Game cards for the Nintendo DS range from 64 megabits to 4 gigabits (8–512 MB) in capacity.

According to an IGN blog by Backbone Entertainment, the developer of MechAssault: Phantom War, larger (such as 128 MB) cards have a 25% slower data transfer rate than the more common smaller (such as 64 MB) cards; however, the specific base rate was not mentioned.

However, a select few retail game titles were released that worked exclusively for the Nintendo DSi consoles for reasons such as requiring camera functions.

While these white game cards can be physically inserted into original Nintendo DS consoles, their software does not function due to the missing hardware features and will display an error message.

They are identical in appearance to the standard 3DS game cards and can be physically inserted into older, "non-New" 3DS systems, but are incompatible and will display an error message.

[13] Because of their small size, Nintendo Switch game cards are coated with denatonium benzoate, a non-toxic bitterant, as a safety precaution against accidental consumption by young children.