GameStop's Internal Database Lists Multiple 'Switch 2' Accessory SKUs

I knew it! This proves what BigHonka22 was saying. Massive news!

The Express SD card support has been mentioned in previous rumours, so this is (almost) confirmation of that.

This could give the Switch 2 similar benefits the PS5 enjoys. Decreased load times and increased Ingame performance.

I was wondering if the chosen game store that will have the Switch 2 are already seen the look of Switch 2 machine but Nintendo told them to keep quiet until the official announcement.

Every passing day it feels as if we’re closer to the official reveal.

Doesn't doing stuff like this get you fired? People really don't be caring anymore

@liljmoore maybe, maybe not. I worked for a cell phone carrier as a store manager and certain information is street dated (meaning can't be talked about til a set date/time) and some more generic info was fair game. Like we could sell iPhone cases before release date and talk about specs/features but don't scan an iPhone into your inventory early or the company gets fined and you would be fired. I've never worked at Gamestop but I don't know if this is proprietary information based on there policies. I assume someone that reads this website has been or currently is a gamestop manager or employee.

At this rate I’m going to wake up to switch 2 accessories in my house before Nintendo has said a single thing..

@Anti-Matter I feel that scenario would be possible if Nintendo were to have their hardware commercially available not long after announcing it. While that is possible, I don't think that is what is happening here. I believe when Sega was still in the console business, they did something like that with either the Saturn, or one of the MegaDrive/Genesis add-ons, and that it didn't turn out well.

@liljmoore They get to make themselves into a content creator, famous among certain communities for leaks that turn out to be true. They build a YouTube, or TikTok career on it.

The ride never ends. You’d think there be nothing left to leak but more just keeps sprouting up!

Good to see these stores still have their uses. 😁

I think when CES is over, Nintendo will show us the Nintendo switch 2. So maybe next week if the news market is slow. Because then Nintendo will get all the headlines and don't have to squeeze in.

@Anti-Matter I assume the individual stores have not seen it, but the accessories need to be available pre launch or same day as launch. The companies that produce these do need specs for screen sizes, unit sizes and whatever to make cases, screen protectors etc, sd cards stamped wkth switch 2 marketing. This makes me assume that some physical switch 2s are available or the specs are made available to get production ready for accessories. Obviously they have build models and testing units so they can have launch window games. This is similar to when a new iPad comes out the stores will have a select few cases before or at release.

While this is amazing news, problem is that 256/512gb really won't be big enough and a 1tb express as card will be far too expensive. This is new technology, so expect those prices to be sky high

@Kapten_N I doubt they should show it while Xbox direct is on. Maybe end of January

Switch 2 is the world's worst kept secret.

Most days is a leak or reveal of some sorts from a 3rd party or something but Nintendo seems to have their lips sealed and hands tied behind their back when it comes to actually announcing it.

Like at this rate it'll be leaked fully before the reveal / announcement / direct LOL.

@liljmoore Some people want their 5 min of internet fame even if it risks their job lol

@TechaNinja Because it usually turns out most of the leaks are wrong. Anyone can leak crap anonymously, but it’s harder to sort out the more legit ones. This GameStop one goes to the “legit” pile, but that pile is hardly very big atm.

Need I remind you all those months of “Switch Pro” leaks ended up being completely wrong with wild claims ranging from “TV only, but with better specs” to “Launching with a 2nd screen”? Then it ended up being the OLED where 98% of that was completely wrong and the ones that were right were the ones that leaked shortly before the thing was announced.

Their “lips are sealed” is because they have a strategically marketed date planned long in advance to promote the Switch 2. They won’t let all of that go down the drain because of a GameStop employee. They are not gonna go “Whelp! Time to reveal everything now!” as much as that would be very appealing to some people.

They know their vast majority of their audience isn’t hardcore game enthusiasts that check videogame news everyday or don’t go out of their way to learn about leaks so there is very little reason to deviate from their original announce plan date.

This literally means NOTHING. Working in retail I've seen all manner of items put into the system months and months before they go on sale.

