Scammers Are Taking Advantage Of Switch Mania In Japan By Ripping Off Desperate Fans

Awesome good samaritan! Way to pay it forward!

It was bound to happen. The demand is nuts.

Really cool of that other person to help out though.

_{No one likes stinky bait posts -Lz}

There are many people out there who genuinely want to help. As well as those who are just scum.

One of my fellow cosplayer friends had their bag stolen at MCM in May containing their Switch, cosplay and games. So I have been raising funds to replace their games. So far I have replaced Mario Kart and well on my way to replacing Zelda

This is all Nintendo's fault for the bad stocking of its system.

I went to Best Buy this weekend, asked my buddy who works there how many they got in this week's system.

3. Yes 3. The store is in a city, big population, and it's a big chain store. And they got 3.

Nintendo needs to pony up and actually buy the supplies to make the Switches. Just ridiculous.

@XCWarrior Currently they are competing with Apple for the parts they need for the Switch because of this they can't make them any faster to help combat this Nintendo have even started transporting the Switch's by plane (Which is more expensive) To get the Switch's to store shelf's faster

Wow, Japanese game executive behavior: You learned from being scammed by someone, here's a system, please continue supporting our industry!

Western executive behavior: "Deal with it".

@Shaymin Yeah I'm well aware of the current excuse. And If I'm Apple I'm buy 100% of the supplies and telling Nintendo to go find a new friend to make their stuff, especially now that Nintendo is competing directly with them on mobile.

@XCWarrior I'm sure they have a phone list of companies they can call right away and make components in 2 hours. Make it happen Nintendo!

@XCWarrior How is Nintendo competing directly with Apple on mobile? All of their mobile games are available on iOS. If you ask me, it's a win-win for both of them.

@gortsi And yet, I've been enjoying my Switch despite its MANY faults, since March 3rd.....

@thesilverbrick But they are also available on Droid. And don't forget Apple got timed exclusivity on Mario Run, which wasn't exactly welcomed by fans with open arms. Apple probably feels burned they paid for the timed rights to a game with the worst pay structure of all the Ninty mobile game so far.

Thanks for the new prof pic, Mr. Switch Retail Guy!

@XCWarrior By your logic, Apple should resent every mobile game developer that puts their games on Android. Very, very few mobile games are exclusive to Apple anymore. Apple understands this, and I don't think they would be out for blood just because Nintendo's mobile games are like everyone else's. If anything, Apple getting timed exclusivity with Super Mario Run would have ingratiated Nintendo to them. Apple knew the game and its pricing structure when they committed to promoting it. In fact, go into any Apple store, and you'll see they've blatantly plastered Mario alongside the other art on their walls. They are proud of their connection Mario Run, even if it didn't do as well commercially as it could have. Nintendo's entry into the mobile games market only serves to benefit Apple, and Apple knows this.

People are actually falling for this. This is the oldest scam in the book. Parents! Stop giving your credit card info to your kids! They do stupid things like this and spend an insane amount of money for Pokemon GO and candy crush!

@thesilverbrick I love your optimism. Nintendo is buying that ad space on mobile in the spots you describe, Apple is not giving it to them. That's why it's.

Apple can survive without Nintendo, where as Nintendo is still trying to reverse course on the last 5 years of floating financially.

@Menchi187 Why so edgy then?

@XCWarrior Of course Nintendo paid for that ad space. But my point is they are giving money to Apple. Nobody hates their advertisers, nor would they try to ruin them financially. And of course Apple can survive without Nintendo; they have for years. But anybody will tell you that Nintendo releasing mobile games only serves help smartphone manufacturers, not hinder them. You said Nintendo was in direct competition with Apple in the mobile space, which simply isn't true in any way. And yes, Apple is hoarding the parts they need to make their phone, but it is not to try to ruin Nintendo. It would be horrible business sense to try to cripple one of your advertisers who stands to make huge amounts of profit in the mobile space in the future. Apple simply wants to sell more iPhones, so they are being greedy with parts so as not to slow down production. This is not to impede Nintendo from producing the Switch, which is not a competing product in any practical sense.

Knuckles, don't you ever realize you're being tricked by Eggman?

Where there is demand and no supply, scammers and scalpers will flourish. Nice story though.

The moral: If it's too good to be true (especially on the internet), then it probably is. I'm sure this young person learned a valuable lesson.

Still, this story proves that there's still some good in the world. Props to that anonymous donor!

I hope that loser scammer gets ripped off or robbed of his money, it would be hilarious for scammers to suffer for being idiots

Nintendo is to blame for this ultimately. They launched a system, and it has been nearly impossible to find ever since. There's demand, sure, but you know what? Just last week, I asked a local GameStop how many more Switches they got since launch day, and the answer was three. Three?! Since March?! Of course there's "demand" with a pathetic number like that.

