Downloading Switch games

[Nicole.]

Has anyone else downloaded Switch games digitally?

I've just purchased Mario Kart 8 as I used my brother's cartridge when we were both together at Christmas and couldn't get off the game I loved it that much, so thought it was about time to get the game for myself. Today, I went to Argos and specifically bought a 128GB microSD card as I want to continue buying games digitally (never done so before mind). I'm currently downloading the game and it seems to be taking a considerably long time, and right now I am stuck on 22%.

There are no other apps running on the system and the Switch is plugged into the adapter and the Wi-Fi connection is very good, meanwhile the download speed still seems slow. Am I just being impatient? I understand that its a big title, could this just be the case?

I've never downloaded big games before so I don't know what to expect.

I did plan on pre-ordering the digital version of ACNH, but if its going to take this long to download I don't think I'll bother now.

 

[geo-mew]

It depends entirely on your wifi, I think. When it comes to pre-loading, it's worth it if you have slow connection. If your connection is fast, however, download the unlocking code could take around the same amount of time as downloading the game so it's not worth pre-loading (or so I've heard).

The biggest game I downloaded was Doraemon Story of Seasons, and it took me around 30 min. I have incredibly mediocre internet connection for reference. If I recall correctly, Mario Kart 8 is pretty massive, so it could be a normal amount of time.

Edit: Story of Seasons is 742 MB, Mario Kart is a whopping 6.9 GB!!!

 

[Nicole.]

It depends entirely on your wifi, I think. When it comes to pre-loading, it's worth it if you have slow connection. If your connection is fast, however, download the unlocking code could take around the same amount of time as downloading the game so it's not worth pre-loading (or so I've heard).

The biggest game I downloaded was Doraemon Story of Seasons, and it took me around 30 min. I have incredibly mediocre internet connection for reference. If I recall correctly, Mario Kart 8 is pretty massive, so it could be a normal amount of time.

Edit: Story of Seasons is 742 MB, Mario Kart is a whopping 6.9 GB!!!

I have a pretty fast internet connection; so I reckon it must be down to the size of the game then. I'll just have to wait it out which is a shame as I was looking forward to playing it tonight.

I have heard rumours that the New Horizons game will be around 6.2GB. aah!

 

[geo-mew]

I have a pretty fast internet connection; so I reckon it must be down to the size of the game then. I'll just have to wait it out which is a shame as I was looking forward to playing it tonight.

I have heard rumours that the New Horizons game will be around 6.2GB. aah!

Def worth pre-loading then!

 

[Romaki]

It all really depends on your internet connection, like most people have a stable experience when it comes to browsing or playing online, but downloading is a whole different story. You can search for "download time calculator" if you want to know how long your connection should take with 6.9 GB, but it seems like you checked everything that could cause you issues.

In general, modern Nintendo games are pretty small digitally. Like for comparison, if you bought Red Dead Redemption 2 digitally that download is 107 GB. Anything under 10 GB is relatively small, and a "good" connection shouldn't download them for more than 2 hours. I once downloaded 65 GB for 12 hours and my connection is average at best.

 

[Antonio]

A majority of my games are downloable. The only game i have that is physical is MK11.

 

[dizzy bone]

If you need something to compare a 6.9gb download to in “poor internet”... my ACNH preload took 4 hours to download. I’m very glad I got the preload for this because it would be hell to wait 4 hours for this on release day while everyone is playing already :”) Honestly any download to me that takes under an hour is already a miracle. I’m very tempted to buy a bigger memory SD card as well because I’ve been buying a lot of digital games over physical lately. For my most played digital games I downloaded the file onto my switch itself and reserved my SD card for videos and pictures. Once I get a new SD card I’ll probably start saving to there again.

 

[Antonio]

If you need something to compare a 6.9gb download to in “poor internet”... my ACNH preload took 4 hours to download. I’m very glad I got the preload for this because it would be hell to wait 4 hours for this on release day while everyone is playing already :”) Honestly any download to me that takes under an hour is already a miracle. I’m very tempted to buy a bigger memory SD card as well because I’ve been buying a lot of digital games over physical lately. For my most played digital games I downloaded the file onto my switch itself and reserved my SD card for videos and pictures. Once I get a new SD card I’ll probably start saving to there again.

I really recommended you to get an ethernet cable because mine only took like 10 minutes.

 

[Yuni]

I'm in Aus so if I preload, it'll probably take 6hrs to preload on a good day... My other option depends on when the government decides to install the new network. No options here.