Less than two weeks after its release, global media brand Nintendo is reportedly banning some Switch 2 users in an attempt to crack down on piracy.
According to Kotaku, players using the MIG Switch — a flash cartridge capable of storing and loading pirated game files — on the brand’s all-new Switch 2 may face rigid bans from the console’s online services. Though Nintendo made the cartridge incompatible with the new hardware, a recent firmware update allowed users to continue loading pirated games via the Switch 2’s backwards compatability feature.
Some frustrated users are taking to social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit, to air grievances. Kotaku cites one newly banned user who reportedly used a MIG cartridge containing backups of their own games. “I strongly recommend that you do not use the mig switch, it was already very risky to use but it is even more so on Switch 2,” urges the user.
Ahead of the new hardware’s launch, Nintendo battened down the hatches on its Account Agreement and Account Privacy regulations to curb piracy and emulator prevalence. The brand announced it reserved the right to “brick” guideline-violating consoles, a move that would remotely render offending users’ game consoles unusable.
In tandem with its existing stringent anti-piracy strategies, Nintendo of America also added language to its user policies saying that, upon agreement, gamers forfeit their right to a class-action suit. The controversial addition was likely the result of two later-dismissed class-action suits — one in 2019, another in 2020 — regarding Nintendo Switch consoles’ Joy-Con controllers. Only usage over time will determine whether the newly remodeled Switch 2 Joy-Cons will result in the dreaded “Joy-Con drift.”
As a three-time victim of Joy-Con drift throughout my time with the OG Switch, I’m reeeeeeeally pulling for the new hardware.
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A lifelong gamer raised on classic titles like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and Croc, Stephanie brings her expertise of gaming and pop culture to deliver unique, refreshing views on the world of video games, complete with references to absurd and obscure media.
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