The version of LA Noire coming to Nintendo Switch doesn't have the same 4K assets as its cousins on PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, but it's still pretty sizable. An official Rockstar support page revealed that the updated game of driving classic cars and scrutinizing faces will take up 29GB as a download on Nintendo Switch. The system technically has 32GB of internal storage, but a chunk of that is taken up by the operating system and built-in applications, so Rockstar says you will need a MicroSD card to buy it digitally.
Even if you plan on purchasing a physical copy of LA Noire, you'll still need a healthy amount of storage free. According to Rockstar, a 14GB day-one update will be required to play the game (this includes "required gameplay data as well as general bug fixes and improvements"). For perspective, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild takes up 13.4GB of space on Nintendo Switch. That sprawling adventure requires less space than just the extra download for LA Noire's retail version. All for a game that first came out in 2011!
I mean, yeah, that's the difference between stylized, cartoonish visuals and a near-photo-realistic recreation of post-WW2 Los Angeles, populated by intricately motion-captured characters. And in fairness, LA Noire isn't the first Switch game to flat-out require an SD card for a download; I believe those honors go to all 32 glorious gigabytes of Dragon Quest Heroes 1 & 2. But still.
LA Noire will arrive on Nintendo Switch (and PS4 and Xbox One) on November 14. You might want to consider our recommendations for the best Nintendo Switch MicroSD cards before then.
