The new Switch 2 cartridges will be much faster, with more storage and visually different, but will be the same size

The full Nintendo Switch 2 Direct presentation has concluded, after months of hype and a steady stream of rumours, present launch games and absences. We've had a little bit of everything, from long-awaited returns, confirmations and the occasional heart-turner.

More ambitious games will logically require more storage, both in their physical formats and in the console's memory. Switch 2 will have 256GB on-board, but... What about game cartridges?

Well, there are several headlines here. The first is that the cartridges will be exactly the same size as the current Nintendo Switch cartridges, but will be bright red (Nintendo's corporate colour, or "Mario" red, whatever you want to call it). However, their read speed will be faster.

Nintendo has also confirmed that we'll be able to expand storage, but only with MicroSD Express cards, meaning that the ones we currently use won't be useful in the future.

Bear in mind that Nintendo is raising prices across the board with its next generation console, and titles like Mario Kart World will cost €79.99 digitally and €89.99 physically, so we're guessing these new cartridges won't be cheap...

Nintendo has also confirmed on its support page that these cartridges, while faster, won't always contain the full game, and will serve as a launcher for downloading the title to the console. These game cards will be conveniently marked on the Nintendo Switch 2 title boxes.