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Nintendo Switch Online deal alert: Get a free year when you buy this microSD card

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Buy one, get the other free, basically. (Photo: SanDisk / Nintendo)
Buy one, get the other free, basically. (Photo: SanDisk / Nintendo)

When you buy a Nintendo Switch, all you need is the system and a few games, right? Not really — there are two key accessories you absolutely must pick up that make your gaming experience a thousand times better. What are they? A micro SD card for storage and a Nintendo Switch Online membership.

This is the moment to grab them. Right now Amazon has a special deal that will save you a bundle: Get a Nintendo Switch-branded micro SD card and a 12-month family membership to Nintendo Switch Online for only $35, total, down from $70. That's a massive 50 percent discount! It’s like getting one of these essentials for free!

You’ll get free shipping on this bundle, but if you want your item even sooner, it’s worth looking into an Amazon Prime account. Amazon Prime offers free two-day shipping on thousands of items, access to lots of great streaming content and even free PC games thanks to Amazon Prime Gaming. It’s only $12 a month, or $119 a year, and your first 30 days are free!

$35 $70 at Amazon

Why, you may ask, do I need to buy a microSD card for my new system? Well, the regular Switch only offers 32 GB of storage for your files, which means you can only keep a few downloaded games on the system. When you pop in this 128 GB microSD card, you quadruple the storage space. That give you plenty of space to download titles like Fatal Frame, Coffee Talk and other digital-only exclusives!

Shoppers were generally happy with the card, like this one who notes it’s "of the usual quality I'd expect. Totally satisfied, and works in any device. Even though it's optimized for Switch, it's still a good general-purpose memory card." And this parent, who says, "I needed the memory card to download Fortnite for my son without having to delete my [Animal Crossing: New Horizons] game," and "the online membership is nice too."

A Nintendo Switch Online account gives you access to online play, NES and SNES games and lots of sales. (Photo: Nintendo)
A Nintendo Switch Online account gives you access to online play, NES and SNES games and lots of sales. (Photo: Nintendo)

Nintendo Switch Online is a service that grants you online access to your favorite games, like Animal Crossing and Mario Kart. Sure, you can play offline without it, but things are so much better with friends! There's also Switch Online exclusive games like Tetris 99, and access to a classic library of titles from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), so you can relive your youth.

A family plan grants these benefits for up to eight different people with their own Nintendo accounts — share with your spouse, kids, grandkids, cousins, neighbors and best friend. The more people you add, the more of a bargain it turns out to be!

Reviewers call it "perfect" for families "who have multiple Switch [consoles]." Other shoppers note that it's easy to install. Normally a family plan would cost you $35 on its own, but right now it's included with the $35 microSD card bundle, so it's like you're getting a free year of Nintendo Switch Online!

$35 $70 at Amazon

The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.

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