For those with a Switch, I have a question

General Discussion
1

So, I have a Switch Lite coming in the mail soon. I bought a bunch of physical games, but I have yet to buy an SD card.

My question is:

How big of one should I get?

As far as for what will go on it, well, I’m mostly buying first party physical games. So, the only things that would go on the SD card would be some DLC for those games (like the BOTW DLC), as well as their updates and save, a couple digital only Indies (Like Cadence of Hyrule), a couple digital only third party games (like OW), and maybe a couple games where you have to download part of it (like the Spyro reignited trilogy).

I’m asking, because since the collection will mostly be physical, I don’t want to go out and buy a gigantic card that I’m never going to use/fill up. That’s just wasting money, in my opinion. But I also don’t want to buy something too small, where I end up having to buy multiple SD cards to store things. I’m looking for a “sweet spot”, of sorts.

I would appreciate the help. Thank you.

Edit

I’m adding this to here. It was a comment I said down below:

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i’m going to ask a friend for you, i remember him having to upgrade sd cards and it wasn’t very pleasant

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Thank you. I appreciate it. Because I don’t want exactly go out and buy some big 1 TB card that I’m never going to fill. But in the same aspect, I don’t want to be stuck with the 32 gig or something super small and have it be filled in the blank of an eye.

And, for multiple reasons I don’t want to go all digital with my Switch. But, I do want some titles that are only available in a digital download format. So, I know this puts me in kind of a weird gray area of what to do.

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If im not mistaken physical games barely take any storage space for the Switch unlike PS4 or Xbox, so you would probably be fine for a while without it

I still recommend getting one though

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from my experience a BIG SD card is only required if you buy a lot of games digitally or you get very large games, nintendo (I think) is the only company who doesnt have you download the entire game onto the console prior to playing if you are using physical, usually just a small update

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Right, I know that. But certain things do take up space. There are game updates, there’s also DLC for games. For example, Super Smash Brothers has a bunch of DLC fighters and Breath of the Wild has a DLC expansion. they’re also some games that I would want to buy that happen to be digital only, like OverWatch.

So, I want to buy an SD card, but I don’t know what size to get. Most of my collection will be physical, but not all of it. And I don’t want to go out and buy some big gigantic card I’m never going to fill, but on the other hand, I don’t want to buy one so small that it’s filled with a snap of the fingers.

So what size do you think I should get

to try and break this down a little better. I plan on getting:

  1. A bunch of first party games physically. So, the only SD card space these will take up, are updates, save data and DLC
  2. A couple digital only indie titles. For example, the game Cadence of Hyrule is only available on the switch and is only digital.
  3. A couple AAA games that are digital only or require most of it to be downloaded. Like, Overwatch and Spyro the reignited trilogy

That would be what would be going on my switch. So, based on that, what size do you think would be good?

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Its mainly cause the game is mainly on the ship thing (dont remember the name) unlike the disks

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honestly…64 gigs is probably MORE than enough, so if you dont have to buy one, dont just use the one that comes with the switch

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Well it depends on the game, you could see how large are the games you want and do some math for it

Since some games are really small and other can take quite a bit of space

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So, do you think I should just wait?

I was going to try to buy the SD card a little preemptively, because I know there’s not a huge amount of internal storage on the switch. Yes, it’s a 32 gig, but I know some of that is taken up by its internal operating system and all that good stuff. So it’s not a true 32 GB (of free space). And I wasn’t sure if that would be enough for some of the stuff I want to do

That’s not a bad idea. Do you know where I can find the information for that? I’ve never tried looking up game sizes before on the internet. Lol

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Its around 25GB that are free if im not mistaken

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Apparently you can check it in the eshop (Nintendos shop basically)

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Yeah, something like that. The thing is though, I don’t really know the size of some of these switch games. I hear they’re closer to the 360 era of gaming. You know, you’re not usually downloading some gigantic 50-100-150 gig title, Like you are on the bloody Xbox lol.

Oh, okay. Thank you

I know this might seem like stupid questions, but it’s been awhile since I’ve really had to do the math for this stuff. For my Xbox, I do all digital (with the exception of some really cheap physical copies) And because everything is pretty much downloaded anyway, I just make sure to have a huge amount of storage.

