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NBA 2K18 On Switch Requires A MicroSD Card And A Hefty Extra Download

by Imran Khan on Sep 15, 2017 at 01:16 PM

NBA 2K18 on the Switch looks amazing and surprisingly close to higher-end systems for a handheld system, but that comes at a pretty big storage cost that the cartridges are having a hard time handling.

Nintendo updated its support site for NBA 2K18 today, outright saying that a MicroSD card is required for the game, whether or not you have a physical cartridge. From Nintendo's support site:

"Below are the storage space requirements:

Initial software download after purchase – 6.8 GB
Additional software update – 16.1 GB
Save file – 5 GB system memory per save file"

That would be around 28GB of the Switch's theoretical 32GB flash memory (in reality, more like 26GB) for the game. The cartridge only saves you 7GB off the top.

Nintendo itself has explained that the MicroSD card is probably going to be necessary for bigger games and that time has arrived less than a year from launch. The Resident Evil Revelations Collection coming out November 28 only has the first game on the cart, while the second bigger game is a download. Similarly, Bethesda has clarified that DOOM's campaign will be entirely on the cart while the multiplayer will be a separate optional download for owners of the game.

How do you think Nintendo should solve this problem, or is it already too late for a good solution beyond buying bigger MicroSD cards?