I’ve been covering game hardware and wider tech launches for well over a decade now, but I haven’t seen anywhere near the level of misinformation that I have in the last few months over the Nintendo Switch 2.
Whether it’s down to AI overviews, rampant trolls or Nintendo not providing clarity (or a mixture of the three), there’s absolutely a group of people that have no interest in learning the facts, but I wanted to write the below for people that do want to be informed as they do or don’t purchase the Nintendo Switch 2 later this week or at any point into the future.
Time will tell whether many of these things pan out to be good or bad, but for now, here are the facts in relation to the most common internet myths that I’ve seen about the Nintendo Switch 2.
GAME-KEY CARDS EXPLAINED
Probably the biggest misconception that I’m still seeing throughout all of our comments and the wider internet is around game-key cards. Whilst I understand the disappointment in not all games being on carts, this is actually a big improvement over the Nintendo Switch 1, where third-party games consisted primarily of a code in a box.
There are three different types of physical Nintendo Switch 2 games:
- Regular Game Cards: These contain the entire game on the cart (although they may still need the internet to be updated). All of the first-party Nintendo Switch 2 games use these as does Cyberpunk 2077
- Game-Key Cards: These look the same and are physical cards, but rather than containing the game on the card, your unit will the game from Nintendo’s servers. These CAN be sold, traded in or treated EXACTLY like regular Nintendo Switch 2 cards and are not one-time use which was the case for most third-party Switch 1 games that had codes in a box
- Code In A Box: These were very popular on the Nintendo Switch 1 and at the time of writing, there’s only one game (Split Fiction) that has a code in the box at launch. It’s unclear why this is the case and I don’t think it’s something we will see very often
NINTENDO SWITCH 2 ENHANCED GAMES
To make matters a little bit more confusing, there are also Nintendo Switch 2 enhanced games such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom as well as games such as Metroid Prime 4 and Pokemon Legends Z-A.
These are clearly marked on the cover and interestingly they contain both the Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch 1 versions of the game on the cart, so if you only own a Nintendo Switch 1, but plan on upgrading, you are safe buying these carts, or you can buy the original for cheaper and pay an upgrade fee ($20-30). Price-wise, it works out to be the same, is just depends whether you want the Switch 2 cover or are happy with your original.
THE NINTENDO SWITCH 2 IS THE SAME BUT BIGGER
Something I’m seeing a lot is that the Nintendo Switch 2 isn’t an upgrade, which obviously is subjective, and I’m the first to it that as far as Nintendo console generations go, this is quite iterative from the outside, but the Nintendo Switch 2 is totally re-designed in every way.
Obviously, the screen is larger and is now 1080P, 120hz and capable of HDR and VRR which are all huge improvements, the Joy-Cons now attach magnetically and there’s a new kickstand, but it’s really the internals that are hugely improved.
The original Nintendo Switch chipset was quite outdated when it launched, but NVIDIA has come leaps and bounds since then investing DLSS Upscaling to really accelerate graphical performance, which we now know is featured in the new Nintendo Switch 2 chipset. Not only is there a lot more memory bandwidth, DLSS allows the Switch 2 to output at 4K/60 FPS and whilst most games probably won’t reach this, we already know that it makes a huge difference.
Not only do games such as Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza look well ahead of anything capable of what was on the Nintendo Switch, games such as Cyberpunk 2077 struggles to run on even high-end PCs and looks phenomenal on the Nintendo Switch 2, outperforming Windows Handhelds that cost more than double the price of the Switch 2.
You only have to look at how The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom run on Nintendo Switch 2 at a much higher resolution at a solid 60 FPS to know that this is a hugely improved console and Nintendo hasn’t skimped on the internals.
MICROSD EXPRESS CARDS
This is one that is going to trip a lot of people up at launch. The Nintendo Switch 2 can only use MicroSD Express cards which provide faster reading/writing speeds required for Switch 2 games. These use a PCie interface which allows them to reach higher speeds and shouldn’t be confused with other MicroSD cards of similar names including MicroSD Extreme.
These are quite new to the market and at the time of writing in Australia the only ones available are the official EB Games also have 256GB, 512GB and 1TB models from its Atrix brand.
The Nintendo Switch 2 comes with 256GB of storage this time around, and I think we’ll see the market with loads more options soon, but you won’t be able to use your existing MicroSD Cards on the Nintendo Switch 2.
ORIGINAL NINTENDO SWITCH ACCESSORY COMPATIBILITY
Not so much a myth, but an important one to address. Every official controller that Nintendo has released for the original Nintendo Switch will work with the Nintendo Switch 2. This includes the original Joy-Cons, the Pro controller and all of the retro Nintendo Switch Online controllers.
The only exception to this is obviously that the original Joy-Cons can’t be charged on the Switch 2 (so you’ll need a charging grip or a dock) and obviously for games that need mouse controls, you’ll need to use the included upgraded Joy-Con controllers.
Obviously, there are benefits to having the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro controller including the improved ergonomics, back buttons and GameChat button, but as far as pure gaming goes, you’re totally fine with your originals.
Nintendo has a great chart available HERE that goes through what works, what doesn’t work and what features aren’t available.
NINTENDO SWITCH 1 GAMES DON’T WORK ON THE NINTENDO SWITCH 2
This is another one that I’ve seen a lot and it’s simply not true. All of your original Nintendo Switch games both digital and physical will work with the Nintendo Switch 2. There’s a few exceptions to this including some smaller titles that don’t boot, or Nintendo Labo VR Kit that needs the smaller Switch unit, and a certain amount of games that will only work with the original Joy-Con controllers, but they’ll still work if you own them.
You can find the full list of games that don’t work HERE, but it’s a very, very small amount of games and none of the big games that people would be rushing to replay on their shiny new Switch 2.
YOU DON’T OWN YOUR NINTENDO SWITCH 2
This is one that has popped up in the last week or so, and I can understand some concern around it, but again, it’s being weaponised and used as misinformation which leads to the facts being misrepresented.
Within the Nintendo Switch 2 of service, the company goes on to say that it can disable your Nintendo Switch 2 console if you try and modify any portion of Nintendo Services or install unauthorised copies of Nintendo Services.
In short, Nintendo is saying that it reserves the right to ban your console if it detects that you are modifying software either for hacking purposes, cheating or using pirated games.
Whilst I understand why certain people feel uneasy about this, there is zero reason to worry if you are using your Nintendo Switch 2 with legitimate games and the intended operating system, and this also is fairly standard and in-line with of services for any online product from any large tech company.
You can find the full excerpt below:
“Without limitation, you agree that you may not (a) publish, copy, modify, reverse engineer, lease, rent, decompile, disassemble, distribute, offer for sale, or create derivative works of any portion of the Nintendo Services; (b) by, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with, or otherwise circumvent any of the functions or protections of the Nintendo Services, including through the use of any hardware or software that would cause the Nintendo Services to operate other than in accordance with its documentation and intended use; (c) obtain, install or use any unauthorized copies of Nintendo Services; or (d) exploit the Nintendo Services in any manner other than to use them in accordance with the applicable documentation and intended use, in each case, without Nintendo’s written consent or express authorization, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the foregoing restrictions Nintendo may render the Nintendo Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part.”
New console launches are always an exciting time, and it’s going to be interesting to see how the Nintendo Switch 2 launch goes over the next few months.