The switch is the first physical game based console I’ve had since my 360. So, I’m not really used to what space I need or don’t need for it. As, with Xbox, I just make sure to have a lot, because everything is going on there. The switch is kind of in this weird gray area, you know?

Because most things will be physical, but not everything (Like if I get OverWatch for it, that’s digital only). So, I’m trying to find a middle ground between “Oh crap, I bought too small of a card” and “Why did I buy this huge card I’m never going to fill up”

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It was the same for the DS console

The actual game is mainly on the Games Chip, such has the saved data, for example, if you switch a games chip for another, even if its the same game, all data is gone

Unlike the PS4 or Xbox which you can play with different disks and keep the data

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I bought a 128GB that does the job well for most of the time
It will run out eventually, but I think it’s enough as a start

Although if you have the money for a bigger one, go for it

(And buy Xenoblade chronicles definitive edition RIGHT NOW)

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Oh, that’s another thing, I have known in Nintendo system since the GameCube. I’ve played with the Wii, But never owned it. And I’ve never touched the Wii U. So, I’ve been out of the Nintendo game for a while now.

Okay. Yeah, I’ve heard a couple places that if you have a mostly physical collection, 128 is a pretty good idea. I just wanted second opinions basically.

It’s not so much about having or not having the money, it’s the fact that I don’t want to feel like I wasted it. You know, why buy a 512 GB or 1 TB card, If I only ever fill it up halfway (512) or a quarter (1 TB)? Then I just feel like I wasted my money.

And, I’m trying not to get into a position where I’m buying multiple cards. I’m trying to get this right on the first try. I don’t want to regret spending money for space I didn’t need, or regret not buying a bigger card and running out too fast. Like I said in my OP, I’m trying to find a “sweet spot”

EDIT

Yeah, I just looked up a bunch of the games and based off the information I found, it really doesn’t take much. The Nintendo Switch games are about the same size as the old 360 and PS3 titles. I mean I was hard pressed to find anything above like 15 GB. And that’s only major AAA titles, Like The Witcher 3 and mortal Kombat 11 and stuff like that. And most of those games, I would just buy them my Xbox.

So, Yeah, TobiasAlec and Mooshpaw, I think you both are right. As long as I’m buying most of my games physically and I’m not turning my switch into my Main Console (Where I buy a bunch of third-party games digitally), I think I really only need 64 or 128 card.

Most of Nintendo’s titles are rather small. And the couple third-party ones I want to get, like Overwatch, or only like 12 gigs. Even if you factor in things like DLC and updates and stuff, it’s pretty small in comparison to what you see on the Xbox and PS4. Lol.

Like I said, the switch seems to hover around the file sizes that were on the Xbox 360 and PS3, when you download stuff, more so than the current gen of Consoles, which just have absurd file sizes.

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I’d go for the 128 then
64 is just double the space the switch normally has, won’t do much
128 is perfect. Now if you’re definitely buying only phisical and Indies go into digital then probably the 64 one, but I’d rather go for the 128 NGL

That said, you can always use the space you didn’t use for something else when you don’t use the switch anymore or something like that

Also

JUST DO IT!

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Yeah. At worst, I thought maybe I could go for the 200 GB. 256 seems like way too much, and I’m not 100% sure if 64 or 128 would be good enough, long term.

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SD cards aren’t too expensive. I would go bigger than you think you need just in case you end up buying more digital games at some point. I originally planned on buying mostly cartridges, but I ended up going all digital eventually.

My first card was 128 GB for $22. That was more than enough for a long time, but I did eventually buy enough games that I had to update to a 256 GB one for $45. I think I’m probably an outlier in needing the bigger size. I bet that 128 GB is enough for most people, particularly if you are buying a lot of physical games.

You might even be able to get by with a 64 GB one, but it’s not worth the hassle of updating later. Just get the 128 GB card now would be my advice.

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Right. But, to be fair, I don’t really see that happening.

98% of my use for the switch is going to be first party/exclusive titles. And, unless it’s DLC or a game that is only available digitally (like Cadence of Hyrule), I don’t foresee buying much of anything that isn’t physical.

Fair point.

Yeah, I think a 64 would be too small. I also think a 256 would be too large.

So I’m thinking either a 128, or they do make a 200 GB SD card. I think that would probably be the sweet spot.

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