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[SGRU]

Hi GAF. Yes, another Switch thread, but I think this particular topic hasn't been covered yet.

I was a happy Wii-U user, until I've found something terrible about it. And it was the lack of back-up support for my save files.

One of the games I've enjoyed the most in my entire life was Super Mario 3D World. I'm not a very skilled player at all, so collecting some of the stamps or the stars was a real challenge to me. So, the day I learned you just CAN'T transfer your save files to a new console in case yours gets damaged, I got angry. So angry I decided to stop playing with that console. Yes, I was that angry.

I decided to not spend more time in a system that wouldn't let me do what I've been doing (or at least trying) during my entire life as a gamer: completing games and then treasure the save files as that, my treasures.

And that's what concerns me about the Switch. Is there any chance of Nintendo making the same mistake again? Can they be that stupid, again?

So I open this thread to see if somebody knows anything about that problem. Will Nintendo let us save our files in a rational way? Will we be able to move our files to a new system if ours gets damaged? Will they implement any sort of cloud saving?

This is seriously the only thing that is preventing me from pre-ordering the console.

Back-up me if old.

Thanks for reading.

 

[jaina]

Save game backups are my reason for paying PS+, so I can kinda understand where you're coming from.

But still, I'm playing Wii U / 3DS games even if I might lose progress.

 

[Greatest Ever]

Is there any chance of Nintendo making the same mistake again? Can they be that stupid, again?

It's Nintendo. Never underestimate their ability to mess up again and again.

 

[defusal]

With physical games I would guess it would be like 3DS where for the most part the save is stored on the cart.

 

[James Scott]

They have a my Nintendo cloud saves working on mobile.
Hoping they have them on Switch too

 

[Living the Dream]

With physical games I would guess it would be like 3DS where for the most part the save is stored on the cart.

Think again. On the system.

 

[EloquentM]

With physical games I would guess it would be like 3DS where for the most part the save is stored on the cart.

Switch carts are not rewritable so how will data save on the cart?

Think again. On the system.

It varies, and games that do save data on the cart don't save everything there most times. Pokemon saves to the cart

 

[Kouriozan]

Coming with Nintendo account (already work on mobile)

 

[tenderbrew]

Never crossed my mind and never would have been important to me.

When I load my Earthbound cart from a kid and see the save file on there, yah it's somewhat nostalgic or whatever, but I have no dying desire to make sure I have it forever.

 

[defusal]

Switch carts are not rewritable so how will data save on the cart?


It varies, and games that do save data on the cart don't save everything there most times. Pokemon saves to the cart

Oh I didn't no that. Do you have a source? DS and 3DS cards are not rewritable as such either they just have a small amount flash memory to store save data.

 

[jholmes]

You were so upset about hypothetically not being able to play your save file that you never played the game again?

Seriously though I would hope Nintendo has a solution on the Switch and I suspect they will if you're willing to pay an annual fee to have it online. That's progress of a sort.

 

[sonto340]

If the switch is anything like the 3DS you'll be able to back up your save files from the sd card

 

[EloquentM]

Oh I didn't no that. Do you have a source? DS and 3DS cards are not rewritable as such either they just have a small amount flash memory to store save data.

Second point about 3DS saves going on the cart in not so sure about after googling. Some places are saying yes others are saying no. I'll have to simply just ask my friend who has a copy of 3DS pokemon games and two 3DS. As for the switch cart stuff I saw it sourced in one of the many threads.

 

[nampad]

I am sure Nintendo will offer online features like cloud saves similar to Microsoft and Sony since they are starting to charge for it.

Spoiler

I am terrible liar.

 

[13ruce]

With breath of the wild having save states it would be insane if you could not put your save on the sd card or external hardrive/usb.

 

[Pokemaniac]

The use of SD cards significantly raises the chances that they won't do full disk encryption this time. So backing up with a computer will be more likely to be an option.

That said, My Nintendo has cloud saves and there's a decent chance Switch will support that.

 

[defusal]

Second point about 3DS saves going on the cart in not so sure about after googling. Some places are saying yes others are saying no. I'll have to simply just ask my friend who has a copy of 3DS pokemon games and two 3DS. As for the switch cart stuff I saw it sourced in one of the many threads.

Pokemon definitely saves all the main data to the cart. I have two 3DS's and swap all the time. Its only some games where it doesn't save completely to the cart.

 

[SGRU]

Save game backups are my reason for paying PS+, so I can kinda understand where you're coming from.

On PS4, you can at least recover the saves from one console to another.

