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Going digital with the Switch

Solidsoul

Solidsoul

Banned
Hey everybody, I recently acquired a Switch and I can tell already that I'd probably prefer to store my games digitally.

I have already purchased Zelda and Mario Kart physically, I was wondering if any of you had a good idea on how I could switch to the digital versions without losing a considerable amount of money on the carts I just purchased?

Also, what are your experiences going digital on the switch?

Thanks!
 
D

Dystify

Member
Sell your cartridges to somebody for a small loss? If they're in good condition I'm sure you'll find someone.

Going digital on Switch feels like a good choice to me, too. You miss out on collecting cartridges but you have all your games with you all the time, even even if your Switch gets stolen or breaks you won't lose the games.
 
M

moltonasty

Member
Savantcore said:
Trade them in for eShop credit? Only way you could do it, really.
Click to expand...

Yeah this is your best bet.

I'm almost all digital on Switch and I love it. For other systems I usually go physical but with the Switch I really prefer just being able to chose any game at any time.
 
N

NowHiringHenchmen

Neo Member
moltonasty said:
Yeah this is your best bet.

I'm almost all digital on Switch and I love it. For other systems I usually go physical but with the Switch I really prefer just being able to chose any game at any time.
Click to expand...

Have you found any good deals on a card? I'd love to go all digital but damn, that space fills up quiiiick.
 
L

Lights and Waves

Member
Solidsoul said:
Hey everybody, I recently acquired a Switch and I can tell already that I'd probably prefer to store my games digitally.

I have already purchased Zelda and Mario Kart physically, I was wondering if any of you had a good idea on how I could switch to the digital versions without losing a considerable amount of money on the carts I just purchased?

Also, what are your experiences going digital on the switch?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Trade them in to GameStop. Use that money to buy eShop gift cards.

I started physical on the Switch with Zelda, but everything since then has been digital. It just makes so much more sense and it's so convenient.
 
T

Tyraniboah

Member
I'll probably stay mostly physical on my Switch. I may double dip a few times just so I can have the cart and digital copy, but all digital on any Nintendo platform just feels wrong to me lol.
 
Q

Qwark

Member
Same position myself. Just got a Switch with Zelda, Mario Kart, and Bomberman physically. Really wish I had gotten Mario Kart digitally since we will be playing it a lot.
 
A

Alpha_eX

Member
I'll download games I like to quickly dip in and out of, like Puyo Puyo and Mario Kart, but I wouldn't download something like Zelda as it will just sit there forever after I'm done.
 
K

K' Dash

Member
I thought of going Physical, then when my Switch arrived, then Zelda was stuck with the retailer, I just could not wait and bought it digital and have been buying digital ever since.
 
D

dragonyeuw

Member
I would look on completed ebay listing for both of those titles, and use that as your price barometer. You should be able to get 'at least' $40-45 for those, especially Mario Kart as that's less than a month ago.
 
S

Shiggy

Member
BigBeauford said:
Will Nintendo offer sales and competitive digital prices like Playstation does?
Click to expand...

That's up to individual publishers. For Nintendo's very own games? No, you can only get competitive prices for those at retail. On eShop perhaps 30% off for old games, and most often only as a member of My Nintendo by using points from previous digital purchases.
 
UberTag

UberTag

Member
I went all-digital on my Vita and I've gone predominantly digital on the Switch... however, I am making a conscious effort to still lean physical for larger games for the sake of storage space and because Nnintendo titles tend to hold their resale value a lot better than anything on the Vita did.

Disgaea 5 Complete will be my 4th physical purchase (joining Zelda, Mario Kart and LEGO City Undercover) upon its arrival in the mail today. Coming in at 6.2 GB it was an easy decision to make. Plus, I get 20% off its purchase price thanks to Prime. Whereas I went digital with Binding of Isaac, Puyo Puyo Tetris and I Am Setsuna (which had a physical version I could import) given their respective small sizes of 1.3 GB or less. Seems silly to go the physical route with those titles when they're so compact and I can have them digitally for convenience.

This feels like a nice balance to ensure a lot of digital games and a lot of available storage space at the same time.
 
U

UserDoesNotExist

Member
Alpha_eX said:
I'll download games I like to quickly dip in and out of, like Puyo Puyo and Mario Kart, but I wouldn't download something like Zelda as it will just sit there forever after I'm done.
Click to expand...

This is my stance as well. Games that I will randomly decide to play 3 years later while sitting on an airplane are digital purchases. For 40-hour-long RPGs, I want to savor the bitter, bitter taste of those carts.
 
M

moltonasty

Member
S

Sarcasm

Member
Dystify said:
Sell your cartridges to somebody for a small loss? If they're in good condition I'm sure you'll find someone.

Going digital on Switch feels like a good choice to me, too. You miss out on collecting cartridges but you have all your games with you all the time, even even if your Switch gets stolen or breaks you won't lose the games.
Click to expand...

Wait, so they changed it and it should work like that now?

Can anyone confirm?
 
