New Electronics Ban on Certain UK and US Flights Includes the Nintendo Switch

This doesn't effect me in anyway however kind of stupid of Nintendo not to foresee this problem. I want a full refund and a free PS4 as compensation.

Got kinda worried that is was gonna be on quite a lot of flights. But I can't really say I'll be affected from that.

Heh, just thought of the exact picture above when i heard this on the radio this morning. But if you read it properly, it is ONLY flights FROM the above countries. So to be honest it won't effect many people

@BigBadJohn are you serious, you think you'll get a PS4 as compensation? You seriously don't know how the world works if you aren't asking for a PS5

@BigBadJohn They could not have seen this coming. And it doesn't just effect Nintendo but Apple and other manufacturers too.

Also a pointless ban as this is about security and people will always find a way around it

Oh darn I was off to Egypt on a diving holiday. Now I can't play Snipperclips with the nice man in the bulky vest.

But we are talking about flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
European flights are without this ban.

@BigBadJohn You can always sell your Switch and buy a PS4 "take me out" editon

Eh, this is what the 3DS is for. Every time I've been on a plane, I've played it throughout the journey.

@Granpa_Pixel I'm being facetious. I'm English it's in my DNA. I apologise for any confusion.

@Snow-Dust A PS5 is all good and well but I don't want to be a beta tester for these "machines" ever again after the Switch debacle. The fact that I have had zero issues and over a hundred hours of pure joy from zelda is besides the point. Nintendo thinks I'm a mug.

I would advise against playing Switch on a plane in some circumstances anyway.
Was on a flight back from Prague playing the milking 1-2 Switch title with a friend. People looked at us like we were about to blow the plane up somehow...

Affect, not effect. You're* welcome!

*Not your.

Hmm, if you take the joycons off it is only a tiny bit bigger then my current android phone, I think that needs to be looked at again by whoever decided it.

I'm from none of these countries, but isn't "the usual size of a smartphone" the kind of thing where any norm becomes obsolete within months? And frankly, we live in the age where you can rig a car key chip if you have the money and know the sources, so I don't think size-based electronic bans are a very fruitful direction for public security to invest effort in. A temporary measure for lack of better ones? Okay, but those better ones had better be worked on as we speak.

Saw this this morning on r/3ds. Rip anyone who doesn't want to pay 10c for headphones

Let's see, so US implements this ban because Trump.
And then UK copies it because Brexit and a certain desperation to be liked and make friends.
This is all so sad.

@BigBadJohn Nintendo giving out free PS4s as refunds? I'd probably pay just to marvel at a sight like this. XD

@dequesi Trump banned countries where he has zero business interests. These are different countries.

Again, these are Muslim countries too, guess Trump forgot to ban these as well. The moment he took his flight and realize he can't play his Nintendo Switch he'll know.

@Julien Saudi Arabia and Egypt, for example, are two countries where he has interests, therefore they were not included in the immigration ban. They are included here for façade purposes.

I'm flying from the UK to Florida in June hope this won't effect our flights

Was looking forward to a bit of Mario kart deluxe to pass the time

@NewAdvent what accessory allows you to keep on charge on the plane I need this for my upcoming trip

Not in every country, only when flying to some muslim countries.
It is for safety etc.
So not every country is affected by it.

I hate politics.. Thanks to our government now we are perceived as a middle east country ._.

from Turkey..

Considering the countries, it's not overly surprising... it probably wouldn't be too hard to effectively conceal an explosive device in something like a tablet.

I'm flying home (back to the UK) via Royal Jordanian and was looking forward to some quality new 3DS XL time, gutted that I will have to leave it in my hold luggage now. It will be a very boring 8 hours.

Eh, they can't forbid me to bring it if they don't know what it is ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).

Step 1: Detach Joycon and place them away from the Switch
Step 2: Act as if it is your phone during security check. Pick it up and "take a call" if necessary. Remember to have the Nintendo Switch logo covered!
Step 3: If they ask what it is, call it a smartphone or kindle. They're not gonna bother checking. They never do. Kindles aren't banned, as they can come in smartphone sizes.
Step 4: On the flight, hide it while playing huehue (Recently put it inside a bag I had on my lap and sat with arms down the side to play. Bonus points for creativity! Flight attendants were being annoying, since my flight had no bans of any kind.)

Oh, and Step 5: Don't try it if you're not prepared to not board the flight or lose your device.

