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[sfried]

You're not reading the OP.

The fridge cleaning... means you need to transfer things from the SD card to the internal memory to play them. I can't just load up a game from the SD card and get to playing there is a useless step in between. That is the issue.

By the time the 3DS and Wii U rolled around, games simply ran off the SD/HDD, with no fridge to clean, and no content needed to be copied to the internal storage.

Even the "Extra Data" stuff was also saved on the SD/HDD. It was even possible to off-load almost all applications to your SD/HDD (except system vital apps) and just have it run from there.

 

[Hoo-doo]

How good speakers do you need to even notice the super high quality audio?

For the majority playing on their tv speakers, its just a waste of Space. Optional high quality audio patches would have been nice.

Well you can apply this logic to anything. Why even make the graphics beautiful if a large majority of gamers are going to be viewing it through throwaway 150$ Wal-mart TV's?

I know I would be fucking pissed off if devs had to cut down on proper audio quality just to save space. I have a proper 2.1 setup in my home and audio quality is important.

 

[Neoxon]

I feel a majority of people here have not read the thread.

The SDXC format can go up to 2TB, and therefore if people wanted to expand, they would just get a larger capacity SD card. There no fridge to be cleaned when it can be huge.

The 3DS officially states it supports only up to 32GB SDHCs, but it can and has gone passed beyond that by formatting any higher capacity cart under FAT32. (I use a 64GB myself.)

Oh, ok. I was getting a little worried for a moment, there.

 

[z0m3le]

Well you can apply this logic to anything. Why even make the graphics beautiful if a large majority of gamers are going to be viewing it through throwaway 150$ Wal-mart TV's?

I know I would be fucking pissed off if devs had to cut down on proper audio quality just to save space. I have a proper 2.1 setup in my home and audio quality is important.

What is going on in this thread? where is this wild speculation on cutting audio coming from?

There is no reason they need to do this, since you don't have to install these games to the hard drive in the first place, you'll be good to go as long as you aren't fully digital, and if you are, you'll need to invest in a large microSD, unless this takes normal size SD cards. Frankly I expect the capacity of microSD cards to move up to 512GB as soon as 1TB SD cards arrive.

 

[bomblord1]

Found it

 

[CrunchyFrog]

Not sure why OP says it taps out at 128GB, the actual SDXC spec supports up to 512GB out the box. Plus, you can go to amazon RIGHT NOW 256GB cards can be had for about $99 and 512GB for $199, and prices on flash memory usually fall pretty quickly. I'd say they'll both be closer to $20-$30 less by the time this launches. NVM those are regular sd cards my bad

 

[RoadHazard]

Was expecting larger tbh, hopefully it will support external HDD as well

Dangling off the device? Or connected to the dock? The latter doesn't seem likely, as it would break the quick switching between docked and undocked mode. But I guess they could theoretically let you have docked-only games on an HDD. I doubt they want that added complication though.

 

[Skittzo0413]

Found it

Honestly I am massively impressed with the amount of creative engineering that's gone into this thing. At least on the outside. It's very impressive how many features they've managed to fit into a very nice looking package.

 

[Neoxon]

Not sure why OP says it taps out at 128GB, the actual SDXC spec supports up to 512GB out the box. Plus, you can go to amazon RIGHT NOW 256GB cards can be had for about $99 and 512GB for $199, and prices on flash memory usually fall pretty quickly. I'd say they'll both be closer to $20-$30 less by the time this launches.

I guess the 2TB model isn't being sold, yet.

 

[sfried]

Not sure why OP says it taps out at 128GB, the actual SDXC spec supports up to 512GB out the box.

SDXC can head up to 2TB. Those SD card capacities just aren't out...yet.

 

[Synth]

What is going on in this thread? where is this wild speculation on cutting audio coming from?

There is no reason they need to do this, since you don't have to install these games to the hard drive in the first place, you'll be good to go as long as you aren't fully digital, and if you are, you'll need to invest in a large microSD, unless this takes normal size SD cards. Frankly I expect the capacity of microSD cards to move up to 512GB as soon as 1TB SD cards arrive.

That fact that going fully digital is likely to be an option at all, means that it's almost certain a game can't be larger than the device's internal memory, and probably needs to be substantially smaller than that even.

 

[dragonyeuw]

So, between a pricetag of, what? Anywhere from $2-300 for the system on top of( if you need the storage for digital games), triple digit figures for 'decent' storage ( at least 256gb, which large third party titles would eat up very quickly), it will be very interesting how this all goes down in March '17...

 

[Hoo-doo]

Not sure why OP says it taps out at 128GB, the actual SDXC spec supports up to 512GB out the box. Plus, you can go to amazon RIGHT NOW 256GB cards can be had for about $99 and 512GB for $199, and prices on flash memory usually fall pretty quickly. I'd say they'll both be closer to $20-$30 less by the time this launches.