Definitely up for some of this speed

SanDisk Micro SD Express, 256GB micro SD card, Read speeds up to 880 MB/s, Write Speeds up to 480MB/s, Sustained Write 100MB/s, Up to 4.4 times faster read speeds than our fastest microSD Class 10, U3.

It’s official - Nintendo ninja are no more

It's nice that the switch 2 will have better sdcard speed with express sdcard, I hope at least it will have the same speed as xbox series ssd 😃

The leaks aren't done and won't be done until Nintendo confirms the most important detail.

What's the taste of Switch 2 carts? It's the important detail not leaked so far.

@PushMyGran86 No, they won't. But when is that? They could have it later that week. But probably the week after that. We will have to see. They need a window where they can get all the spotlight for them self

@OldGamer999 it will be even faster, since the original Switch doesn't support the full capability of todays microSD cards.

It's a total waste of money buying a v90 microSD card and instead just pay half for a v30.
I haven't actually tested if the OLED version of the Switch has an updated reader that actually supports the full performance capabilities of todays v90 cards though.
As I didn't bother retesting on my Switch OLED, when I got that one. I just use the same 256GB card (UHS-1) I bought for the OG Switch at the time.
These are also still the official recommended ones and support up to 100/90 mb/s. (similar to todays v30 class)

The newer microSD cards with vXX clasification are much faster. Especially the v60 and v90 ones, which support up to 300mb/s.

It would make sense that the Switch 2 would support the new MicroSD Express cards, so expanded storage performance doesn't fall too far behind the onboard storage which will hopefully be superfast m.2 storage.
I would have rather seen support for CF Express as expanded storage (as this is becoming more and more the standard format in Consumer cameras), since those cards are more durable and twice as fast (though sadly, also twice the price).

@NinChocolate I'd love it if Nintendo ghosted the whole caboodle and doesn't say or show a thing. Then on April 1st the shops suddenly fill with Switch 2 and some stonking new Mario game, and Nintendo just says nothing.

@TechaNinja we still barely know anything aside from the most obvious stuff that anyone could predict based on Nintendo's own comments, that it's just a bigger and more powerful Switch
we still don't know how the UI looks or what are the built-in apps (or if there even are any) or if it has an additional gimmick or - most importantly - what games are gonna be released for it at launch
those are way more important, hardware alone isn't exciting without those things

@Dev1024 what exactly got spoiled? given Nintendo's own comments about the new console we already knew that's it's gonna look similar to Switch 1, everything else is still up in the air, especially software related stuff

@PushMyGran86
SD express 1tb were first released in 2019.
That's 6 years ago.
In the tech world, that's old.

What if the Switch 2/Successor is announced as a commercial during the Super Bowl in February? Could be peak buzz marketing, but at a ridiculous cost.

@Spider-Kev Are you sure you not mixing it up with cards just branded that way, like Express MicroSD, etc.

The real (that actually support 800mb/s) MicroSD Express cards are still very limited available. I can barely find any and they are still fairly expensive too.
You mostly find the V30, V60 and V90 cards.

This kind of storage is mostly used in Cameras, Action cameras, etc (and to some extend micro computers like Raspberry). Photo/Video cameras are mostly switching to CFExpress now, for the much faster speeds required to record 4K, 6K and now 8K Video and ability for much higher write speeds for high FPS shooting.
And here, camera's that have MicroSD slots, support the new Vxx format of microSD cards, where the highend V90 cards support up to 300MB/s. While CFExpress goes towards 2000MB/s speeds now with the latest cards.

I haven't seen a single "real" MicroSD Express card (800mb/s) anywhere in local stores (not even in our Camera stores that sell anything from consumer to top of the line professional stuff) and I can only find one single card ( Sandisk microSD Express - 880MB/s in 128 and 256GB size) on one online store, on order only.

Probably, because there isn't (at least hardly) any known hardware available yet that supports this high speed MicroSD Express format.

@Jeronan they’re most definitely confused, as according to Sdcard.org the standards for SD Express and Micro SD Express weren’t even introduced until late 2023, and Samsung and Sandisk didn’t start sampling the express cards until last year.