I wonder if a normal gameboy is banned on flights......

If the flights were long, they would have ended "boring" as well with a powerless Switch...
Anyway, it's comprehensible.

PS: I always imagined that such electronic devices were not allowed in planes because of interferences or something like that. (similar to cellular phones in hospital, even if by now I realized that nobody cares about that last rule)

UK bans everything hence the UK sucks lol it doesn't mean anything to me as I never fly but it's just stupid, 2017 you should be able to use anything on a plane, they should make planes better lol

@Blizzia Doesn't make any difference if you convince them it's a phone - even large 'phablet' style phones are banned.

@dequesi nice conspiracy theories you have there. Ever thought about how correlation is not the same as causation? No? Ever thought about hidden variables? No? Ever thought about how not being able to do business in certain countries could be linked to the safety situation there? No? SAD!

Well this is funny and kind of ironic.

We probably saw that one coming before they did it. We're not Nintendiots.

Well there is a reason they are doing this - instead of blaming Trump / Brexit etc which is the easy thing for the liberal minded to do, ask yourself why they are doing this? There was a time you could go through airport security without much bother. And don't say it's Trump business relationships with those countries, that's the weakest excuse you could possibly come up with.

Shouldn't affect myself as none of the countries / airports are ones that I tend to visit often (if at all). Although i can imagine the UAE and Qatar in high gear sorting out security enhancements to get themselves off the list as they are major hubs.

At least my GBA SP and Micro are still in working order.

Or I could read a book.

@subpopz I never said that.

This is such a political quagmire. I'm so embarrassed to be an American right now

@subpopz They are trying to scam mii!?!? Boo!

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind banning electronics of a certain size. I'm assuming this has something to do with 'security'?

Surely, a mobile phone is sufficient enough for any terrorist attack or remote bomb trigger. Or perhaps I'm missing the point entirely.

Either way, if I'm not allowed my Switch, then I will take my business elsewhere!

Politics are irrelevant regarding this - aviation authorities don't make these sorts of decisions lightly. If the American FAA did nothing with the knowledge that tragedy could strike using a device that small, I'd dread to think of the consequences...

@subpopz Please keep trolling the troll Maybe he'll start to understand? but probably not...

@Blizzia Kindles are banned too

@AlexOlney
Also banned.

Sabotage !
Humans are fear of Nonsense.
Pathethic government + pathetic rules =
Certainly Disaster.
I'm so sorry to hear for all of you American.
Let's pray for Pathethic goverment that creates this disaster, so their stubbornness will disappear gradually.

@BigBadJohn lol bigbadjohn whinnying wAaaa I can't have my way I want money back..

Doesn't affect me the slightest. You couldn't pay me to visit the US or the UK the way they're acting at the moment.

So you can't take a laptop then either?

None of those locations are on my must visit destinations list and let's face it, they should be pretty far down the list for anyone. Even the likes of Turkey is incredibly unstable right now. But also, it's not like they're 10 hour flights halfway around the world (for the UK/Europe market) so I think we can make do with the in-flight movie if boredom sets it

@Judgedean I think Islamophobia counts.

@manu0 We don't need to agree. Also, we don't need to insult. But on the link below (one source of many) there's some data that contradicts your approach: the countries banned for immigration never seem to have caused any deaths in US territory. The ones that have, however, were left out because of business interests. Trump is doing business despite the safety situation. Some may argue: because of it.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/01/trump-immigration-ban-terrorism/514361/

@Yorumi Switch has a way bigger battery than a phone. Considering a Li-Ion battery is basically a bomb if used as such (just as Samsung ), the size of explosion a Switch or performance tablet could create would be a lot bigger than most phones (we'll exclude phablets a little bit but even phablets have smaller batteries than the fairly sizeable Switch battery and some of the heavier tablets.)

Plus the space in the chassis. Easier to rig a detonator or something into a "spacious" chassis like a Switch, 3DS, laptop (especially) than the super-slim chassis of a phone.

Not too unexpected.

@dequesi causing deaths in a foreign country has almost nothing to do with the safety situation IN that country......(which is the important factor when you want to do business IN that country)

@NIN10DOXD lol -that's the cliché response from lefties. Why not ban every other Muslim country then? Remember when we didn't have to take our shoes off, were able to take liquids on flights without security checks - why was that? . The implementation of the ban is stupid though - lots of ways to get around it.

