• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Nintendo details how physical games bigger than 32GB will work on Switch

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
Keeping online modes out of the disc or cartridge is fine. You can't access these modes without an online connection anyway. If you buy something physical, the complete game should be on the disc, playable offline from start to finish. Patches and optional DLC is something completely different.
It'd stink if you had a game like Perfect Dark with multiplayer bots, or LAN play that bypasses an online requirement but the mode can't be redownloaded in the future due to service shutdown.

Not a problem at all ... play the game out of the box just fine.. if you want dlc and any additional content you need more memory.. This isnt any different than any other console or portable system.

complete non issue.
Blu-ray media consoles have 50GB game content storage as standard and each BD-ROM is dirt cheap to manufacture in comparison. That's quite a bit different.
 

rgoulart

Member
Since we didn't see any game bigger than 32gb yet, I think people should focus on the problem at hand. Which is they're shipping a game on an 8gb cart so they can cut costs and make people download the rest.

Let's say the game is 40gb, if 32gb carts are available, they should release those 32gb on cart and make as download only bare minimum. What they're doing cannot become the norm on third party Switch games.
 

Gamezone

Gold Member
Since we didn't see any game bigger than 32gb yet, I think people should focus on the problem at hand. Which is they're shipping a game on an 8gb cart so they can cut costs and make people download the rest.

Let's say the game is 40gb, if 32gb carts are available, they should release those 32gb on cart and make as download only bare minimum. What they're doing cannot become the norm on third party Switch games.

Exactly. 32 GB carts doesn't really matter if they are allowed to take these shortcuts.
 

Wiped89

Member
Since we didn't see any game bigger than 32gb yet, I think people should focus on the problem at hand. Which is they're shipping a game on an 8gb cart so they can cut costs and make people download the rest.

Let's say the game is 40gb, if 32gb carts are available, they should release those 32gb on cart and make as download only bare minimum. What they're doing cannot become the norm on third party Switch games.

Bingo. This is what I was saying. The developers are at fault here.

The separate issue of the console's small on board memory is just that: a separate issue. And this problem with the game would exist even if the Switch had a 1TB built in memory.
 
Isn't that their job to figure out?

Because obviously the solution they went with is half assed and not fit for purpose.

I would say the logical conclusion is they already went with the cheapest and most beneficial option that the design allowed. They aren't going to be all "lets use something more expensive just because"
 

Astral Dog

Member
Bingo. This is what I was saying. The developers are at fault here.

Exactly. 32 GB carts doesn't really matter if they are allowed to take these shortcuts.

Since we didn't see any game bigger than 32gb yet, I think people should focus on the problem at hand. Which is they're shipping a game on an 8gb cart so they can cut costs and make people download the rest.

Let's say the game is 40gb, if 32gb carts are available, they should release those 32gb on cart and make as download only bare minimum. What they're doing cannot become the norm on third party Switch games.
Its not fair to fault all of them if a card costs much more than a Disk imo
 
I don't think there is one at the moment, just how circumstances are 😞 just not as easy as faulting the devs.

Honestly they are sorta both to blame. Nintendo maybe should have a policy where if your game can completely fit on one of the carts you cant split it up like this unless the split part is online only. The publisher is also to blame as this is pretty shitty unless the only part not available is the online portion. Or they could have made a wider array of cart sizes available (not sure if this is economically feasible to do though to have a range of like 4, 8, 12, 16, etc etc).

Funny thing is I wonder if the switch didn't come with ANY onboard storage if this would have caused as much of a ruckus. At least then people would know upfront that they need a microSD card for ANY game saving. Because if you give 32GB, people want 64. If you give 64, people want 128 etc etc.
 

modsbox

Member
Understood that Nintendo is in a tough spot here. They don't want to block the release of 3rd party titles by charging too much for the carts, but the carts aren't cheap.

Honestly though this is their problem to solve. They need to charge nearly the same price for 32gig and 16gig carts as they do for 8 gig-- perhaps at a loss to themselves-- to stop publishers from making this very anti-consumer choice. The alternative would be for Nintendo to require that the games work in full without a download, but to me that just creates a situation where publishers will skip the Switch platform entirely for games with large storage requirements.

