Nintendo Switch Game Purchase Strategy

Here I’ll summarize my personal NS game purchase strategy

Since NS game prices vary across different country stores, using multiple accounts for game purchases can save some RMB while ensuring you don’t lose game playability.

How to do it? Here’s the approach:

Gmail Multiple Email Aliases

Recommended alias strategy as follows, making it convenient to manage multi-region accounts. For example, if my email is alanhe@gmail.com, I create alias emails for each country like:

• alanhe+us@gmail.com for US email
• alanhe+jp@gmail.com for Japan email

Nintendo Account Registration

https://accounts.nintendo.com/login to create new accounts. Nickname format should be similar to the above, such as:

• AlanHeUS
• AlanHeJP

Notes

• Set consistent passwords
• Ensure country/region matches account name and email

Adding Accounts on Nintendo Switch

Since entering passwords with controllers isn’t convenient, it’s recommended to use touchscreen for account addition. The display name here can be different from the account nickname, but it’s recommended to follow the same pattern for easier management. Associate the account with the one registered in the previous step, and you’re good to go once it’s done.

Checking Target Game Prices

I recommend using the WeChat mini-program 主掌中宝 (Master in Hand) to check target game prices in various countries.

Purchasing Games on eShop

Simply log in to the corresponding eShop with your target country account and make the purchase.

Notes

• Payment methods are generally Paypal or Visa
• Currently found that Brazil cannot be purchased as payment requires a tax ID, and mainland China Visa cards don’t work
• If using Paypal, you need to use a proxy. You can connect your NS to your phone and use the phone’s proxy to solve payment issues, or directly connect your NS to a home router that already supports proxy

Games I’ve Purchased

Here are the games I currently own/like:

1. Ring Fit Adventure
   • Cartridge version
2. Mario Kart 8
   • Cartridge version
3. Just Dance 2021
   • Digital version
   • Also subscribed to Unlimited membership through HK, 178HKD/year, equivalent to 157.522CNY. Membership subscription is done by searching for Just Dance game in EShop for purchase.

Common Questions

1. For example, if Just Dance was purchased as a Hong Kong digital version, can Unlimited be purchased in other countries? Currently found that it’s possible, meaning games purchased in foreign countries support cross-region play, so there are no such restrictions. The only downside is that different country accounts naturally have different game records. If multiple games are from different countries, it can be tiring to remember, all depending on how you manage these games.

Final Thoughts

• Switching between countries for purchases can be somewhat troublesome, but it’s also a kind of fun.
• Recommended to register accounts for commonly used countries all at once, solving the problem once and for all.