D

DomsPlaying

Member
I'm all digital on Switch, except I got Zelda BotW physical and will probably never take it out.

It's been great, except for not being able to pre-load games. MK8D unlocked right at midnight on release day, mostly quick downloads as long as your connection can handle it.

But the caveat is the cost of a large memory card, mine is 128GB San Disk but I almost wish I got 256GB now. Just not realistic to spend a couple hundred bucks when I already invested in the console at 300 bucks.
 
S

Skittzo0413

Member
I don't know about selling your physical games but I'm pretty happy going mostly digital. I have Zelda and 1, 2, Switch physical and everything else digital, and I think I'll go predominately physical for the future. If there's a big AAA game I want (20-30GB or more) I can just download it and archive it when I'm done with it, and if it's a game I want to keep coming back to I'll be glad to have it on the Switch at all times. Got a 200GB microSD card with an Amazon gift card so I doubt I'll ever run out of room, especially considering you can archive and redownload games quite easily.

You do miss out on Amazon Prime's 20% discount by going digital though.

Sarcasm said:
Wait, so they changed it and it should work like that now?

Can anyone confirm?
Click to expand...

It's been this way since the Wii U, purchases are tied to your account not the hardware. You have to call Nintendo to unlink your account from your lost/stolen/broken Switch (you can do it manually with one that's still working and with you) and then you can relink it to a new Switch and download everything you want again.
 
P

Putosaure

Member
Really tempted to get MK8D digital after realizing how "annoying" it is to have to switch back and forth between cartridges, but I like to have the physical box...
 
Okami Haundo

Okami Haundo

Member
There are honestly times that I regret not going all digital on Switch. Zelda and Mario kart are my only physical games right now, but I'm not super tempted to swap them atm even though I've had the urge to play Zelda.

That being said, I can't beat the GCU discount I get on physical games at Best Buy. Swapping carts feels like a small inconvenience when I can afford more games based on the money I saved. As more games come out that I'll want the physical version for (ARMS, Cave Story+) I'll have to get used to it I guess. I don't see Nintendo lowering the price on digital games any time soon.
 
E

Experien

Member
Only physical are Zelda and LEGO City. All multiplayer games will be DL like Mario Kart. But my Switch case holds like 24 carts so I am not too worried. Still, I will probably be mostly digital.
 
W

w0s

Member
I have had the same thought. I have a decent amount of games digitally but my only issue is that how long will a single microsd last. The cost of a 256gb is high but whatever the bigger problem is how many full releases before that is filled up? Then you have to start shuffling microsd cards.
 
C

CrAzY FiNgErS

Member
OP, I went all digital on Switch. I traded my Wii U and all physical games into GameStop. They had a good deal at one time for 50% extra trade in credit if you traded in for the Switch, it's games, or it's accessories. I had $600.00 trade in credit and I used it for a mix of eShop cards and Steam Wallet cards.

As some other posters said you can find good 200 GB micro SD cards for around 60-70 on sale through Amazon.

If you want to turn a quick buck for trade in credit go for GameStop. If you don't mind waiting maybe checkout eBay or the buy/sell/trade thread here on GAF.

One more thing, the eShop won't accept more than $200.00 at a time in credit. So if you have multiple eShop cards worth more than that you will have to spend down your credit to add more on the eShop.
 
ThatStupidLion

ThatStupidLion

Member
i'd be interested in going digital, but what happens when i want to sell my console?

My argument for staying physical is that when i travel with my switch it goes in a case and the case has room for cartridges.
 
S

Skittzo0413

Member
heckmanimation said:
i'd be interested in going digital, but what happens when i want to sell my console?

My argument for staying physical is that when i travel with my switch it goes in a case and the case has room for cartridges.
Click to expand...

When you want to sell your console you can just unlink your Nintendo Account from the console, which lets you relink it to a new one in the future so you can redownload those games.

However as it stands you still can't transfer save data (for digital or physical games) so selling your console would mean you lose all your save files. Hopefully that gets fixed soon.
 
D

dragonyeuw

Member
DomsPlaying said:
I'm all digital on Switch, except I got Zelda BotW physical and will probably never take it out.

It's been great, except for not being able to pre-load games. MK8D unlocked right at midnight on release day, mostly quick downloads as long as your connection can handle it.

But the caveat is the cost of a large memory card, mine is 128GB San Disk but I almost wish I got 256GB now. Just not realistic to spend a couple hundred bucks when I already invested in the console at 300 bucks.
Click to expand...

Amazon has this right now:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V62XBQQ/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Not a bad middle ground and price....
 
B

boiled goose

good with gravy
Dystify said:
Why?
Click to expand...

No proper digital content management system.
No policy announced yet about wiiu or 3ds content "transfer".
All your digital content might die after a gen transistion.
Tied to your account, so can't add value to sold hardware.

It's basically super risky and more expensive. I go physical only on Nintendo
 
molnizzle

molnizzle

Member
Trade them in and buy eShop cards. That's your best bet.

