Nintendo Reportedly Banning Switch 2's Using MIG Cartridges

Not surprised that they're taking action. The whole bricking thing has gotten a lot of PR lately, however, so I'm pleasantly surprised that they're retaining how they handed out bans before.

Folks are dumb if they connect online a brand new system with stolen software that has been activated on multiple systems. They deserve it.

Im sure this was used for completely legitimate reasons.

Good, I don’t like the whole bricking thing but we can make an exception here

"Legal Dumps" is the name of my alt, nu-rock, all guitar playing proctologist band.

Well maybe of more games actually RELEASED ON CARTRIDGES we wouldn't have these problems

@Zeebor15 Nah, people will still try to use these Flash Carts cause people are cheap. Sides, physical media is dying anyway. XP

Anyway, this isn't surprising at all. With the ToS change and the method to brick via anywhere, it was only a matter of time till someone tried this. RIP to the idiots.

GOOD BAN THEM ALL! They need to be knocked off their high horse.

Using unauthorized backups while the system is on its active lifespan is just inconsiderate and dumb.

No matter how much people say these 3rd party carts (or even emulation for that matter) are for backing up their own game library (which is cool don't get me wrong), more than half of those will always use it for something else. Not surprised by this at the slightest. I can't remember how many times I saw people say they're using their own game dumps only to find out it's either their friend's dump or straight up pirated.

At least the console wasn't bricked but I'm not sure that could be remedied by factory resetting.

Pirating games should be punishable to years in prison.

@Sambuc yep it is just a form of theft, it really isnt that complex

I'm waiting to play splatoon custom levels after nintendo has ended online support for NX2. I own all 3 splatoon games.

Any chance you can get banned for inserting a fake game card you got off eBay?

@HugoGED If it wasn't key cards, I'm sure you'd find another way to justify your theft.

@FredBiletnikoff my 300+ physical switch games says otherwise.

What is MIG cartridge?

@Anti-Matter basically it is a replacement flash cartridge that you can load your ripped game files on to. That way you dont have to physically find the actual game cartridge and can just play games off the MIG.
Slightly more complex but I tried to simplify.

@Anti-Matter it was basically a microSD adapter in the form of a switch cartridge. you loaded the "legal" games on the microSD. no internet connection needed for games that required it.

Truth be told, they were warn by Nintendo about hacking and playing pirated software on the Switch 2. They had no one to blame but themselves. If you own a Mig Switch then you must had also own a hack Switch. There's no reason to risk playing that on the Switch 2 as a hack Switch is already overclock to be better than a normal Switch and a much safer ground for playing hacks and homebrews.

This is why we can't have nice things and have mod support for Nintendo games without putting your account/system at risk. T.T

Stupid is as stupid does. Mess around with mods on a new system and you get banned. Yeah your roms might be copies of games you legally own but playing them on your switch 2 is not okay and only a fool would attempt it.

You got what was Coming to you and that's the way it goes.

I mean, what were they expecting? Isn't this clearly outlined in the EULA?

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes 😄😄😄

@Shade_Koopa This is my cope. There are many like it, bur rhos one is mine. Without me, my cope is useless. Without my cope I am useless

Surrrre. "Backups"... 🫢🫢🫢

@Bluelink45 The whole bricking business was the interpretation of folks using the "because Nintendo" excuse, when the updated language was about informing people that a brick could happen with a modified system, especially updating one.

As the saying goes "play stupid games, win stupid prices" what they were thinking? That they could get away with this? Guess they found out the hard way

Sigh, just don't pirate new console games, there are times for emulation and backing up games, it's when the console is 2 generations or at least 10 years behind, not when it's still on launch weeks 😕

@HugoGED add to that my 150 carts generally tucked away safe and all backed up, never uploaded or lent anywhere else... some people use them legitimately- which im sure we both admit is still a legal grey area - if not I certainly do.

@Serpenterror you do not need a hacked switch to use a MIG switch. Is a piece of hardware that goes into the machine. Once you eject the cart, the switch is not modded. Thats like saying putting a cartridge in a switch modifies it.

@HugoGED

So you'd rather be stuck with Codes in the box you can't even resell at later date? Because frankly that's an alternative.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.....

