Nintendo Switch users warned to take action to prevent losing games forever

While we’re all fawning over our new Nintendo Switch 2 consoles, it’s more and more likely that we’ll play less of our original Switch games, moving on to the newer generation of games.

This is par for the course, as with all consoles, we hop onto the shiny new games, leaving our older titles to sit on a shelf, but Nintendo Switch owners are being urged to protect those games at all costs.

In fact, this advice goes for any retro collector who has shelves filled with cartridges, whether that’s a Nintendo system, or a PS Vita.

Over on Twitter, Does it play? put out a PSA, informing console owners to plug in their cartridge games every few years in order to keep them working.

They recommend that you insert the games into the system to idle for a short time, every five or so years, in order for the console to refresh the information on the card.

This is because flash carts, which are used in all cartridge-based systems, have a limited number of write cycles before they corrupt and die.

In the past, many thought that Switch carts weren’t writeable, however, Does it play? points out that the cartridges actually use “factory-programmed MLC NAND flash,” which the console refreshes every time it's inserted.

Refreshing will keep everything in working order, and failing to do so could result in dead games when you come to play them years down the line.

As the information was delivered to fans, many started discussing having to open their sealed collectors items to ensure the cart would work for years to come.

The replies on Twitter have many coming forward to describe their games seemingly dying while left in storage, which could show what happens when the cartridge isn’t refreshed every few years.

If you’re a collector, or have some beloved games stashed away, it might be worth following this advice, just in case.