Nintendo Delays 64-GB Cartridges for Switch Until 2019, Per Reports

By Chris Compendio | December 27, 2017 | 12:38pm

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Nintendo Delays 64-GB Cartridges for Switch Until 2019, Per Reports

Hey, remember those Nintendo Switch cartridges? You know, those tiny cards that taste bad? They cost a lot to make, so much so that you may notice that some multiplatform games cost more on the Switch than on other consoles. It’s only one of several problems with the Switch’s lack of memory, and to make matters potentially worse, The WSJ reports that larger Switch cartridges (64GB) won’t arrive until 2019.

Nintendo has generally done a good job of optimizing and compressing their games to around 2-6 GB, but the same can’t be said for third-party developers. Games like L.A. Noire, Doom and NBA 2K18 actually require another download with their cartridges, with the games being too big for 16-GB cards—and L.A. Noire is still an example of the “Switch tax,” with the physical game being $10 more than the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 editions. For downloading digital games, Switch users have to utilize compatible microSD cards, with the console’s internal memory only having 24 GB available.

The WSJ reports that Nintendo initially promised developers access to 64-GB cards by the second half of 2018, but “technical issues” have hampered these plans. One has to wonder if these cards of larger size are even more expensive than the ones already being used.

Regardless, don’t expect a solution to this Switch storage snafu anytime soon.