 

[SGRU]

It's Nintendo. Never underestimate their ability to mess up again and again.

Sad but really true.

 

[EloquentM]

Pokemon definitely saves all the main data to the cart. I have two 3DS's and swap all the time. Its only some games where it doesn't save completely to the cart.

Thanks!

 

[xxracerxx]

Never crossed my mind and never would have been important to me.

When I load my Earthbound cart from a kid and see the save file on there, yah it's somewhat nostalgic or whatever, but I have no dying desire to make sure I have it forever.

Cool, that example isn't really the issue here though, like, at all.

 

[bomblord1]

Pretty sure you can copy your saves to an SD card OP. I know I've done it (or was that the wii...)

 

[AndrewPL]

You're playing games for the wrong reason if you care so much about this.

Enjoy the journey, it's not about getting to the destination.

If you 100% Mario world and lose the save, so what? You did it, you can play it again etc.

 

[SGRU]

Pretty sure you can copy your saves to an SD card OP. I know I've done it (or was that the wii...)

You can do it in Wii-U, but you can only restore it in the same console you made the copy of.

 

[Jack The Nipper]

I mean, either play or don't play. The save file is nice but not a reason to miss the games.

Isn't it more important to play them? I can't agree with not playing for this reason...

So you will not experience the games cause you may lose saves. Seems you value the saves more than the game itself. Sort of like collectors sometimes prefer the box and lookimg rather than playing in reality.

I say, just try to relax about it if it's out of your hands.

 

[bomblord1]

You can do it in Wii-U, but you can only restore it in the same console you made the copy of.

I don't think that's true I obviously could be wrong though. At the very least I have given copies of my saves to friends via the wii.

 

[SGRU]

If you 100% Mario world and lose the save, so what? You did it, you can play it again etc.

What if you are doing a ten thousand pieces puzzle and your cat destroys it when you are about to finish? Yeah, you can start over...

Thanks but NO.

 

[SGRU]

I don't think that's true I obviously could be wrong though. At the very least I have given copies of my saves to friends via the wii.

I'm talking about the Wii-U.

 

[Jack The Nipper]

What if you are doing a ten thousand pieces puzzle and your cat destroys it when you are about to finish? Yeah, you can start over...

Thanks but NO.

It's about enjoying the game. If it seems like work and a grind might as well choose another game

Yes it definitely sucks to lose progress and can make you give up, but I wouldn't give up all games.

So you give up on all puzzles cause you were putting together a puzzle?

 

[Adam_Vania]

i can't think of a single game where i transferred the save from one system to the next.

trying to follow the logic here. you got rid of your Wii U bc you couldn't transfer save files from that Wii U to potentially another Wii U? that doesn't sound like an issue unless you are planning on buying multiple of the same consoles. which you clearly aren't if you are getting rid of your console in the first place.

in general im super confused about the issue here at all.

i've never had a game console wear out on me. maybe i have just been lucky. but it seems like this is the case for most people. my gamer friends play all the time and never had any issues.

i can't see treasuring a save file past a month or so of beating a game or 100%ing it. it is the journey of getting that save file that matters, not the final destination. the save file is just symbolic of all the fun you have had playing the game.

 

[SGRU]

I just want to have the option of backing up my saves. If I don't, I just don't want to waste time with that system. And Mario 3D is pretty much the only game I miss from Wii-U.

 

[jaina]

On PS4, you can at least recover the saves from one console to another.

yeah, I just don't want to do the manual process

 

[SGRU]

i can't see treasuring a save file past a month or so of beating a game or 100%ing it. it is the journey of getting that save file that matters, not the final destination. the save file is just symbolic of all the fun you have had playing the game.

What if you want to keep that symbol? What if your console gets damaged / stolen when you are near completing a game? Yeah, it happened to me before.

Maybe you don't understand that need because it never happened to you before or maybe because it's easy for you to do it. But I don't have the time or the skills to start over a game like 3D World. Yes, I find it to be really hard to get some of the stamps and I don't have the time to do it again. I can barely play for a couple of hours a week, re-playing a game is something I don't do too often.

 

[Boy Wander]

Isn't this just cutting off your nose to spite your face? Seems like a pretty trivial reason to just flat out stop playing on a particular console full stop.

 

[Sesuadra]

Coming with Nintendo account (already work on mobile)

somehow your post has been ignoried >> I did not know that! thanks

 

[nubbe]

If a game is good and fun to play, losing a save is hardly a problem
Losing or deleting a save file creates new opportunities

 

[SGRU]

somehow your post has been ignoried >> I did not know that! thanks

It hasn't, I've seen the image and I'm pretty happy with it. There's hope!

