Nintendo Switch update adds video capture and save data transfers

Nintendo has released the version 4.0.0 update for the Nintendo Switch that enables video capture for “select games” and, even more notably, the ability to transfer user profiles and save data to a new console, addressing one of the portable console’s most glaring shortcomings.

The video capture feature, which can be seen in the embedded video below, only supports four games so far. “As of October 18th, 2017,” Nintendo’s support site reads, “this feature is compatible with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, ARMS, and Splatoon 2.” Later, the Japanese Mario Odyssey Twitter account confirmed that it would be supporting this new feature as well.

The capture feature works by holding the console’s dedicated screen capture button and only supports a “maximum of the previous 30 seconds” of gameplay, which will be saved to the console’s album. From there, clips can be trimmed and shared on Facebook and Twitter.

While the ability to transfer user profiles and save data to a new console may satisfy some users, the process is a permanent one-way migration of user data. From Nintendo’s support page: “Once the process is complete, the user information, the associated save data, and the software purchased with the user account that is transferred will no longer be available on the source console.”

This process is similar to Nintendo’s This doesn’t allow one to preemptively back up a notably well-used Breath of the Wild save game, or salvage a profile and save files from a broken or, perhaps more likely for a portable console, lost Switch.

Other new enhancements with the 4.0.0 update are some new profile icons from Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild, support to pre-purchase “certain games” on the Switch’s eShop storefront and, despite not being listed anywhere, support for USB wireless headsets.