This leads to desperate people, and they'll end up doing dumb things as a result. I'm glad this is one of the few times where we at least get a happy ending, but too many people aren't so lucky.

I keep reading the title as "Sonic Mania" and end up getting confused...

I'm still waiting for a Switch fro $299

Naw this was a really sweet story! What a nice guy to help out. Can't always be cynical about the world I guess.

@Tyranexx
Well I think the moral is never give a sucker an even break if you want their money. Start hustling now before more people realise the scam.
So many good hearted fish to catch.

What's the bet the swindler and the swindled know each other and they created this ruse hoping for someone to believe it and donate a Switch?

@Priceless_Spork: IMO the best solution here would have been if the scammer was caught and coughed up what they swindled (as well as slapped with fines and/or some prison time), but I know that doesn't happen in many cases.

I'm not sure if the young person should have been "rewarded" for being so foolhardy, but I don't think that was the intention here. Hopefully they at least learned to be more careful (hence the "too good to be true" mantra). This seems to be a case of compassion by the Switch donor, though I suppose that's in the eye of the beholder.

Unfortunately, swindling has been going on for centuries, preying on the innocent and uninformed. Many scams are easy to see through if you do your research, but occasionally one comes along that's really well put together. I know a couple of people who have fallen for the social engineering "We're Microsoft, your computer is full of viruses" trick.

@thesilverbrick It would be great business for Apple to ruin Nintendo's CONSOLE business. Force them to go 3rd party. And all of the games would be on mobile and Apple gets a cut.

So tell me again why Apple wouldn't want to horde all those materials to make Switches, forcing Nintendo to commit more to Apple iOS?

@XCWarrior I'm not quite sure where to even begin addressing your last comment.

For starters, Nintendo going third-party wouldn't require them to only make smart phone games. Nintendo as a whole is very committed to making games of all kinds, and would never limit themselves to just developing for smart phones where only tilting and touching would be available for inputs. They would never again be able to make a full-scale Zelda adventure or Mario platformer game. Those kinds of games are impossible on smart phones as we know them. So, if Nintendo were forced to go third-party, which is highly unlikely at this point, given the momentum of the Switch, they would likely develop games for other consoles, like those developed by Sony and Microsoft, for example.

And even if Nintendo were to develop for mobile more as a result of being forced out of business by Apple, do you honestly think they would give preference to Apple for their games, knowing their console market was intentionally destroyed by Apple? The Android market is quite a large one, and Nintendo wouldn't be too happy if they were forced out of business by Apple, and could easily run to the Android market for exclusive deals. Apple does have competitors, remember. They do not have a monopoly on the smart phone market, and year by year, more of their share is being taken by other companies.

There is so much inherently wrong with your theory that Apple is trying to destroy Nintendo. From the fact that Nintendo develops games for Apple's operating system to the fact that Nintendo's market is not in direct competition with them to the fact that they have struck up exclusive deals with Apple which stand to benefit Apple to the fact that they are an advertiser in Apple's market space would tell anybody with any sense that Apple has a vested interest in partnering with and even fostering Nintendo, rather than destroying them.

And besides, Apple hoarding the parts hasn't stopped Nintendo from producing the Switch. It has only slowed them down a little bit, only increasing Nintendo's presence in the headlines that talk about the system selling out everywhere it appears, and drawing more consumer interest. Eventually the parts will come along, and the demand will still be there to meet it, along with new people, only made curious by the shortages and the long lines in the streets of Japan and the lotteries and the like. So if Apple was trying to destroy Nintendo by just slowing down Switch production, this ridiculous plan you propose would be a foolish one and only fail in the long run. But anybody with any sense whatsoever knows that Apple's plot to ruin one of their allies and advertisers (read: business partners) is completely fictional, anyway.

If they were deliberately trying to ruin Nintendo's business, Nintendo wouldn't develop games for them anymore. If forced into a third-party state Nintendo could very easily develop games for other home consoles or the Android market. Apple would have a lot to lose if they intentionally tried to destroy Nintendo. What we're looking at here is a matter of Apple needing parts to produce phones and not wanting to slow down the sale of those phones. Simple as that. Until you can find any sort of evidence from any credible source to prove your theory, it is completely off-base and counterintuitive from both a business and logic standpoint.

@thesilverbrick I'm simply going to say I love your blind optimism. Nintendo needs to do whatever it takes - legal or illegal - to meet demand. Otherwise, as far as I'm concerned, they are making the system look more popular than it is by simply making 50 per week.

But I'm not buying a Switch until I can simply walk into a store and buy it, and well it needs more exclusives I can't already play on my WiiU and 3DS.