Whatever Switch you start Animal Crossing: New Horizons on better be the one you plan to keep with you from here on out. While we don't have the official English translation, the back of the box from the German release does seem to indicate that you will not be able to transfer save data or user data to another platform. This might make it a bit tough to decide which Switch to play on!
Oh no. People will (probably) not be able to transfer 100+ hours of play to their Switch Pro in the future.
That's gonna be extremely sour. Like that Frogger episode of Seinfeld.
Nintendo can be just fucking ridiculous sometimes. I tried to overlook the fact there's no cloud saving. Then I tried to overlook that there's only one island per system, even if you buy multiple copies of the game (because I've always played one island per system anyway, but I can see it being disappointing for families who share a single Switch). But damn...if this is true, Nintendo really knows how to kill hype. We all know that despite what Nintendo is currently saying, there's gonna be a Switch Pro (maybe by a different name) coming in about a year. If I upgrade and I'm not able to play my island on the new system that's gonna be a HUGE flaw. Especially if the game gets some graphical update like a resolution increase when played on the new system.
It's rumored and a fan translation. Wait for NoA to post something about it before you get your pitchforks.
People try to fan translate all the time and sometimes they mistranslate things either by accident or to clickbait.
EDIT: From the linked Redddit thread:
This probably has to do with their whole one island per Switch thing.If you transfer a save without transferring every user on said island then the data would corrupt/incomplete since the other users would no longer be present?
As always, an exaggeration and an unnessecary one at that.
And that one island thing isn't even confirmed yet
And that one island thing isn't even confirmed yet
It is.
Up to 8 players registered as users on a Nintendo Switch console can live on one shared island, and up to four residents of one island can play simultaneously on one console. Please note: only one island can exist per Nintendo Switch console, irrespective of the number of users registered to or copies of the game used on one console. One Nintendo Switch and one copy of the game is required for each unique island.
See: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch/Animal-Crossing-New-Horizons-1438623.html
I imagine a total system transfer will be possible. It better be.
Yeah they'll prolly have a Wii to Wii U style transfer where the upgraded system gets to suck all the games and datas out of the old system like some kind of gaming-console-Shang-Tsung.
I don't play Animal Crossing so this doesn't concern me directly, but if this is true, it's simply baffling. Just... why? It makes no sense. I want to think it's a mistranslation.
I strongly hope this notion is based on the misunderstanding that "transferring a single save file" and "transferring a user with all of their save files" are two entirely different things.
If the first was disabled, it would be a minor inconvenience (you only really need this function if you regularly use several systems, like a Standard at home and a Lite while traveling). If the second would be disabled it would be a real bummer, because at the very least, this function would be mandatory to keep playing when upgrading your system (maybe a Switch Pro will come out one day).
If this is true, then New Horizons is dead to me. I'm not investing my time into a game that will be forever stuck on my launch Switch hardware. I will replace that Switch someday. It's a matter of when, not if.
This is a big problem for the AC fanatics like myself who sink thousands of hours into each entry (I'm over 8,000 hours into ACNL alone) and would like to upgrade to Switch Pro down the line.