@manu0 You're right, this ban is totally unrelated to anything else we're talking about. Thank you for opening my eyes to the truth.

@Blizzia What if they saw the kickstand? 😛

@dequesi you're welcome mr. conspiracy theorist
(aka mr. "i'm very easily influenced by anything people or the media tell me and don't like thinking for myself")

@manu0 Insulting again! Nice!

@Yorumi Wasn't that the immediate foregone conclusion the moment "federalized security" was even mentioned?

The TSA is little more than an intimidation force for law-abiding travelers, and an amusing nuisance for would-be international criminals. The only people who ever imagined it would be otherwise were the senators that proposed it and only afterword wanted to repeal it because it wasn't working the way they imagined as though they had no familiarity with how federal agencies work beforehand.

That shampoo bottle might really be holding nitroglycerin, but the cell phone with the wires hanging out and the big LED countdown clock, that's fine, wouldn't want to offend the guy holding it (and have to deal with an attack on my shift!)

Honestly if somebody is gonna bring a bomb onto a plane, they'll just do that. If large devices are banned then they'll find another way.

@dequesi This has nothing to do with Brexit.

@NintyNate It's to stop terrorism. Making better planes does not stop terrorism.

I can't tell if you two are joking, but both of your comments sounded pretty stupid.

Anyway, sucks that I can't play my New 3DS XL on my flight from Turkey this year.

Did they give a reason for the ban?

Lesson learned: never discuss politics with strangers online.

And now UK just have a "terrorist attack". Folks Nintendolife predicts the terrorist attack is a false flag lol

@NewAdvent

Thank you for clarifying, the title of the article was a little misleading and I didn't have time to fully read it all this morning

@dequesi

It's an extra step towards public security based on reports of possible terrorists gaining interest in disguising bombs as consumer electronics.

You're sad.

Many of my flights take me through one of these countries as layovers. This means that I will have to keep my electronics in checked luggage for TWO 13 hour flights.

Also, I see a lot of people saying, "Won't affect me..." Well that is dandy, but what has that got to do with anything? Imagine you were on a flight that took you through one of these countries, and now all your entertainment is locked away. Think about reading the in flight magazine for 13-26 hours.

Have a little sympathy for those people who lose their freedoms due to paranoia and racism.

The US just does not miss a chance to discriminate and waste other people's time.

@ProjectCafe 1) If a terrorist wants to camouflage a bomb as an electronic device, and he cannot carry it with them on the flight to the US, they could check it in and carry it with them on the flight back. So the measure is utterly pointless.
2) Assuming planes are more secure this way, terrorists move to the streets (London today - that was sad). It's the average traveller who pays the price, and that means that the terror has won.
3) Insulting is unnecessary, although a common practice here from what I've seen.

I am utterly appalled that our governments don't pretend that Saudi Arabia is equally as nice as Iceland.

@dequesi

Right, well, I'm pretty sure the British and US government thought a whole lot more about it than you did in 5 minutes.

Something to think about.

@Dezzy

I'm appalled that you live in la la land. They aren't. Assumption kills.

@ProjectCafe

But they told me the weekly beheadings in Mecca were a magic show. Was that not true?

Gotta love racism and xenophobia.

@ProjectCafe

I'm with you ProjectCafe, people want to play politics and be politically correct without hurting anybody's feelings. The fact of the matter is, if terrorist are wanting to design bombs out of our consumer electronic devices then I'm glad our governments are being proactive by banning them on flights, but we live in a world with entitled crybabies and snowflakes ❄️

Absolutely stupid.. this bigoted scaremongering is beyond

@ProjectCafe They did think about it a whole lot more. They thought about how it would help their political careers to make it look like they were protecting us from the big bad terrorists without actually doing anything useful.

Your problem seems to be that you are assuming their actions are motivated by security, when it fact the more likely scenario is they are motivated by politics and money.

Do yourself a favor, google the terms "Security Theater".

Tablet with a ph.

@lejyoner00 this ban is due to the great work that qatari uae and Turkish airports does. This is just jealousy

@Rei It used to be that electronic devices were banned. That's why airplane mode was created. The switch has an airplane mode as well.
But in recent years most airlines only ask you to turn of your device during takeoff/landing. One flight I took even had on board WiFi.

@Bunkerneath Of course anyone flying to one of those countries will have to fly back as well.
If I was in such a dilemma, I would fly from one of those countries to another country not on that list and then to US or UK just so I could play my Switch.

