Nintendo is gearing up for the launch of Switch 2, and has released a chunky update for the original Switch in the run up.
This update, known as Version 20.0.0, adds a number of features to the console, including the new Virtual Game Card system, which allows players to share their digital games with another console or Family Group members in the same way they might swap a physical cartridge.
GameShare also arrives as part of this Switch update. As the name suggests, this feature allows users with compatible software to wirelessly share games to other nearby Switch owners. It is worth noting, a Nintendo Switch 2 system must initiate GameShare, and it “cannot be used between two Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch – OLED Model and/or Nintendo Switch Lite systems”. This is how OG Switch owners will still be able to play Split Fiction on the game’s Nintendo debut.
Switch users will now also find the option to transfer their system settings to Switch 2 consoles in the System Settings menu, which seems like a pretty good place for it.
“You can perform a system transfer from your Nintendo Switch to Nintendo Switch 2 using local communication,” Nintendo says. “For users that will lose access to their Nintendo Switch before receiving their Nintendo Switch 2, there is an option to upload system transfer data to a dedicated server which can then be retrieved on their Nintendo Switch 2.
“After you upload your system transfer data to the dedicated server, the Nintendo Switch system will be initialised to factory settings, so only perform this transfer if you’ll be able to complete the transfer on Nintendo Switch 2.”
The company notes that if you plan to keep using your Switch ahead of Switch 2’s debut – which is 5th June – you should hold off doing so until after you have your new console. In the words of Nintendo itself: “If you want to continue using your Nintendo Switch until you have a Nintendo Switch 2, we recommend completing the system transfer using local communication after you have acquired a Nintendo Switch 2 system.”
Other bits and pieces arriving with this Switch update include updated icon colours for the Nintendo eShop and Nintendo Switch news.
Additionally, as you can see in the image below shared by OatmealDome some default profile icons have been changed with this update. Some changes are more subtle, but Donkey Kong does have his new Bananza look going for him.
You can find the full patch notes for the Switch’s Version 20.0.0 update here.
Our Tom has already been hands-on with Nintendo’s upcoming console. You can read his Switch 2 impressions here.
Elsewhere in Nintendo news, earlier this month the company confirmed Switch 2 game cartridges will taste so horrible you will want to spit them back out and that eShop music won’t be returning for the upcoming console.
Meanwhile, famed composer Grant Kirkhope recently shared his thoughts on Switch 2’s Donkey Kong Bananza with Eurogamer, saying: “I can’t imagine it will be anything less than fantastic.”