 

[Seth Enosh]

I don't think that's true I obviously could be wrong though. At the very least I have given copies of my saves to friends via the wii.

This only works for Wii games.

Wii U saves cannot be copied to SD and are encrypted to the console they are produced on. Without using homebrew and a cracked Wii U there's no way to move the saves.

I thought Switch was sure to have cloud saves but seeing as it's not listed in nintendo's matrix that attempts to justify their new paid online services, I have a strong feeling they have messed this up again.

 

[New002]

Personally I think dropping the game because of this is fairly extreme, but you've got a legitimate critique for sure. It's dumb that you can't back up your saves. No arguing that.

 

[Putosaure]

Personally I think dropping the game because of this is fairly extreme, but you've got a legitimate critique for sure. It's dumb that you can't back up your saves. No arguing that.

I had moved my Xenoblade, Mario Kart, Smash Bros data to an external hard drive (because patches), and so the saves were attached to them. Hard drive failed, lost countless hours on those games. It's been months and I don't think I'll be able to start again from scratch for such a stupid reason.

 

[Cynar]

You're playing games for the wrong reason if you care so much about this.

Enjoy the journey, it's not about getting to the destination.

If you 100% Mario world and lose the save, so what? You did it, you can play it again etc.

Every other console has this feature. It's a huge mistake for Nintendo to continually screw up with this.

 

[SGRU]

150+ hours in Zelda, Mario coming in a few weeks... And still no option to back-up my saves.

Seriously Nintendo?

Is there any rumors regarding that? I'm really really upset. Is not rocket science, every other gaming system has the option to save your files!

 

[shiyrley]

150+ hours in Zelda, Mario coming in a few weeks... And still no option to back-up my saves.

Seriously Nintendo?

Is there any rumors regarding that? I'm really really upset. Is not rocket science, every other gaming system has the option to save your files!

As a minimum, you're gonna have to wait until the paid online service hits in order to have cloud saves.

 

[faint.]

150+ hours in Zelda, Mario coming in a few weeks... And still no option to back-up my saves.

Seriously Nintendo?

Is there any rumors regarding that? I'm really really upset. Is not rocket science, every other gaming system has the option to save your files!

Look at the eighth comment. Somehow you've missed that... twice.

 

[SGRU]

Look at the eighth comment. Somehow you've missed that... twice.

No, I didn't. I still can't save my files, that's what I'm saying. If I have to send to repair mi console today, I'll lose my saves.

Is a feature supposedly coming, with a paid service...

 

[Wiped89]

I don't care about cloud saves. Why can't we just put saves on the SD card???

I bought a Switch last week and it's got a broken joycon. I can't take the console back to Tesco because I can't be bothered to restart Zelda now. So I had to call Nintendo to send in the left joycon, meanwhile I will have to buy spare joycons to play it while I wait for it to be fixed.

Fucking ridiculous tbh. I was able to save PSP saves onto a memory card and back them up on my PC in 2005 FFS.

 

[SGRU]

As a minimum, you're gonna have to wait until the paid online service hits in order to have cloud saves.

Yeah, but with Nintendo you never know!

 

[Stopdoor]

It sucks. The only thing I really am glad about homebrew coming along for Nintendo hardware is unrestricted save backups. Super annoying you have to wait and go through an ugly homebrew solution for it though.

People saying "well no big deal if you lose your save" are a new level of obnoxious - I play a lot of local multiplayer games and the amount of random unlockables and stuff for those types of games can be stupid. Ex. locking multiplayer maps behind progression. So no thanks to "I'm playing games for the wrong reasons", that's garbage.

 

[SGRU]

I don't care about cloud saves. Why can't we just put saves on the SD card???

I bought a Switch last week and it's got a broken joycon. I can't take the console back to Tesco because I can't be bothered to restart Zelda now. So I had to call Nintendo to send in the left joycon, meanwhile I will have to buy spare joycons to play it while I wait for it to be fixed.

Fucking ridiculous tbh. I was able to save PSP saves onto a memory card and back them up on my PC in 2005 FFS.

That's what I'm talking about!
Almost 2018 and Nintendo puts in the market a product without such a basic feature.

 

[YearoftheWooster]

My 3DS and Wii U are hacked to enable save backups (and physical --> digital convenience). Although it is a pain to not have cloud saves, there's always a workaround.
Be patient (and be careful) with your Switch. But yes, I understand your worry.