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Is the Nintendo Switch's use of game cards inspired, safe, or the wrong sort of 'old-school'?

Is it a bang, or a whimper?

Is the Nintendo Switch's use of game cards inspired, safe, or the wrong sort of 'old-school'?
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After a series of interesting articles surfaced about the Nintendo Switch this past weekend, it's got me thinking: are these cartridges/game cards a good idea?

It was clear from Nintendo's reveal that the Switch does in fact use cartridges similar to those used in the DS/3DS. You can't help but admire Nintendo for their loyalty, bringing the same factor through to the Switch that no other console has. However, a vast majority of consumers have been a little underwhelmed by the Switch's design and predictability.

On one hand we were excited as rumours ran wild earlier this year, bringing us the possibility that we'd be getting the sort of cartridges you blew into if the picture quality was a little fuzzy, but it wasn't meant to be. After revealing that it'd be following the same pattern as the DS/3DS a little of that nostalgia factor slipped through our fingers, making it a far less exciting feat.

However the benefit of the game cards from a technological point of view is definitely evident. The Mask ROM chips which are used to make these cards are around 4-8 GB large, and for the average Nintendo game that's more than enough space to use, wiggle room included. Even where it showed Skyrim playing on Switch's teaser, Skyrim is actually only about 10 GB on the PC (at its most basic level) without the use of mods, so by sticking with game cards over Blu-ray discs or internal memory it makes it much easier just to load up the game and go.

Of course, the more recent titles are all loading in at 30+ GB, so it'll be interesting to see just what publishers will partner with Nintendo to bring their games to the console. The only teeny issue is that Mask ROM is marginally more expensive to make – we're talking 50c or so – and collectively this might be seen as Nintendo's chance to boost game prices up a little, but that's only this humble writer's own speculation.

We can't help but be in favour of Nintendo's choice to keep the optical discs at bay. Not only does it save you having to pre-load your physical games onto the device as you would on PlayStation or on Steam, it also sits favourably in terms of battery life. Without a device working hard to run an optical disc, your battery will probably run more like an Android phone than an iPhone (yeah, I said it).

Are you looking forward to the Switch or are you somewhat sceptical of its upcoming hybrid console? Let us know in the comments below!

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Emily Sowden
Emily Sowden
Emily is Pocket Gamer's News Editor and writes about all kinds of game-related things. She needs coffee to function and begrudgingly loves her Switch more than she lets on.