Can you download games to the Switch?

[pkcable]

Folks,

Pardon my ignorance BUT can you download games to the Nintendo Switch? Does it have an online store like Steam, or the Microsoft store, or the Apple App store, on the device? Or is it only cartridges? My feelings is that it's both, but I just wanted to confirm with a current owner.

 

[Cagdas Ozen]

You can download games from nintendo eShop (you can access it from the circular icon on the home screen) but you need to get a decent microSD card (the console has only 32GB built in storage)

 

[pkcable]

Thanks! I went ahead and marked your answer as the "best answer"

 

[Matty]

It's still funny to think that when I used to play on my PS2, there was no such thing as 'downloading' more games. You could only buy them on CD. How times have changed. Back then, I had 8MB of storage! Not the 32GB we get given today haha

Additional information regarding game purchases.

If you want to move your digital games to a different system, you can deactivate your current Switch console, then use your Nintendo Account to access the Nintendo eShop on the new console. The new console will automatically become the active console for your Nintendo Account, and all of your digital games can be played on the new system.

 

[pkcable]

It's still funny to think that when I used to play on my PS2, there was no such thing as 'downloading' more games. You could only buy them on CD. How times have changed. Back then, I had 8MB of storage! Not the 32GB we get given today haha ������

Additional information regarding game purchases.

If you want to move your digital games to a different system, you can deactivate your current Switch console, then use your Nintendo Account to access the Nintendo eShop on the new console. The new console will automatically become the active console for your Nintendo Account, and all of your digital games can be played on the new system. ������

Before you were born! On my first console, Pong, you got 1 game, in like 6 variations, and NO cartridges or CDs or downloads! Then next we got the Atari 2600 with it's "carts" as we called them, with games you could add to the console and play when you had the cartridge in the machine. And what did you do if it didn't work right when you plugged it in the first time? You pulled it out and blew on it and then plugged it back in the slot! Raise your hand if you ever blew on an Atari 2600 cartridge? lol

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Never blew on an Atari cartridge, but certainly blew in plenty of original NES ones!

I'm still desperately awaiting word on the virtual console situation for the Switch. I'm guessing at this point it will be E3 that we hear anything further.