Again. The thread is talking about MicroSD cards.

You know, the tiny ones?

 

[Somnid]

128GB tends to be the standard limit even if SD cards get bigger, I think it's a limitation of the filesystem used.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

Again. The thread is talking about MicroSD cards.

You know, the tiny ones?

Yeah bruh, check the chart at the bottom right. The spec allows for up to 512GB. Admittedly they aren't out yet, but the capacity is there within the standard micro SDXC reader itself.

 

[Deleted member 125677]

For context: n3DS officially supports 32GB mSD, but people are using 128GB and 256GB cards on it (I use a 64GB mSD card).

I would be surprised if this wasn't the case here as well (if it uses microSD cards and the leaked official recommendation is legit).

 

[DemoCracy]

Although this feature couldn't fill the lack of external HDD; it sounds satisfactory.

 

[marmoka]

My worries are the loading times needed to execute games from SD cards. Nintendo does not recommend using them in Wii U because they are very slow. Will they be slow in Switch as well?

If they work fast, I guess it's fine. Samsung's 128GB SDXC cards cost 40 euros more or less. It's affordable.

 

[Rondras]

Hope Sony emulation becomes a thing on this. Would love to have nintendo stuff and old sony(psx,psp and maybe even ps2(still dreaming))

 

[Zombie James]

Although this feature couldn't fill the lack of external HDD; it sounds satisfactory.

If the rumors are true about having 32GB on-board, that's just 160GB of storage. That's nowhere near satisfactory with games reaching 50GB - not including patches and DLC - and that's not even including system-level features that Switch might have like screenshot and video capture.

 

[Ashler]

Either Switch games are going to be small compared to their competition, which is bad on terms of texturing/fidelity, or, they're gonna take their sweet ass time loading from an SD Card + you're going to have digital storage issues.

Not great either way.

 

[Hoo-doo]

Yeah bruh, check the chart at the bottom right. The spec allows for up to 512GB. Admittedly they aren't out yet, but the capacity is there within the standard micro SDXC reader itself.

Cool beans. Now are you ready to drop a 250+$ premium for 512GB of MicroSD storage?
The discussion is not whether it's technically capable of sporting large capacity cards, the question is whether it's actually a good strategy or not.

And MicroSD is objectively worse in every aspect compared to regular SD cards. The high-capacity MicroSD are expensive as hell.

 

[Stilton Disco]

Yay cheapish storage but boo SDCard load times.

Also, really no substitute for even a standard 5200rpm HDD. This alone as the storage option beyond the sub 100gb internal it comes with bodes very badly for the Switches viability as a console, even with the hybrid gimmick.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

My worries are the loading times needed to execute games from SD cards. Nintendo does not recommend using them in Wii U because they are very slow. Will they be slow in Switch as well?

If they work fast, I guess it's fine. Samsung's 128GB SDXC cards cost 40 euros more or less. It's affordable.

This thing will be out about a half a year too early to even think about UFS, but those cards will read at up to 530MB/s, talking about speeds good enough to record 4K video. If only.

 

[JonathanPower]

Good 128gb Micro SD's are about £35, really great for a portable system.


Highly accessible memory expansion that any consumer can understand, it's also pretty cheap.
To be fair though we can't really compare HDD so SD cards, these are pretty different systems.

I hope their games are small so the card will be enough to store many of them. I am talking about digital games.

 

[Darkangel]

Too bad it's not a full size SD slot like the 3DS.

That would allow you to use faster/larger cards, or double up two Micro SDs.

 

[Jonneh3003]

I hope their games are small so the card will be enough to store many of them. I am talking about digital games.

Nintendo games are always really well optimised in file size, most of their Wii U games don't exceed 2GB. Xenoblade X and Tropical Freeze are the only real exceptions with something like 22GB and 12GB.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

GIVE COFFEE TO PERSON!

Tyler should really work on getting us loyal and long term members a coffee voucher at Dunkin.

As much thought and effort that I put into so if my posts and that Bethesda thread I need me some coffee. It's too early for this shit lol

 

[bomblord1]

Yay cheapish storage but boo SDCard load times.

Also, really no substitute for even a standard 5200rpm HDD. This alone as the storage option beyond the sub 100gb internal it comes with bodes very badly for the Switches viability as a console, even with the hybrid gimmick.

A good micro SD card can meet or even exceed many low end 5200RPM HDD's in read/write speed.

 

[Turrican3]

Yes, which - to answer to other people wondering about this - is why the dock doesn't support HDDs.

Wait, is that (more or less) confirmed?!

I must have missed it, soooo many Switch threads right now. :-\

EDIT nevermind, I've just noticed there's a thread indeed

 

[CrunchyFrog]

For context: n3DS officially supports 32GB mSD, but people are using 128GB and 256GB cards on it (I use a 64GB mSD card).