@Meaty-cheeky They aren't banned from flights, they are banned from being with you in the cabin during a flight. More bombs have been in shoes and underwear than electronics, so let's ban the wearing of clothes on flights as well.

@Alshain01

Right, and meanwhile, you think that being elected president and prime minister is a business venture for public charisma, and not a colossal commitment for national security.

So then, what was London just attacked by? Leprechauns? Like it or not, the majority of terror attacks on western soil are commit by extremist moose-lambs. This is a near fact that has been proven years after years after years.

This ban wasn't based on knowledge from previous attacks, it was enacted by British and US intelligence's gathered statistics of many different terror-suspects' growing interest of the idea of concealing their bombs in seemingly harmless laptops and tablets, game consoles, etc. to try to fool airport security into passing them.

A very seizable sum of Nintendo Life's community is so naive and out to lunch. Everyone's parents sure did such a fine job. Clap clap.

Stupid Snowflake Millennials.

@Judgedean A lot of people who aren't "lefties" feel that way.

@ProjectCafe Most attacks in western countries are by white multi-generational citizens. But even if these white people have a political ideal as the reason for their attack, it's never called terrorism. Dark skinned attackers are terrorists, white skinned attackers are troubled, no matter why an attack was made. Recent French school shooting people blamed Muslims until it was announced that it was the son of a far right wing politician. It's confirmation bias in action, and a belief that facts and stats to the contrary are "pc conspiracies".

@NIN10DOXD Sorry, lefties and people too scare to face up to the truth as to what is happening with western society and where it is heading. It will become a police state soon, thanks to idiot politicians.

Damn!... lol
That's going to be a long flight to the Philippines and I can't even play some MK8 in the way there in a couple months.. oh well

@BigBadJohn "I want a full refund and a free PS4 as compensation."

I'm cancelling my preorder again.

Meanwhile the government of Australia has said there's no reason to follow suit. Note that UK, US and Australia all have right wing governments, but with US the most extreme and Australia the least extreme, which is why it's rare for Australia to make crazy decisions based on phobias.

As long as they stick to the airports and airlines on the list, okay. Unfortunately my experience is that it's often the case that agents take these localized bans as carte blanche for suspicion of all devices everywhere.

I'd love to be shown up as a crank here, but I suspect flying with a Switch (or anything else on the list) anywhere involving the UK or US is going to get harder too.

@Koapa Except, you know, Turkey.

@ProjectCafe Those attacks in London had nothing to do with tablets disguised as bombs. The threat of terrorism is real, the TSA (and other countries equivalents) methods for security are not. They are security theater. The truth is, the pre-9/11 flight screenings were perfectly fine. What has stopped terrorism is the increase in air marshals and intelligence agencies seeking out real threats.

Taking off your shoes and being limited to small electronics and small amounts of liquid have done absolutely nothing. It's security theater. All it does is make you feel like you are more secure, but in the process it gives away your freedom.

The ban was not enacted to curb terrorism, it was enacted to give people the illusion that they were doing something to stop terrorism. That illusion makes people feel good and therefore makes them feel as though the current political organization is doing a good job... even if it's really nothing.

STUPID.

@Alshain01

OK, I can see here that arguing is pointless.

Our country leaders aren't as incompetent and public-image driven as you think. They were never here for social points, they're here to make sure everything runs well and that everybody is safe.

disintegrates away

@NintendoFan990 terrorism? What crap lol if it's going to happen it'll happen but don't stop me gaming

@Judgedean You sound like a total zealot.

Darn! There goes my chances of doing a barrel roll.

@NintyNate So your gaming is more important than people's lives?

@MadAdam81
You are seriously deluded. "Most terrorist attacks are by white.. citizens". What utter garbage.

Let's keep it this century ( since 9/11).

Facts are facts. Non-white Islamic terrorist has killed more people in the west than crazy white right wing fanatics using terrorist tactics. If you throw in the attacks in the Middle East, Africa and Asia this figure rockets. FACT.

Significantly more terrorist attacks on civilians in public places were carried by non-whites in the west this century. FACT. Again throw in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan etc., and that figure soars.
How many white people do you see running around the Middle East blowing themselves up on an almost daily basis?

In the U.K. if you compare ALL terrorist attacks by race THIS CENTURY your statement is senseless.

I have already researched France, Germany, Belgium etc, same thing.

