Nintendo Switch branded microSD cards have been discovered by Nintendo Everything on Amazon, in 16GB and 32GB flavors. The most interesting part is that the cards are marked up to ludicrous levels when compared to other brands of cards. The 32GB Nintendo Switch card is listed on Amazon at ￥6,149, and the 16GB card is listed at ￥4,460. This, in USD, comes to around $55 and $40 for the 32GB and 16GB cards respectively. These are, hopefully, simply placeholder prices set by Amazon, and the actual prices on release will be lower.
The Hori site has the cards listed lower, ￥3,480 for 32GB and ￥1,980 before taxes, which is still high compared to non-Nintendo Switch branded cards. No reason seems to be given as to why there is such a markup on the prices on Amazon, other than the obvious "it's Nintendo Switch branded" line of logic. The price listings for these cards is higher than even the "high end" microSD cards from companies such as SanDisk, who have an Extreme Plus 32GB card for around $25. The markups come out to between 120%-450% depending on the prices of unbranded microSD cards you're looking at.
Luckily, unlike with Sony's Vita, the Nintendo Switch uses normal cards, rather than special proprietary ones that you'd be required to go to Nintendo for. It will be easier, however, to upgrade storage space as opposed to the Xbox One and PS4, and the Switch physical games don't require you to install anything to play them which will help with storage issues.
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Unfortunately, you're still basically forced to go out and buy SD cards since the Switch only has 32GB of on board storage, far lower than it's competition. So, while you will have a much easier time upgrading your storage as opposed to the Xbox One and PS4, you will have to do it much more often if you plan on downloading your games as opposed to buying physical copies. This SD card issue continues a worrying trend with Nintendo and their accessory pricing.What do you think of Nintendo's accessory pricing when it comes to the Nintendo Switch? Do you plan on buying digital or physical for the Switch? Let us know in the comments!