I’m sorry, but they deserve that for being that stupid. Seriously you want to do shady crap on the S2 that barely came out with Nintendo being extra vigilant on the device? Yeah GL convincing Nintendo it’s “legal” if that was your big move.

Why not do this crap with the S1when it inevitably stops being sold soon? Not even a pirate, but there is a reason nobody gives a crap if you’re modding a PS Vita or a 3DS right now.

What happens when/if the user sells it?

@rvcolem1 There is nothing about piracy even remotely similar to theft, because nothing that Nintendo/ the third party publisher has just "disappears" from their hands. It's unauthorized copies, unauthorized by the companies and corporate law. I my countries there is legal use and preservation of backup copies in certain boundaries. While I understand that game publishers need to make money I will never use such inaccurate propaganda language as "stealing information" or justify repressive measures that take away legitimate options from legitimate users.

As a good consumer and Nintendo's favorite customer, bravo.

@slowpoke_tail "People are idiots, Leslie."- Ron Swanson

Misread this as 'BIG' cartridges XD

Yeah damn right they're banning big cartridges, how would they fit into the system?! Ahahaha

"It would seem that Nintendo can detect something" - and what needs to happen for them to detect it, again? It's almost like a Darwin Award analogue of the video game sphere.😅

@Zyph consoles have serial numbers reflected on the firmware level (Nintendo support routinely asked me for one when I was inquiring about a game icon limit and my long lost sticker didn't help, but they just directed me to the system info in the settings instead), and I doubt a factory reset would alter those.

@VeganHerpes if they're honest about the predicament, accordingly impacted demand. If they're not, an arguable scam case.

@sanderev @ancientlii EULAs cannot nullify all your essential consumer laws, many restrictions are not legitimate before court. In my country if you buy a physical piece of media for ownership then you are allowed to take measures to preserve it, as well as play your legitimately created backup copy on the devices you see fit (including PCs with legal emulators)

@Zeebor15 wait.... You think people buy a MiG card, then put loads of games on that one cartridge.... Because they want physical media?

You know there's another way you can insert an SD card into a Nintendo switch and download loads of legally purchasable copies and have them all loaded into the system? It's called the eShop.

So if you want to screw someone over, just insert this card into their switch ?
Good job Nintendo

@WhiteUmbrella
Actually people have roasted Nintendo for GameCardKeys where Sony and M$ devotee's licked it up.

Maybe change your mindset.
We might be loyal. But we are not dumb

@Stormcloudlive
If things keep up, people will however draw this conclusion

"You don't give me games properly. I'll find a way myself"
Zeebor is therefore not wrong

@VeganHerpes
They'll have to sell ot as banned.
And it will remain banned.
Good luck downloading your freshly bought GameKeyCarts tihi.

Lovely

@Sambuc That's ludicrous, if you're just talking about end users. The prisons would be overflowing even more than they already are, including with little Timmy and his mother (being a bit facetious, but you get the point).

I’m sorry, but that’s BS on the part of Nintendo. Nobody should be okay with a corporation being able to make your console, or worse, your entire collection useless because you did something they didn’t like.

At least they allowed us to lease the console we paid for.

@Zeebor15 highly likely they are on karts seeing this is about them modding switch 1 games.... On a mig switch...

@WhiteUmbrella quick send me a WORKING ps4-5 emulator.......that ran all the games flawless.

Psp piracy was a huge issue. PS3 PS4 and 5 barely have emulators ... And heck ps3-4 players hated the idea of games getting ported to other systems I remember how hard they gatekept persona and final fantasy because it went multiplay several years later. I know for a fact they'd have a issue if those games where pirates and emulated on PC. Back then

Honestly? Good.

Definitely getting this for my Switch. With the whole game key card, I don't have much faith in the future of gaming on Nintendo consoles staying physical.

@TAndvig ok but doesn't this only backup physical games anyway? So if a game didn't release physically, then this has no purpose

@kCaracal Germany or any other country has no law that regulates this and there will be plenty of cases where the emulators or the hardware used to dump a cartridge breaks copyright laws.

But this is an edge case anyway - it's very rare that emulation is used in that way despite everyone insisting that's how they do it

Oh no! Anyways ...