I would be surprised if this wasn't the case here as well (if it uses microSD cards and the leaked official recommendation is legit).

Looking it up I didn't realize that OG 3DS supported regular SD's, but that they dropped them in the n3DS. Odd. You'd think in a bulkier system like this they'd have the room to allow the option.

 

[akileese]

For context: n3DS officially supports 32GB mSD, but people are using 128GB and 256GB cards on it (I use a 64GB mSD card).

I would be surprised if this wasn't the case here as well (if it uses microSD cards and the leaked official recommendation is legit).

Yeah I have a 128gb in mine. "Support" essentially is just what the norm is. So if someone slides in a 1tb MSD card (example) and it doesn't work, Nintendo can point to the spec sheet.

Personally, I don't like this approach as the common consumer who wants to go digital won't get the biggest card they can get. They may be thwarted by the price of the card, but it is a bit deceptive.

 

[giant_frying_pan]

Just need USB charging and region free, please, Nintendo.

 

[ozfunghi]

Good. And if 3DS supports over 200GB, i'm sure this will too, and more.

 

[Subaru]

Cost.

It is that expensive to include another sd port? this stuff seems to be so cheap.
Also, this could be the weakest link on the Switch (storage).

 

[foltzie1]

Curious how well that's going to work when there are 50+ gb games in this gen.

 

[Busaiku]

Do we still have to unscrew it.

 

[z0m3le]

That fact that going fully digital is likely to be an option at all, means that it's almost certain a game can't be larger than the device's internal memory, and probably needs to be substantially smaller than that even.

Wii U basic had 8GB storage and XBX is over 22GB iirc.

 

[blu]

I'll never understand why perfectly-sized devices insist on using microSD cards. It's not like one cannot use their mSD with normal-sized SD slots.

 

[WhiteWaterM00se]

http://letsplayvideogames.com/2016/10/report-nintendo-switch-to-support-micro-sd-up-to-128gb/



Personally, I think the location of the SD card slot under the kickstand to be brilliant.

Note: Also, there's big chances that it will support larger cards as well, but Nintendo likes to be conservative with its recommendations.

Microsoft Surface put there SD card slot under the kick stand as well.

 

[squall23]

So Micro SDXC on 3DS is unofficially supported? Because I'm sure I've read about people on GAF using it on their's.

 

[z0m3le]

Either Switch games are going to be small compared to their competition, which is bad on terms of texturing/fidelity, or, they're gonna take their sweet ass time loading from an SD Card + you're going to have digital storage issues.

Not great either way.

1. Physical games don't need to be installed because flash media is faster than bluray discs.
2. Storage can go to 256GB, with 200GB microSD cards being the bargain price for storage.
3. Flash card capacities can be higher than bluray, though iirc 100GB bluray disc costs $0.88, while 128GB capacity in flash is going to cost you probably 10x that price.

 

[NolbertoS]

You actually (generally speaking) hit the title limit before you hit the size limit. 3DS can only have 300 titles installed on it, regardless of if you have card space left or not.

Aww man that sucks. Hope Nintendo releases a patch to get more titles. Have a 128GB microSD on my n3DS XL and that thing ahould last a lifetime

 

[Synth]

Wii U basic had 8GB storage and XBX is over 22GB iirc.

Yea, but this doesn't appear to be the "Switch Basic" (or Xbox 360 Arcade) equivalent. This seems to be the max internal storage the consumer can have. Furthermore, the whole digital vs physical scenario is very different today (and especially for a portable device) than it was previously.

It's possible that larger capacity versions of the Switch become available, like they did with 360 and PS3, bringing with it larger game sizes.. but I don't find it likely at all that any game will exceed the largest internal capacity the console ships with... and even if some games did, for market reasons they'd be far more of a minority than similarly sized games on less storage constrained platforms.

 

[DragonSworne]

I hope their games are small so the card will be enough to store many of them. I am talking about digital games.

Games should be even smaller on cards since you won't have to deal with redundant data to reduce seek time.

 

[calc84maniac]

Games should be even smaller on cards since you won't have to deal with redundant data to reduce seek time.

Hmm, I never thought of that... so one reason for large game sizes these days is actually load time optimization?

 

[Zombie James]

Games should be even smaller on cards since you won't have to deal with redundant data to reduce seek time.

You know all current-gen games install to a hard drive, right?

 

[infinityBCRT]

128GB is too small. Hopefully this is just a dev kit issue. Or maybe saying its 128GB max avoid parents losing their minds over the price of the more expensive cards.

 

[Vena]

You know all current-gen games install to a hard drive, right?

WiiU games.

 

[MacTag]

You know all current-gen games install to a hard drive, right?

That's because they're stored on slow fragile Blu-rays.