Spain ... um they have ETA so must look into that.

I will agree with you that the media hates referring to white atrocities as terrorism. They now like referring to any attack as "mental illness".

They are crazy loonies on ALL sides but let's keep it real and factual and stop this "white people are the worst" crap.
I am not saying white people are saints... hell no. All races have their angels and demons.

@ProjectCafe Sorry to say it, but you making incorrect statements again. I never said they were incompetent, quite the opposite. They are quite brilliant at manipulating people, as you have proven here today. The sheeple will follow. Just say "baaa" and pretend your loss of freedom is for security.

@Alshain01

OK, and "loss of freedom" equals a plane flight which happens to be slightly more boring than usual as a direct result of a temporary ban.

Where exactly is your evidence that they are manipulating con-men? Because I can't exactly speak for Britain, but I've never seen any concrete evidence that the president's surrounding people are manipulating masterminds. As of now. The Obama government, Soros, the Clinton administration, the rest of them, were indeed manipulating con-men masterminds, but I've never yet seen anything of the sort concerning the Trump government.

If I'm making incorrect statements, so are you. Their job is not to spend all day sitting on their butts, brainstorming ways to make themselves look good, especially when they could easily achieve the same result making good decisions for their country, and I can guarantee you that them pretending they're on a reality TV show isn't how they spend their time.

And excuse me miss, but I am no sheep! I think it's you who is the sheep, following the predictable left-minded mentality. Neither the administration or the government ever said anything about how protecting this country is their top priority. I claim that this is precisely what they are doing, purely because I have faith in my country, especially when there is an entirely new person running the show. And if you really think we just started loosing freedom? Where the hell have you been for the past 30+ years???

"They are quite brilliant at manipulating people, as you have proven here today. The sheeple will follow. Just say "baaa" and pretend your loss of freedom is for security."

Oh, come now. That was a rather weak rebuttal, don't you think? Try harder.

@ProjectCafe ROFL, you have that a bit backward. Trump's administration is the most manipulative organization ever to have existed. That's how he got elected, of course the Russians helped.

You are a sheep, it's pretty obvious now. Your making attempts to insult based on your perceptions of me being a liberal because I don't agree with your point of view. That's typical party sheep behavior. You can call me a lefty or righty all you want, those types of insults don't work on us independents because we are the only ones that actually think for ourselves.

Back in the pasture with you now.

@Alshain01

"Trump's administration is the most manipulative organization ever to have existed. That's how he got elected, of course the Russians helped."

You just disproved your own statement that you are independent and that you think for yourself. This stuff was all originally spouted out by the butt hurt democrats right after they lost because they were in disbelief that the republicans won. I am not a blind conservative who accepts anything the party puts out, I can tell you, so therefore I am not a sheep. You however, appear to parrot the same things Hillary, her cronies, and all of the liberal children have spewed out. And you call yourself an independent. Bang up job there.

Considering about 70% of your comment was pertaining to insulting me as being a sheep, and glorifying your party as basically being the only people who have brains, I'd say that you have no evidence to back up your claims of the Russians deciding the election, and no sources of actual reports of the Trump administration engaging in dodgy acts both reported by a non-left news organization and published prior to Trump entering the race.

Not to mention...

A little arrogantly egotistical there, eh? Yeah, that sure helps the public's view of the independents. Back in your independence hole with you now.

@ProjectCafe Oh my god, you can't stop opening your mouth. Seriously. Independent doesn't mean I support Trump but not supporting Trump doesn't make me left wing either. It's a concept you aren't capable of understanding as a sheep.

By the way, you should check the news once in a while, even as a sheep. The FBI is investigating Trump for his Russian connections, it has nothing to do with crap the democrats are spouting. Seriously, our president is in effect being investigated for treason.

Go on back to the graze man, there is nothing you need to know here.

@NIN10DOXD Wow using labels is your best response instead of having a grown up discussion.

@NintendoFan990 maybe but it's all fine now we know lol

@Judgedean Adults don't say lefty lol

@NIN10DOXD I was being polite. Adults don't say "total zealot" lol

@Judgedean Most children don't even know​ what a zealot is.

@NintyNate You're a childish, selfish person.

@NintendoFan990 nah just having a laugh with stuff, cool it yeah it's all fine now from other news anyway

@NIN10DOXD Did I once call you anything? Your best response was to call me names. Sums you up quite nicely doesn't it?