Blue Cup
Walking the Four Seasons
I've noticed a trend here lately of people saying that they will be buying multiple copies of the upcoming game in order to have multiple towns. Well I'm here to tell you that you will be wasting money if you do that.
The way the Nintendo Switch handles save data is different from what you're used to with the 3DS. Nintendo Switch game cards are read-only, meaning that the data that is on the card is the only data allowed on the card. the Switch does write your save data to the card itself. This was done for, presumably, two reasons: One being to stave off people loading cracked save data in order to allow homebrew as was the case with the Wii, Wii U and 3DS. The second reason being the price of the game cards in comparison to 3DS cards. They aren't cheap to manufacture at all, and there are still some sizes that aren't in mass production yet due price, hence why we see so many releases that come with codes to download the second game.
Because save data is now written to your Switch console, buying multiple copies of a game WILL NOT grant you access to multiple save files. If you create a town using the physical copy of the game and then later buy a digital copy or a second physical copy, they will all read from from the same data you created initially. There is nothing to differentiate the different copies of the game, so you will be throwing away money by doing this.
The Switch allows for up to 8 different profiles on one console with each profile getting its own friend code and data storage. This is how you'll likely get your multiple towns, via creating more profiles on your Switch. Of course we don't know how Animal Crossing 2019 will work or if we'll be forced to create one town and all 8 profiles on the Switch create a character within that one chunk of data or what.
So how are we expected to save our data in the event of a system failure? The simple fact of the matter is we don't know. Ideally, it will support the cloud save feature that comes with the $20 annual subscription fee to Nintendo Switch Online, but Nintendo may disable that to prevent cheating and duplication as they did with Splatoon 2 and Pokemon Let's Go.
So to recap:
1. Buying multiple copies of the game will not allow you to make multiple towns
2. Your save data is stored on the Switch console itself, not the game card.
3. It doesn't matter if you buy digital or physical, you're only getting one town per profile
4. Your town data will be at the mercy of the console itself
5. Creating multiple profiles (up to 8) might allow for up to 8 towns on a single console
6. Nintendo Switch Online Cloud Saves MAY allow you to permanently keep your town safe via the cloud
7. Cloud saves may be disabled to prevent cheating
The way the Nintendo Switch handles save data is different from what you're used to with the 3DS. Nintendo Switch game cards are read-only, meaning that the data that is on the card is the only data allowed on the card. the Switch does write your save data to the card itself. This was done for, presumably, two reasons: One being to stave off people loading cracked save data in order to allow homebrew as was the case with the Wii, Wii U and 3DS. The second reason being the price of the game cards in comparison to 3DS cards. They aren't cheap to manufacture at all, and there are still some sizes that aren't in mass production yet due price, hence why we see so many releases that come with codes to download the second game.
Because save data is now written to your Switch console, buying multiple copies of a game WILL NOT grant you access to multiple save files. If you create a town using the physical copy of the game and then later buy a digital copy or a second physical copy, they will all read from from the same data you created initially. There is nothing to differentiate the different copies of the game, so you will be throwing away money by doing this.
The Switch allows for up to 8 different profiles on one console with each profile getting its own friend code and data storage. This is how you'll likely get your multiple towns, via creating more profiles on your Switch. Of course we don't know how Animal Crossing 2019 will work or if we'll be forced to create one town and all 8 profiles on the Switch create a character within that one chunk of data or what.
So how are we expected to save our data in the event of a system failure? The simple fact of the matter is we don't know. Ideally, it will support the cloud save feature that comes with the $20 annual subscription fee to Nintendo Switch Online, but Nintendo may disable that to prevent cheating and duplication as they did with Splatoon 2 and Pokemon Let's Go.
So to recap:
1. Buying multiple copies of the game will not allow you to make multiple towns
2. Your save data is stored on the Switch console itself, not the game card.
3. It doesn't matter if you buy digital or physical, you're only getting one town per profile
4. Your town data will be at the mercy of the console itself
5. Creating multiple profiles (up to 8) might allow for up to 8 towns on a single console
6. Nintendo Switch Online Cloud Saves MAY allow you to permanently keep your town safe via the cloud
7. Cloud saves may be disabled to prevent cheating
