Buying video games has become easier than ever. Not only can you purchase hard copies through online retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, or Walmart, you can also buy digital copies instantly through the platforms. With consoles like Nintendo offering their eShop directly through the game system, just about any title you could ever want is just one click away.

If you just recently picked up a Nintendo Switch console and are looking to expand your collection of the best Switch games, there are a few things to keep in mind. Gaming can be an expensive hobby, so it’s important to know how a few tips and tricks for buying online.

1. Check How Much Memory You Have

One of the easiest mistakes to run into when when buying digital games online is being unaware of how much memory you have left. If you already have multiple games with save data on your console, then you may not be able to download and play a larger game. This is common for games like The Witcher that take up a lot of space.

You can check available space on your Switch fairly easily by going to System Settings and selecting Data Management. This will give you an idea of how much memory you have left to download digital games. If you need to make more room, you can also archive software you are no longer actively playing. You can also expand the memory on your Nintendo Switch by buying an additional SD card for your console.

2. Buy Hard Copies of Certain Games

The convenience of the Nintendo eShop can be very tempting, but with only so much storage on your console, you don’t want to necessarily by a digital copy of every single game. Hard copies allow you to avoid using up system memory for downloads, storing only save data on the console itself.

The general rule of thumb is that you should buy hard copies of Switch games that you don’t want to have to archive. This could be either larger titles that take up a ton of storage space or multiplayer games that you want to be able to play when friends come over.

3. Check for Sales and Deals Often

A full-priced Nintendo Switch game will cost you around $60, and for popular titles, that price doesn’t drop very often. That doesn’t mean, however, that there aren’t always discounts happening online at any given time. The Nintendo eShop has an entire section dedicated to the latest game sales with discounts on tons of Switch indie games and some popular AAA titles.

If you know what game you’re looking to buy and see that it’s full price in the eShop, there’s also a chance that you can find either a digital or hard copy of that game on sale elsewhere. Check for discounts on websites like Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy as they are the most likely to have them.

4. Don’t Forget to Use Your Points

As you make purchases from the Nintendo eShop, you will accumulate gold points that you can then use to get discounts of future purchases. For every digital video game you buy, you receive a specific amount of gold points that can be converted to one dollar per 100 points. While it may not seem like much, these points add up quickly and are a great way to save on games that would otherwise be full price.

It’s also worth noting that the points you accumulate do not last forever. Your gold points will expire exactly 12 months from the date that you receive them, so if you don’t use them within that time period you will lose them.

5. Know What You’re Looking For

The easiest way to waste a bunch of money on games you may never play is to go online shopping before doing some research. And while you don’t necessarily need to know exactly what title you’re looking before, you should at the very least narrow it down by genre. If you know you like RPGs or first-person shooters, then you can sort by those genres within the Nintendo eShop to find games you’ll probably like.

Additionally, if you have a specific game you’ve played that you really enjoyed, you can use Google search to find similar games. For example, if you are looking for games like Paper Mario on the Switch, all you would need to do is google that to find all of the options currently available.

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