It would be really sad if we end up in a state where the cartridges are simply just DRM for downloads, but if they let this behavior go on that's exactly where we'll end up.
 
Understood that Nintendo is in a tough spot here. They don't want to block the release of 3rd party titles by charging too much for the carts, but the carts aren't cheap.

Honestly though this is their problem to solve. They need to charge nearly the same price for 32gig and 16gig carts as they do for 8 gig-- perhaps at a loss to themselves-- to stop publishers from making this very anti-consumer choice. The alternative would be for Nintendo to require that the games work in full without a download, but to me that just creates a situation where publishers will skip the Switch platform entirely for games with large storage requirements.

It would be really sad if we end up in a state where the cartridges are simply just DRM for downloads, but if they let this behavior go on that's exactly where we'll end up.

That's not a bad solution. But give some kind of incentive to fit the game on smaller carts if it doesn't also require a download. Maybe "32 GB and 16 GB carts are the same price, but if you use the smaller cart with now download you get a reduction on the cut we take"
 

Gamezone

Gold Member
One of the developers told me on Twitter that they are already having a hard time getting everything to fit on a 50 GB disc.
 

Gamezone

Gold Member
So how did they squeeze it into 25GB on Switch?

I have no idea. I remember NBA2K17 being almost 48 GB when it launched. My bet is that the Switch version is somehow less demanding. Or maybe they didn't compress the NBA2K17.
 

OmegaDL50

Member
i mean surely don't make the console this way if it requires further memory than it's capable of, just add more storage in the first place. Poor design

I'm sure you'd be willing the pay the price difference for the inclusion of the more expensive internal storage, right?

The folks first in line to claim it's poor design, Would also be first in line to complain the console being too expensive if the alternative happened.
 

Shiggy

Member
Best Buy and other retailers updated the release date to the correct date now (October 17). I think that puts the bullshit "it's just a download code in a box, why didn't IGN do proper research" to rest.

There was never such an SKU announced anyway.
 

Gamezone

Gold Member
Best Buy and other retailers updated the release date to the correct date now (October 17). I think that puts the bullshit "it's just a download code in a box, why didn't IGN do proper research" to rest.

There was never such an SKU announced anyway.

What do you mean? IGN never said it was a code?
 

Shiggy

Member
What do you mean? IGN never said it was a code?

I'm talking about posts like this, where some users thought they knew better than IGN and claimed that the boxart was for a code in a box version, which in fact was never announced anywhere. Here's an example:

Its pretty clear they are basing their info on the download code in a box version without realising, i do wonder sometimes how much time so called games journalists actually spend bothering to actually do journalism
 

zelas

Member
Understood that Nintendo is in a tough spot here. They don't want to block the release of 3rd party titles by charging too much for the carts, but the carts aren't cheap.

Honestly though this is their problem to solve. They need to charge nearly the same price for 32gig and 16gig carts as they do for 8 gig-- perhaps at a loss to themselves-- to stop publishers from making this very anti-consumer choice. The alternative would be for Nintendo to require that the games work in full without a download, but to me that just creates a situation where publishers will skip the Switch platform entirely for games with large storage requirements.

It would be really sad if we end up in a state where the cartridges are simply just DRM for downloads, but if they let this behavior go on that's exactly where we'll end up.
Yeah, they created the problem, it's theirs to solve. They have the ability to do so in multiple ways.
 

Gamezone

Gold Member
I'm talking about posts like this, where some users thought they knew better than IGN and claimed that the boxart was for a code in a box version, which in fact was never announced anywhere. Here's an example:

Yeah, that's true.
 

ggx2ac

Member
Since someone bumped this and in case people aren't following the NBA 2K18 thread.

NBA 2K18 for Switch is 22.9GB big to download. However, someone mentioned that the save file is 3GB big, which is not too surprising because they're pretty big on the PS4/XB1 versions too.