It's good that you realized your mistake early before it became too costly.

boiled goose said:
I wouldn't recommend buying anything digital on Nintendo.
Click to expand...

With the Switch it's no longer an issue. It uses a standard account system just like everything else.

boiled goose said:
No proper digital content management system.
No policy announced yet about wiiu or 3ds content "transfer".
All your digital content might die after a gen transistion.
Tied to your account, so can't add value to sold hardware.
Click to expand...

...you just described PlayStation digital content.

It's the exact same shit with Switch. Nintendo is no longer in the dark ages.
 
Dr. Zoidberg

Dr. Zoidberg

Member
I would go all-digital on the Switch but the Best Buy GCU discount is too good to pass up. I'll just deal with carts and maybe if Nintendo ever deeply discounts any of my cart games I might double-dip. I did buy Puyo Puyo Tetris digitally because it was cheaper that way and Tetris/Puyo is the type of game I'll be coming back to for small bites in-between other games.
 
S

Skittzo0413

Member
boiled goose said:
No proper digital content management system.
No policy announced yet about wiiu or 3ds content "transfer".
All your digital content might die after a gen transistion.
Tied to your account, so can't add value to sold hardware.

It's basically super risky and more expensive. I go physical only on Nintendo
Click to expand...

Your first point is incorrect, depending on how you define "proper". Everything else you said is basically true of all digital purchases for any system.

Also when has digital content on a console ever added value to sold hardware? And if that was the case wouldn't that basically go against your first point, since it would mean your purchases are not tied to your account? That's a strange concern to have.
 
A

AHappyPanda

Member
Skittzo0413 said:
Your first point is incorrect, depending on how you define "proper". Everything else you said is basically true of all digital purchases for any system.

Also when has digital content on a console ever added value to sold hardware? And if that was the case wouldn't that basically go against your first point, since it would mean your purchases are not tied to your account? That's a strange concern to have.
Click to expand...

Tons of people sell old Wii U's and 3DS's in the buy/sell/trade thread with downloaded games as added value. So...on a regular basis.
 
S

Skittzo0413

Member
AHappyPanda said:
Tons of people sell old Wii U's and 3DS's in the buy/sell/trade thread with downloaded games as added value. So...on a regular basis.
Click to expand...

Huh? With the Wii U and the 3DS it's the same situation as the Switch- the linked account determines what games you can download. If you want to sell your Wii U with the account still linked then you can sell it with all of those games. If the person who buys it unlinks the account I don't believe they can play those games anymore. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

But if you want to do the same for the Switch you can.
 
Okami Haundo

Okami Haundo

Member
Dr. Zoidberg said:
I would go all-digital on the Switch but the Best Buy GCU discount is too good to pass up. I'll just deal with carts and maybe if Nintendo ever deeply discounts any of my cart games I might double-dip. I did buy Puyo Puyo Tetris digitally because it was cheaper that way and Tetris/Puyo is the type of game I'll be coming back to for small bites in-between other games.
Click to expand...

Yep! That's the exact problem that I'm facing as well. Saving upwards of $10 on new releases and also earning points towards certificates is too good to pass up!
 
P

Putosaure

Member
Skittzo0413 said:
When you want to sell your console you can just unlink your Nintendo Account from the console, which lets you relink it to a new one in the future so you can redownload those games.

However as it stands you still can't transfer save data (for digital or physical games) so selling your console would mean you lose all your save files. Hopefully that gets fixed soon.
Click to expand...

If you had the games physical, you could sell your console and your games, instead of just the console. You can't get any money back on a digital game.
 
molnizzle

molnizzle

Member
Putosaure said:
If you had the games physical, you could sell your console and your games, instead of just the console. You can't get any money back on a digital game.
Click to expand...

Right, but we were talking about what makes Nintendo digital different than PlayStation or Xbox digital.

With the Switch, the answer is—not much.
 
D

dragonyeuw

Member
boiled goose said:
No proper digital content management system.
No policy announced yet about wiiu or 3ds content "transfer".
All your digital content might die after a gen transistion.
Tied to your account, so can't add value to sold hardware.

It's basically super risky and more expensive. I go physical only on Nintendo
Click to expand...

Ummm... this applies to everyone. You on itunes? Xbox? Playstation? All your media is tied to an account. I think what you mean is, Nintendo at one point had games tied to the HARDWARE, and you had to call them if you wanted to transfer the licenses over to a new system. They had a account system last gen with 3ds and wii U, but still had the issue of you having to contact them to move over software. That's no longer the case with the Switch.

Also, what do you mean your digital content might 'die'?
 
S

Shiggy

Member
Jaded Alyx said:
Lol so having software tied to an account is bad now?

Good grief.
Click to expand...

And I thought I misunderstood something lol
For years we wanted to have an account system, now we want digital downloads tied to hardware again? Nope.

You can still sell your account with all your games.
 
B

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
Id say just keep your games for now but maybe put them up on kijiji for $50 each.
 
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