With the announcement that the Switch 2 requires a new type of microSD card, the microSD Express, it seems that stockists are beginning to have some issues keeping up with Nintendo fan demand. You should have known we were a frenzied bunch of gamers!
Yes, as reported by the fine folks over at Tom's Hardware, news from Japan indicates a huge surge in the popularity of this faster variant of SD card. Retailer Hermitage Akihabara announced on its website that it was selling 337 microSD Express cards per hour before running out of stock, as an example of the increase in demand for a card that previously hasn't seen anywhere near these sorts of sales figures.
The article says (via Google Translate) that "the next shipment is still undecided, and even if it does arrive, the price will probably be quite high." Indeed, whilst those figures seem pretty crazy, online retailers and stores seem to be keeping up with demand in the main, and purchases being recorded appear to be legit buyers picking up one or two cards for personal use, rather than scalpers purchasing wholesale numbers. Phew!
You can also relax, a little at least, if you ordered your Switch 2 in Europe via invite through your official Nintendo account when they dropped emails last week, as you already have a limited-to-one-per-customer 256GB microSD Express available to pre-order at your leisure.
Of course, the Express version isn't a new format, but it is more expensive than regular microSD cards thanks to faster speeds and lower power consumption - a factor that's critical for Switch 2's improved performance.
All of this excitement certainly points to a console that's primed to do some serious numbers when it releases, and it's giving us a nice warm feeling inside to know that so many are out there are getting prepped for some next-gen Nintendo magic. Here's hoping it lives up to expectations.
Have you nabbed a microSD card yet? What size did you go for? Let us know in the comments!