In problems that could only happen to console gamers, one Switch 2 owner recently received the hefty swing of Nintendo’s banhammer thanks to some second-hand games. Nintendo are well known for being particularly litigious when it comes to protecting their IP, and it turns out that inserting pirated carts is enough to set off the DRM protections on the brand new consoles.
The proud owner of a brand new Switch 2 known as dmanthey over on Reddit (via Tom’s Hardware) found themselves banned after trying out some games they’d bought off Facebook Marketplace. The games were used Switch 1 games, and dmanthey thought all was well and good after inserting each cart and performing updates, ready for a full day of gaming ahead.
This wasn’t to be, as loading up their Switch 2 the next day greeted them with a restriction message from Nintendo. It stated they had been banned from online services, which even included downloading games they already owned legitimately through the store. The good news is Nintendo support was really easy to get ahold of, and they raised the restrictions after dmanthey provided proof of their unwittingly pirated purchases.
Still it serves as a fair warning to everyone else with the new console. If you’ve bought used Switch 1 games, you’ll want to exercise caution before introducing them to your Switch 2. While dmanthey got pretty unlucky getting ahold of Nintendo support and getting the problem fixed, it may not be so easy for the next person. Especially if you’ve had the games for a while and can’t prove where you got them.
What is more worrying is Nintendo’s quick decision to enforce the ban in the first place. Nintendo has recently changed its online user agreement to give it the right to “permanently unusable” if it determines you’re in violation of the agreement, which includes things like modding the hardware and using pirated carts, though no word on how much it takes to trigger the ban.
It raises the question about how easy it is to get caught. Was this account only tripped because several games were added all at once, or is this going to be an easy folly for anyone to fall into. Furthermore Nintendo just stripping access to purchased games also seems like a huge problem. Given this is Nintendo’s fastest selling console yet, I’d wager more than a few unwitting victims are going to wind up locked out of their fancy new Switch 2.
Of course, these are problems for console gamers. Those of us with PCs don’t really worry about such things. Still, if I’d paid $450 for a new piece of hardware I’d at least want to feel like I owned the thing even if it’s clear Nintendon’t agree.