This is why you have to use a microSDXC card because the internal storage is only 25.9GB and I don't think it's going to let you squeeze the game in but apparently someone is trying that now to see.

Anyway, we don't know yet what this means for the physical version until there's more info or until it releases in October.
 

Shiggy

Member
This is why you have to use a microSDXC card because the internal storage is only 25.9GB and I don't think it's going to let you squeeze the game in but apparently someone is trying that now to see.

You don't install Switch games from game cards to the SD card or internal storage as you need to do on other systems. So it wouldn't really affect the retail version which has the 'warning'.

Also, do you know more on how the game is downloaded? There's quite a difference between the 8GB stated by Nintendo and the 23GB that it apparently really has.
 

ggx2ac

Member
You don't install Switch games from game cards to the SD card or internal storage as you need to do on other systems. So it wouldn't really affect the retail version which has the 'warning'.

Also, do you know more on how the game is downloaded? There's quite a difference between the 8GB stated by Nintendo and the 23GB that it apparently really has.

?

The 22.9GB required space file size is listed for the game on the eShop. I don't know where you read 8GB from.

Edit: And I was referring to the digital version regarding requiring a microSDXC card, I don't know what's going on with the physical version for if 2K are using the 32GB game card or not.
 

Shiggy

Member

ggx2ac

Member

I really don't know why it's saying that for the download version.

eShop says 22.9GB for required space and here is a quote from someone that bought the game and looked at the file sizes for me:

Says 22.9GB on my sdcard and 3GB to the internal storage totaling 26GB so far on version 1.02 and latest update installed

In case anyone just read this, the save data is 3GB big.

Edit: Maybe the difference is one is saying roughly 8GB is how much you need to download while another says 22.9GB for required space.

Maybe... The 8GB is to download which is then unpacked when it's installed which is why it gets to 22.9GB big.
 
Since someone bumped this and in case people aren't following the NBA 2K18 thread.

NBA 2K18 for Switch is 22.9GB big to download. However, someone mentioned that the save file is 3GB big, which is not too surprising because they're pretty big on the PS4/XB1 versions too.

This is why you have to use a microSDXC card because the internal storage is only 25.9GB and I don't think it's going to let you squeeze the game in but apparently someone is trying that now to see.

Anyway, we don't know yet what this means for the physical version until there's more info or until it releases in October.

The save file is 3GB?

0_O what?
 

Pokemaniac

Member
Just found a page explaining this on NoA's site. The relevant bit
http://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27434 said:
A microSD card (sold separately) is required to download NBA 2K18 for Nintendo Switch, in addition to 5GB per save file on the system memory. Please have the microSD card inserted before beginning the game download and ensure that you have a least 5GB of system memory (not on a microSD card) available.

Below are the storage space requirements:

Initial software download after purchase – 6.8 GB
Additional software update – 16.1 GB
Save file – 5 GB system memory per save file

Please note that a microSD card is required for both the digital and physical versions of the game. Additional information about this requirement is located on the game packaging and in the Nintendo eShop / Game Store.

For additional information about freeing up storage space on your Nintendo Switch console, click here.

Sounds like they really cheaper out and used a 8GB cart.
 

_Ryo_

Member
Not that I can afford a Switch right now, and even though theres a lot of games I want to play on the system I would rather wait until all the kinks are worked out before owning one anyway. It is 100% unacceptable to me to have to be forced to download a game when you have a physical copy of it.

Why even sell a cart at that point?

Make it digital only and lower the price, since it basically already is a digital only title with only a demo on the cart.

Also 3-5GB per save on a hybrid? Are you fucking kiding me, 2K?
 

diaspora

Member
Not that I can afford a Switch right now, and even though theres a lot of games I want to play on the system I would rather wait until all the kinks are worked out before owning one anyway. It is 100% unacceptable to me to have to be forced to download a game when you have a physical copy of it.

Why even sell a cart at that point?

Make it digital only and lower the price, since it basically already is a digital only title with only a demo on the cart.