If you are going to pirate all the games anyway, much better off going down the Steamdeck portable PC route.

No way for Nintendo to check on your activity, no way to block your console, not really any way they can do anything much as long as you don't distribute the roms...

Not that I'd condone such a thing, just making conversation is all.

I did consider picking up a MIG at one point - because with over 300 cartridges, it´s a pain to go digging for the game I want from the huge box I keep them in. But with the way the MIG works, it´d be a pain to cycle through them for the right one as well. If it worked like the old R4-carts for the DS - with a list of all the carts available from a menu - I´d probably have picked one up, but alas.

Even so, if I had had a MIG, I´d certainly not be foolish enough to try and use it on an online-enabled Switch 2 at this point in time. That just sounds like asking for trouble.

Why would they connect to the internet while using these things?

@JohnnyMind The guy posted on Twitter that he was gifted the console to do these tests but he also says he would never do piracy (despite being gifted a console to research piracy)

Power to them if they make it work. Ninty have been such giant $%^#$ in owning your games and savefiles lately that they deserve people taking matters into their own hands!

I'm not risking it thought. You're 1 update away from a really expensive paperweigt!

@Stormcloudlive Please see my 2nd statement referencing Full Metal Jacket, and know that i violently disagree with what you just daid about sd cards. I've tried that; they don't work without modding either.

why is anyone still referring to duplicated cartridge games as "backed up" ? as if there is no problem with doing that ? as if doing that can't cause the user and/or that cartridge to be banned ? or worse . . .

it beggars belief it really does.

how people can believe so resolutely that a court case ruling from how long ago ? over 25 years ago ? would still hold up today in the age we now live in, of digital media . . .

people believing such, really need to think again.

I was heavily involved in software piracy for over a decade. I got started before limewire or torrents existed; we used a program called "hotline" (iirc) (and irc as that last acronym just reminded me.) NONE OF THIS IS NEW. This behavior has always been met with harsh penalties when you get caught. Metallica sued their own fans! The amount of hubris in the switch2hacks subreddit is on a whole new level. I've been hearing "these are just backups of games I own!" since 1998. Where'd you get that Terranigma rom then, huh? (In America?) Final Fantasy V with a fan translation patch? (In 1998?) What's that a backup of?

It's going to be a constant cat and mouse game between Nintendo and the hackers. It'll be interesting seeing how far both parties are willing to go. I doubt Nintendo will be able to completely keep the gate closed.

I don't like piracy, but I really can't see how people can be happy about a corporation taking an anticonsumer behavior which, moreover, doesn't seem to stop anything but just penalises paying customers.
Being happy to know they can make what you legally bought useless sounds a bit masochistic, doesn't it.
When physical games will be gone, I wonder what new excuses and "enemies" they find to keep behaving like that and to convince you that it's the right thing to do.

@VeganHerpes There are consumer protections preventing the sale of faulty goods

imagine banning a so called pirate from accessing the eShop.

Jokes write themselves

It's a special kind of silly to mess with a current gen system right after launch when the maker has all their eyes on it. Wait until the updates are done and enjoy what is by then a super streamlined process. Like cfw'ing the Wii U and 3DS is unbelievably easy and bares no risk today. The weird compulsion these jokers have to willingly wade into misery.

You can have legal copies, but I'd never expose them to Nintendo's online servers if I did. It's definitely a gray area you're treading in.

@StyrofoamCup Wouldn't it be more fitting if it was a proc-rock band?

@Deerock69 You can have legal copies, but I'd never expose them to Nintendo's online servers if I did. It's definitely a gray area you're treading in.
What are you smoking? Your probably a HomeBrew/System Hacking user that's only reason one would even make such comments.

@VeganHerpes What happens when/if the user sells it?
Used Game Retailers will ask and also will test your system they don't just buy used game console without testing. And you will have to provide the login for them to verify this otherwise they will say "No Sale".

@sethfranum I see no errors in what he wrote. Do you?

theres a saying for this situation:You cant fix stupid.

Pretty much since 3DS it was never advisable to go online or update a system you used a flash cart with or otherwise modified to pirate games...

