Nintendo switch lite help please

[BoysRule]

I would like to get my DS a nintendo switch lite for his birthday. I am slightly confused about the games options.

Can you download games rather than buy cartridges?
If you do download games do you need to subscribe to the online service?
I am struggling to find many games to buy for it - for example Minecraft Dungeons was released this week but I can't find it anywhere.

Those who have it - do you have any other advice about buying it? Where I should look for games etc. (I have looked at Amazon and Game so far).

Thanks

Following as I got one for my son's birthday next week so haven't opened it yet.
You can buy cartridges or download games but as for subscribing to nintendo I have no idea.
Hopefully someone comes along with some knowledge

You can do both. There us a nintendo store app on it. You sign up with an email ect and can buy and download from there. But remember there is only so much space on the switch so it's better to buy cartridges where possible. You can also resell anything he doesnt like if you buy hard copies. I usually just use Ebay. But obviously there are stores like GAME if you want to buy in person.

Oh and there is a paid nintendo service but you dont need it to sign up for the individual purchases through the app on the switch.

Thank you so much. I didn't think of eBay or filling up space on the hard drive.

The online service is mainly for playing online with friends. Also supports cloud saves. You get access to a few games as part of the service eg Tetris 99, Classic NES and SNES games, but you wouldn’t buy the service particularly for those.

Happy to advise about games, we have about 10 titles here so far. What age is your son? Is he into Mario/Pokemon etc?

www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Minecraft-Dungeons-1749059.html

Minecraft dungeons is here to download if you can't find a physical copy. When you have the Switch you set up accounts for you and your son and you can purchase from there.

You need to pay for the Nintendo online subscription to allow you to play games online with others. It's an annual subscription but very very cheap, less than £20.

Thank you. I'm thinking mine craft dungeons, splatoon and one other for now. He'll be 8 so any recommendations would be great. He likes roblox and minecraft. Thanks.

Make sure to buy a memory card (don't waste your money on a Nintendo branded one - standard one will do).

Luigis Mansion, Mario Odyssey, Pokemon, the LEGO games, Yoshi's crafted world, Mario and Rabbids...loads of great games for kids. I would probably look at Odyssey or Luigis Mansion. However I don't think Odyssey would be as much fun on a Lite as you can't detach the joycons.

They have a mini SD card slot in so you don't need to worry about using up room. I have a 256GB card in my Switch. Games vary on how much room they take up but Zelda for example is 16GB and that's probably one of the ones that take more space so if you have an SD card you can fit loads on there.

I download games as I'm trying to reduce the amount of physical stuff I have and I also like not having to change a game cartridge or store them. The only downside to downloading them is you can't sell or lend the games which you can do with physical copies. If you do download games make sure you set up the shop so you have to enter a password to buy games so he can't spend loads on your card without permission.

You don't need an online subscription to download games but you do need it to play online with other people. It's not that expensive for the year so worth it if he will want to play online with friends.

Yes, for Splatoon you'll need the Nintendo Online (about £19/year). I'd leave the third game - perhaps give him £40 credit on the download shop instead so he can pick his own?

(Although if you do want to pick a third, it's Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Mario Odyssey. They are stone cold classic games and every Switch owner should play them)