computer to decode it before the game's release. With a normal PC or even a cluster of normal PCs, that's not going to happen in 1000 years. That's how encryption works.

@Anri02 You aren't the slime I know!

@Anri02,

Not surprised it's only 9GB with all those reused animations and poor graphics.

But seriously I think most people are hyped for this game, and it will be a massive seller on the Switch this holiday season, I will also bet Switch lite sales will get a massive boost, as I am sure Nintendo is holding stock back until this release.

I wonder if some of that is just empty space... 🤔

Seems like bad optimisation to me. With 7.5 GB or less the games would fit on a 8 GB cardridge, saving 1 or 2 dollars of manufacturing costs, ergo higher profit for Big N.

@TheAwesomeBowser Yeah, the Wild Area

Both games share 99% of data, why it is so hard to make (digital at least) a core download for both games and then you can download individual files for Sword or Shield?

Besides knowing the space it's going to take up on your system, I think it's hard to take much else from file sizes just due to their variety and how different companies use those file sizes even.

Glad I saved my last voucher for this.

Will they offer double gold coins for this?