Even if people proved they backed games up, nintendo wouldn't care and still ban

@SirLink I see no errors in what he wrote. Do you?
No loss on me they did it to themselves. Do you see the their error there?

@HugoGED You'll be sorry...

@Peach64 You realize this is an online ban, not a brick right?

@TAndvig What’s the difference between this and a micro sd card? Other than the fact that the MIG works via the game card slot. Now if you already have those games downloaded and with the new express cards you’re screwed over, now I understand. If you don’t, this is the exact same as a digital game except it’s read from the game card slot.

@sethfranum it depends on the country.

Imagine if someone just went around to people's houses with one of these and bricked random people's switches.

We knew this was going to happen and yet people still kept poking the bear with these Migs.

sigh

Were any of these banned Switches ever bricked, or just banned from online play?

@slowpoke_tail To get sympathy clicks/views on social media.

@SirLink You HomeBrew/Hack the Switch and you think courts would side your case. I doubt it.

@sethfranum you should learn the difference between infringing the laws and infringing an end user agreement.

The problem with this is that Nintendo have, outright, shut down Switch emulation. Yay them. But they still want you to ONLY use official hardware, official key cards, official everything, and if they get a sniff of any part of the system isn't 'official', your console becomes an expensive conversation piece.

If, tomorrow, Retroarch's developers released a statement where they declared that 'any and all Nintendo system cores will be disabled and removed due to ongoing legal action', Nintendo would paint it as a victory against piracy, while people like Near would be tossing and turning in their grave, since their preservation efforts would be wiped out in the backlash.

I don't pirate games because I am a dirty pirate. I have several thousand games on an SSD that you won't find anywhere on Nintendo's Switch Online service, but Nintendo don't care about that fact. They see those several thousand games not as 'preservation', but 'piracy', and want them G-O-N-E.

And when that happens, they'll never return.

@SirLink I agree and I'm kind of shocked by the responses here. I dunno.... kind of seems like there should be a little more outrage when a company threatens to nuke your system just because you aren't using it the way they think you should. Fine if you don't want them on your servers, but threatening to nuke a system kind of seems like it's crossing a line and I'm kind of dumbfounded that people are seemingly...... okay with that?

Switch 2 doesn't even have an OLED screen. There are a lot of better ways of playing Switch 1 games especially if you have a MIG switch to free the games from crappy, flimsy, Nintendo hardware.

@SirLink You obviously don't read EULA or TOS to understand much.

Let me tell you HomeBrew people why don't you go to those that made the game and pay their paycheck and see what it cost them to make the games you Pirated from them.

So, is this the MIG Switch cartridge?

Well, this is literally pirated Switch cartridge.
No wonder Nintendo will brick your machine for playing pirated Switch games.

“Although Nintendo seems to be banning users from "online services", it does not appear to be taking the "nuclear option" according to the source.”

I would consider what they’re doing as the nuclear option. I would much rather make a new account than have to buy an entirely new Switch 2.

@sethfranum that doesn't answer anything, but it's actually part of my job and nobody has ever complained about it. I think we can close this obnoxious discussion here.

@Markiemania95 I wouldn't know if it's nuclear or not, but it surely makes people pretty nervous about buying a used console, and I suspect it's done on purpose, even in case they just ban it from online services.

Where theft exists, it's built into the costs. We end up paying.

Unfortunately there is no easy way to distinguish legitimate use vs piracy therefore I support the approach.

@Moistnado Granted that there is more powerful hardware out there but I haven't seen to date any reputable review that suggests the SW2 is either crappy or flimsy.

What do they mean, "My Switch 2 has been banned"? Banned from what?

Never heard of them tbh with you

@Stormcloudlive

I'd like to, yes. Why would I want to pay again for the 60+ carts i own? I prefer physical as a collection, but carrying around a case with £1,500 worth of games makes me nervous, I'd much rather have them backed up on one device.

@ValentineMeikin

Exactly, getting people to understand this is hard work. For instance, I have MAME, Final Burn, Neo Geo on my modded Xbox, hooked up to a CRT. I ALSO have 150+ Arcade Archive releases, Capcom, Konami, Blizzard, Pac Man comps on Switch, a Midway Arcade 1up, and until recently, Astro City and Egret minis. The Xbox mostly comes into use if I want to play something that either wasn't converted - say, OutRunners - or something I'm not willing to pay extortionate second-hand prices for - Majin Ou is a nice game, but not £200 worth of nice. Neither of those examples is 'stealing'.