Like you, I too just went on a hunt to try to find Express cards, and I can’t find one anywhere above 256gb that I believe to be legit. According to Sandisk and Samsung they only make up to 256gb currently (as that’s the max available on their direct shops). I would not trust another manufacturer or site currently offering Express in any other size than 128 or 256, nor from any maker besides Sam or San.

I’ve read too many horror stories from people getting scammed and ripped off buying micro sd cards from Amazon. So everyone out there potentially eyeing up storage for Switch 2, take heed and be safe. If it seems too good to be true it likely is. Shop direct, not third party wholesaler.

And lastly, wait for official confirmation from Nintendo on supported speeds. You don’t want to early adopt a 256 express only for it to not be officially supported; or worse you get a dud you don’t know about until you get your Switch 2 and it’s far past a refund/exchange date.

@Dm9982 Thank you. That explains it and why no store has it, as I was really confused when he said 2019 as I had never heard of MicroSD Express with these 800+ MB/s speeds until very recently.

The best MicroSD cards currently widely available are the MicroSD V90 cards, which I have a 256GB one of that I pair with my 512GB CFExpress type B card in my Nikon Z8 camera.

And yes you are right and why I don't use an expensive V90 card in my current OLED Switch, but just my old 256GB card from the OG Switch, that has an equivalent speed of the current V30 cards, since there is no official info available that the OLED Switch has an improved updated MicroSD card reader that supports these higher transfer rates. As all the official licensed and recommended MicroSD cards for the Switch are V30 type of cards.

I think people need to learn and understand the price point of Nintendo's consoles and why you will never see cutting edge technology in their consoles. It's simply not possible at that price point Nintendo tries to sell their consoles at.

Nintendo has traditionally always tried to sell their consoles at at least 30% lower price than XBOX and Playstation.
They also adamant at selling their consoles with a profit and not at a loss, which was traditionally the case with XBOX and Playstation and why these consoles could offer that kind of performance at such price points.

This has changed now of course and both XBOX Series X and Playstation 5 are 600+ bucks retail and the latest PS5 Pro goes for nearly 1000 bucks.

But Nintendo will want to stay below the 400-450 bucks mark, so it remains to be seen if we even get m.2 onboard storage performance and since you now said that this new MicroSD Express standard is "that" new, I hardly doubt it will find it's way into the Switch 2 already this year. Though, since MicroSD is a standard and backwards compatible, its feasable the Switch 2 can be made ready to support MicroSD Express in the future, when it's fully ready and widely available. But this of course still depends on the cost of these new MicroSD reader components that supports these transfer speeds.

Do we think it will be called “‘New’ Switch” like “‘New’ 3DS” was?

Switch 2 isn’t very Nintendo. What is, is Super, New, U, SP, Advance…
Really want to know what it’s going to be called more than anything.

@Jeronan Another thing everyone should consider Ally, Legion, and Steam Deck all DO NOT support the Express speed as their readers were not designed with Express in mind. The Deck and Go cap out at about 100mb/s or UHS 1 class.

The Ally can go a little faster, with reports topping out around 150mb/s….

So while it’s entirely possible that Switch 2 has Express compatibility, and possible that Nintendo planned for it, it’s also entirely possible that accessory makers are just trying to cash in on the Switch 2 hype and peddle their wares even though there’s no evidence that Switch 2 100% supports it.

It would be a nice thing if it does, and would also possibly allow instant loading like Ps5 achieves. But we won’t know for sure until we know exactly what type of SSD is under the hood of the Switch 2.

If the SSD doesn’t support NVMe or any of the super fast loading like Ps5, then the sd card slot won’t either, and thus won’t support Express speeds.

Edit - The reason why there’s no difference between a “grey” and “gold” Sandisk micro SD on Switch is because the bus speed won’t allow for the faster transfer capability of the gold version. The transfer speed is unified for HD, Carts, and Micro Sd cards. So if any of those are capped at say 150mb/s, then all will be. For reference I believe the max transfer (in practice) of Switch 1 HD/Carts/Micro is around 70-80mb/s

So I'm assuming I won't be able to move my SD card with all of my games in my current Switch to this new machine? Bummer.