Earlier this year, Nintendo helped popularize the microSD Express standard by requiring it for the new Switch 2 console. Created in 2019, the specification had languished in relative obscurity for years because the cheap, plentiful non-Express microSD cards were generally fast enough for the things that people were using them for, and because most hardware didn't support microSD Express cards in the first place.

However, Nintendo's console needed performance closer to that of an internal SSD to run games, given that the more powerful Switch 2 can run more of the titles being developed for SSD-equipped systems such as the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series S and X, and the PC. And now other companies are trying to push the "fast, removable storage" envelope even further.

The Verge reports

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