Also 3-5GB per save on a hybrid? Are you fucking kiding me, EA?
What
 

ElGoldur

Neo Member
Not sure on which thread should I ask this ... well, this thread seems appropriated.

I am running out go space on my 32GB sd card. I was planning to buy NBA2k18 but I don't have enough space. So, I will have to buy a new sd card. Probably I will go for a 128 GB.

But I don't want to loose the information I have on my sd card.
Is there a way to "migrate" the existing information from my current sd card to the new sd card? I googled it a bit but I got contradictory information.

Did anyone do it? Is it enough to copy the info from one sd card to the other one?
 
Not sure on which thread should I ask this ... well, this thread seems appropriated.

I am running out go space on my 32GB sd card. I was planning to buy NBA2k18 but I don't have enough space. So, I will have to buy a new sd card. Probably I will go for a 128 GB.

But I don't want to loose the information I have on my sd card.
Is there a way to "migrate" the existing information from my current sd card to the new sd card? I googled it a bit but I got contradictory information.

Did anyone do it? Is it enough to copy the info from one sd card to the other one?

I haven't seen any evidence one way or the other about whether copying data to a new SD card will work or what considerations are involved, but it might reassure you to know that none of your save data can be stored on an SD card, so the only thing you're losing is game downloads that can be redownloaded to the new card.
 

Pokemaniac

Member
Not sure on which thread should I ask this ... well, this thread seems appropriated.

I am running out go space on my 32GB sd card. I was planning to buy NBA2k18 but I don't have enough space. So, I will have to buy a new sd card. Probably I will go for a 128 GB.

But I don't want to loose the information I have on my sd card.
Is there a way to "migrate" the existing information from my current sd card to the new sd card? I googled it a bit but I got contradictory information.

Did anyone do it? Is it enough to copy the info from one sd card to the other one?

You can just copy over all the files with a PC and everything will be fine.

I haven't seen any evidence one way or the other about whether copying data to a new SD card will work or what considerations are involved, but it might reassure you to know that none of your save data can be stored on an SD card, so the only thing you're losing is game downloads that can be redownloaded to the new card.

And screenshots. Those are typically on the SD card as well.
 

Pokemaniac

Member
I was asking about this in the other thread, is it 100% confirmed that you can basically store digital games on your PC via a microSD card?

I haven't tried manipulating the data.

But it's all just (probably encrypted) files in an unencrypted FAT32 or exFAT filesystem. Moving them around is pretty easy.

If you do attempt to do this, keep in mind that the Switch appears to split files into 4GB chunks in order to work around limitations in FAT32.
 

r3ddvil

Member
Is it an issue to buy memory cards when you buy a digital SLR camera?

Or how about tablets and phones that do not have slots for extra storage or laptops you can't upgrade the ram?

If the Switch is to remain portable, it can't use optical or HDD for storage. SSD and flash are expensive at large formats, and it's in our interest that they are flexible so we can buy what we need to get by today and buy a larger down the road when they become cheaper.

Having options is a good thing.
 

ozfunghi

Member
Just installed a microsd card of 128gb. (read +/- 85MB/s, write +/-35MB/s). I paid €30.

Anyway, what i wanted to say, is that it's very unfortunate, that there is no way to move downloaded games from the 32GB internal memory to the SD card. I needed to empty the internal memory in order to be able to play Minecraft (it needed additional space in order to boot). So you basically have to "archive" a game (which means you delete the game, lol), and then when you download it again, it will automatically download to the microsd card.

That's... cumbersome and tedious.
 

shanafan

Member
Just installed a microsd card of 128gb. (read +/- 85MB/s, write +/-35MB/s). I paid €30.

Anyway, what i wanted to say, is that it's very unfortunate, that there is no way to move downloaded games from the 32GB internal memory to the SD card. I needed to empty the internal memory in order to be able to play Minecraft (it needed additional space in order to boot). So you basically have to "archive" a game (which means you delete the game, lol), and then when you download it again, it will automatically download to the microsd card.

That's... cumbersome and tedious.

It's not tedious at all, lol. You archive the game and then just redownload it ;)
 
Top Bottom