Technologies

Virtual Game Cards Are Nintendo’s New Way to Share Switch Games Digitally

The new Switch update lets you loan out games for up to 14 days.

Nintendo Switch firmware update 20.0.0 just went live, allowing players to share games more easily with other console owners. Virtual Game Cards is the new catch-all term for anything digital you can swap from one console to the next, covering downloaded games, free software, or even pieces of DLC (additional game content). This new update makes it easier to share your downloaded games with other people, though they need to be near you, so no sharing with friends over the internet.

Ahead of the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch on June 5, this could be one of the last software updates for the original Switch before its successor is released.

Until Tuesday, if you wanted to share a digital version of a Nintendo Switch game with a friend, it wasn’t easy — you had to designate one as your Primary Switch and the other as Secondary. The major downside here was that only the Primary user could play the shared game when offline, and the Secondary always needed to be connected to the internet to play.

But now Nintendo has a new system to lend out digital games. Shareable software are now represented by Virtual Game Cards, which alleviates some of this hassle by sharing full access to the game with the new user. Updating to the new Switch firmware will give users the new Virtual Game Cards icon on their home menu. From there you can select the game (or DLC) you want to share.

Read more: I Played All the Switch 2 Games: What to Look Forward to After April 24 Preorders

You have two options for how to share the game. The first is Load on Other System, which requires the second Switch to be linked to your main one. This is similar to the original Primary/Secondary system where you had to have your Nintendo account set up on both devices to share between.

The second option is Lend to Family Group Member and utilizes the family group you may have set up with a Nintendo Switch Online Family Plan. To do so, you need to bring the two Switch consoles close together to link them.

There are some important limitations to keep in mind when using the Lend to Family Group Member option. The first is that Virtual Game Cards can be borrowed for up to 14 days, after which they’ll be automatically returned to the lending system. It also means that the original system will not have access to that game/DLC while being loaned out. Lastly, players can only lend one Game Card per borrower, up to three borrowers at a time, and a borrower can borrow only one Game Card at a time. So you can’t fill up your Switch with borrowed games from your family members.

It remains to be seen how much more beneficial this system will be compared with the previous version. While this does allow borrowed games to be played offline, unlike before, it also prevents multiple people from each playing a copy of the same game at the same time. This seems like Nintendo is getting its console ready for the eventual launch of the Switch 2 by adding more robust game sharing functionality.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Nov. 1

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 1.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s the big Saturday version, so it could take some time. Read on for the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Ethically sourced, as some egg
Answer: CAGEFREE

9A clue: Residents of Tehran
Answer: IRANIANS

10A clue: Air sign?
Answer: SKYWRITE

11A clue: ___ Faire (medieval-themed festival, informally)
Answer: REN

12A clue: Athlete from Cleveland or the University of Virginia
Answer: CAVALIER

17A clue: Kind of bathing suit
Answer: ONEPIECE

18A clue: Musical whizzes
Answer: MAESTROS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Certain gender identity
Answer: CIS

2D clue: Holy object sought in the first «Indiana Jones» movie
Answer: ARK

3D clue: ___ pride
Answer: GAY

4D clue: Completely surrounds
Answer: ENWRAPS

5D clue: Like a cozy campsite on a cool autumn night, say
Answer: FIRELIT

6D clue: Washington’s Mount ___, the highest peak in the Cascades
Answer: RAINIER

7D clue: Sinus-treating doctor, for short
Answer: ENT

8D clue: Opposite of WNW
Answer: ESE

12D clue: _ _ _mon URL ending
Answer: COM

13D clue: De Armas who starred in 2025’s «Ballerina»
Answer: ANA

14D clue: Shape of flying geese
Answer: VEE

15D clue: Prefix with friendly
Answer: ECO

16D clue: Restaurant booking, informally
Answer: RES

Technologies

Kim Kardashian Denies the Moon Landing and NASA Corrects Her Publicly

It’s one reality TV actor versus another, as Real World alum and acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy tells Kardashian she’s wrong.

NASA says we’ve been to the moon six times. Kim Kardashian says the first time was faked. On a recent episode of The Kardashians, the reality-show star was chatting with actress Sarah Paulson about astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon. That’s when Kardashian revealed she doesn’t believe the 1969 moon landing is real.

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In an interview, Aldrin was asked about the scariest moment of the Apollo 11 mission. Kardashian quotes his reply, «There was no scary moment because it didn’t happen. It could’ve been scary, but it wasn’t because it didn’t happen.»

It’s unclear which interview this was, or what exactly Aldrin was referring to, although it seems like he’s saying a certain frightening moment didn’t come to pass. But Kardashian took the quote to mean the entire moon landing was a hoax that Aldrin chose to reveal via that one quote.

«So I think (the moon landing) didn’t happen,» she said.

NASA acting administrator (and former participant on reality show The Real World) Sean Duffy took exception to the sentiment, replying on X «Yes, Kim Kardashian, we’ve been to the moon before…6 times!»

Yes, @KimKardashian, we’ve been to the Moon before… 6 times!
And even better: @NASAArtemis is going back under the leadership of @POTUS.
We won the last space race and we will win this one too 🇺🇸🚀
🎥: Hulu pic.twitter.com/CkexEEPFSv

— NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy (@SecDuffyNASA) October 30, 2025

The US did in fact land on the moon on July 20, 1969, with Aldrin and fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong both walking on the lunar surface. Armstrong died in 2012. Aldrin is now 95.

In 2002, Aldrin, then 72, punched a conspiracy theorist who tried to get him to swear the moon landings was faked.

«We won the last space race and we will win this one too!» Duffy told Kardashian on X. He later invited her to an upcoming launch at Kennedy Space Center, though she did not immediately accept.

Kardashian did not respond to a request for comment.