Some physical games may still require content to be installed to internal storage, with some games using a significant portion of the internal memory if a microSD card is not available. Other physical games which have a large amount of content may require a microSD card to be present in the Switch, such as NBA 2K18; such games are clearly marked on the cover to show these requirements. The Switch supports the ability for cloud gaming to run games that require more hardware capabilities than the Switch allows, running these games over a network with the game computations performed on server hardware.

General George Washington

In June 2018, two hackers found a way to run the Switch system’s developer software menu on non-developer Switch units, allowing users to directly load games onto SD cards or create custom avatars for their user profile, including pornographic and NSFW pictures, which violate Nintendo’s terms of service. Shortly after the release of Nintendo Switch Online in September 2018, hackers and modders were able to figure out how to run unauthorized ROMs on the Nintendo Switch NES emulator. A Nintendo spokesperson responded to Kotaku’s article on the topic, saying that “Modified Nintendo Switch systems have been banned”.

This has caused some games also available on other consoles to be priced higher on the Switch due to the costs of manufacturing the game card for the Switch version. Switch games is an average of 10% over other formats. Game cards at the time of the Switch’s release had a 32 GB capacity; Nintendo had planned to introduce 64 GB game cards by the second half of 2018, but had to push this back. The “Switch tax” also applies to many games that had been previously released on other platforms ported later to the Switch, where the Switch game price reflects the original price of the game when it was first released rather than its current price. Online media outlets have colloquially referred to this price hike as the “Switch tax”.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Among these partners, Nintendo listed major publishers such as Activision, Bethesda, Electronic Arts, Sega, Square Enix, Take-Two, and Ubisoft. Nintendo had previously relied more on providing its own internally developed tools. According to Takahashi, “we have been aiming to realize an environment in which a variety of different third-party developers are able to easily develop compatible software”, taking advantage of the Nvidia chipset’s support for many standard libraries that allows for ease of transition from other platforms to the Switch. Libraries that third-party developers would use to develop games for earlier systems. With the Switch, the company went a different route.

While Nintendo did not unveil the NX’s hardware at E3 2016 in June, it did announce that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which was originally announced as a Wii U-exclusive, would also be released for the NX. The following month, rumors began to surface surrounding the nature of the console, including its use of Nvidia Tegra hardware, being a “hybrid” device intended for both home and mobile use, controllers that can detach from the main device and be played separately, and that Nintendo would distribute games on the console via cartridges and digital downloads. At a Nintendo shareholders’ meeting following the conference, Miyamoto stated that the company had concerns that competitors could copy ideas from the NX if they revealed it too soon.