adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
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Additional info. It seems like Switch 2's data cards have a read speed of 400 MB/s.
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SW Outlaws Dev: Game was Designed Around SSD's, Switch 2's Storage Card Not Fast Enough, Hence It's On a "Game Key Card"
- Thread starter adamsapple
- Start date
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Additional info. It seems like Switch 2's data cards have a read speed of 400 MB/s.
FoxMcChief
Gold Member
That actually makes sense.
You cannot play Switch 2 games from a MicroSD.
Thought it might we worth seeing how it works on the Z1E PC handhelds, on MicroSD. Pretty sure it doesn't run on the Deck
Baemono
Gold Member
You're right, Switch 2 uses MicroSD Express
Skifi28
Gold Member
Sethbacca
Member
Steve Holt
Member
I haven't even thought of this. That makes sense.
Nintendo's decisions are crazy sometimes. It's starting to feel more and more like a Switch 1.5, that a true successor.
Nintendo's decisions are crazy sometimes. It's starting to feel more and more like a Switch 1.5, that a true successor.
asdasdasdbb
Member
Disc consoles install the entire game to the HD/SSD. It's been that way for a long time.
diffusionx
Gold Member
No different from every other gaming platform in 2025, then.
asdasdasdbb
Member
There probally won't be that many non-Keycard third party games.
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Discs are way too cheap to care much about using them as simply a throwaway means of transfer to the system's storage without other use, but yeah, there have still been many (dumb) cases of games where the disc barely had any data on it and you downloaded the bulk of it still ages now (I think early Steam third party releases boxed games did it occasionally even all those years ago, and it's still happening often enough, outside the niche "this once digital only indie game now has a physical release from small publishing label" stuff).
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I know, and Switch 2 has fast internal storage too, they could just make it installable from gamecard just they do with disc, but they went for the cheap way
Skifi28
Gold Member
Not quite. While the Switch 2 is the new "anchor" in CPU power, the S will remain the memory one. I'm sure they can work in tandem to bring down what remains of this and a good chunk of the next generation!
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adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Unless it's a third party game designed around NS2 first then ported to other platforms.
Deerock71
Very Poor Hoice of Wor
Well, they like money.
Mr Moose
Member
What? Discs are installed on the SSD, as is the game keycards like they are using for this game (digital downloads).
I think the normal Switch 2 game carts are playable from the cart and not installed.
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xrnzaaas
Member
That's not related to the drive being slower since the 360/PS3 generation. Not accounting for some early 360 games, you need to install the game from the disc so all it matters is how fast your storage is to load data.
If a game's not on the disc, it just means that the publisher doesn't give a shit about retail releases or doesn't want to pay for releasing game on 2 discs. It's never related to technical limitations of the bluray drives.
It's about cost. They prioritized a digital experience with the Switch 2, where internal/microsd express has significantly faster speeds. Game Cards have a per game cost that is significantly more and Nintendo had to standardized around a physical media that would be inexpensive enough for mass market use. At least Game Keys are an option instead of skipping physical releases altogether.
Dr.Morris79
Gold Member
Excellent. This should make the game infinitely better.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
What exactly is a "Game-Key" Card? I haven't been reading that much on the Switch 2 tbh. I'm planning to buy one next holiday season for my daughter.
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
My post was literally saying it's just about the cost of the physical media, so we agree.
But yeah funny to see the convo about this being the reason the Switch will hold other systems back when they literally showed there's a way around it with this game - and as you say it could have released on physical like on any system regardless, discs are way too slow(ly read) to play from too.
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Horseganador
Member
Good excuse, but the publishers' main motive is to save money on a card with the game inside, nothing more.
Baemono
Gold Member
Like Prince of Persia Lost Crown, which is sold nowadays as a download code only
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
A blank game card, you put it in the console, it acts as a license and you download the full game afterward.
asdasdasdbb
Member
It entitles you to download the entire game (and install it to the SSD).
That what was I was going to say. Cost is the main reason why third parties are using keycards, but if read speeds are too slow, it makes the decision that much easier.
Mr Moose
Member
Digital game, downloads to storage.
I think they are twice as fast as the carts (if the carts are 400MB/s). 880MB/s read.
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Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
Basically a cartridge shaped card with a game key on it. Let's you download a game from the store and access the download on your device. So you need the key card in the Switch 2 when playing the corresponding game.
Guardian Monkey
Member
So all cards have a max speed of 400mb? How fast is the onboard storage memory?
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Baemono
Gold Member
And you can sell it
Jack Videogames
Member
According to TheGamePost the cards are the slowest of all options
"A new speed test using Mario Kart World on the Switch 2 compared loading times across three storage options: built-in internal storage, SD Express memory cards from several brands, and the physical game card.The test measured how long it took to load the game from each storage type, providing a clear look at which method is the fastest. (thanks to 4416Y)
- Internal Storage (256GB UFS): 16.60 seconds
- Sandisk SD Express (256GB):19.18 seconds
- Samsung SD Express (256GB): 19.41 seconds
- Lexar SD Express (1TB): 19.78 seconds
- Game Card: 24.75 seconds"
Mr Moose
Member
256 GB (UFS) (No idea what speed it is).
Switch 2 games load much slower from cartridges than a microSD Express card or internal storage
Nintendo Switch 2 specs support several higher-capacity storage formats. A new benchmark determines which option loads titles the quickest. Results might make gamers more likely to purchase digital Switch 2 games.
www.notebookcheck.net
Edit: Potentially this:
UFS 3.1 offers impressive data transfer speeds, with read speeds of up to 2100 MB/s and write speeds up to 1200 MB/s. This makes tasks like app loading, file transfers, and system boot-up significantly faster.
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kevboard
Member
afaik there are SD Express cards with only 150MB/s read speeds, labeled with SD Express E150.
and these should be Switch 2 compatible right? so what if someone uses such an E150 card? one of the tech yt channels should test this
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mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Oh my!.........I'm assuming GAF went crazy when this news dropped that Nintendo was doing this then. It's like a fake way to make a console a "download-only" console. The only upside I can think of is at least you can let your friend borrow your "blank game card" or you can sell it.
Well, now I should ask you guys........is Nintendo allowing people to sell these Game Cards to Retailers like Gamestop or your friends?
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Yes, that's probably the saving grace. They''re afterall cards like the storage cards, so you can resell them.
Mr Moose
Member
Yes.
You can borrow, resell, and use Nintendo’s game-key cards on any Switch 2 console
An internet connection is only needed once.
www.theverge.com
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Yes.
You can borrow, resell, and use Nintendo’s game-key cards on any Switch 2 console
An internet connection is only needed once.
Okay, so not the end of the world. But yikes.....I still don't love this. Nintendo makes it tough on devs though by providing hardware that's slow though. But was there any option that Nintendo could have went with that could have given them over 2 GBs of read access speeds while using a cart or memory stick of any kind?
Bojji
Member
So why not use game cart like BD on PS5 and Xbox? Just contain compressed data for the game to install on internal storage.
That way game is fully on the cart, don't require any download and can be used offline (+preservation).
Yep.
That way game is fully on the cart, don't require any download and can be used offline (+preservation).
Yep.
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asdasdasdbb
Member
The main reason was/is cost. Publishers asked for a cheaper option. This is Nintendo's solution.
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Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
We did indeed lose our collective shits for several pages on a a thread or 2. Hard to keep track, the whole front page was Nintendo threads back in April lol
Lets not compare the micro express sd with blueray. If you look at the load times in between they are not far off. The cartridge speed would be fast enough (including cyberpunk) for most games, again unlike blueray.