While I do agree that there are legitimate and legal uses for the device, I'm sure we can all agree that the overwhelming majority of users are using this thing for pirating. Detecting the device and locking the offending console out of online functionality deters pirates while leaving legitimate users unharmed. Any alternatives would either be more detrimental to regular customers or would give piracy more free reign.

The whole situation with Maximillian Dood and Marvel Vs Capcom 2 shows exactly why Nintendo's scorched earth policy is not the kind of mindset we need going forward.

A Japanese preservation group needed to practically use canvassing to get people to realise that there was a high chance of material that cannot be recovered to be lost.
The Internet Archive has multiple publishers breathing down it's neck for having a free library, and the preservation groups are being told that copyright law forbids them from creating copies without copy protection that could render a game unplayable at any time.

The only time, recently, I've seen a game get approval for an eternally free 'private' server was City Of Heroes, with the original developers letting the server hosts know they were willing to make those servers, within tolerances, legitimate.
Other than that, any and all attempts to restore online functionality or circumvent copy protection is, right now, illegal. For pirates or preservation groups.

And if it doesn't change, well, when the copyright terms run out, there won't be anything that can be preserved...

Hmm what a shame

@jaughndis What do they mean, "My Switch 2 has been banned"? Banned from what?
I know why was I banned.....

Shame that some have legally backed up their cartridges so they can use a mig-card on the go that has all their cart games on. It would have been good if Nintendo only banned the consoles that were using the same dumped software rather than software that is owned by the user. They are all digitally different so its one thing to ban a console's online feature if its the same software as a 1000 other consoles but another thing if its only used on one specific console.

I suppose with all these online banned consoles now it should accelerate mod development and hacking the system as there will be lots of unusable switch 2's about to experiment on.

I've just thought in some countries Nintendo's terms and conditions may be illegal, preventing such a device from being used. You would think cancelling the Nintendo account maybe legal for breaching the terms and conditions but rendering the device unusable may be illegal so in some countries maybe people will be entitled to a refund. Can you imagine a situation where you are watching a downloaded torrent movie and it bricks your TV for watching it? Maybe you download a pc game as a torrent and it bricks your pc when you play it? I think this is a news story that is going to feature time and time again as people get angry about their Switch 2's made unusable even with games they own but just wanted to use more conveniently.

None of these people have hacked the Switch 2 or made any attempt to bypass the Switch 2 normal protection. They have just inserted a cartridge. I had a 3DS game I bought from Aliexpress which appeared to be fake but worked. I would have been annoyed if Nintendo bricked my 3DS because of it. This will mean surely people will avoid Chinese imports of Switch 1 games too. What if one of your Switch 1 games is not legit and is about to brick your Switch 2?

Switch 2 is a little worrying in how aggressive Nintendo is with software protection and what if they get it wrong and think a legal cartridge is a fake cartridge by mistake and brick a huge number of users unfairly?

Maybe its just better to run Switch 1 games on the Switch 1 even with inferior frame rates.

@BonzoBanana Can you imagine a situation where you are watching a downloaded torrent movie and it bricks your TV for watching it?
When has any movies been legal in torrent? If so please provide legal links to those movies your referring to here?

@BonzoBanana Switch 2 is a little worrying in how aggressive Nintendo is with software protection
That's EULA/TOS agreement you agreed to whether or not your read from start to finish to us the system. When you breach the EULA you have no case, good luck finding the money to fight them.

@sethfranum

I was in no way saying the movie was legal just stating a comparison of copyright infringement and how unlikely it would be that your TV would be bricked.

As for EULA/TOS if they conflict with consumer law they are not enforceable so denying the ability to use hardware could be illegal and the consumer may have a right to a refund. I suspect this may well be tested later on in some countries and Nintendo may have to re-activate some consoles for online functionality for those who used their own backups at least but we shall see. It's an expensive hardware device and may not legally be able to claim they are denying use of the software when that software is linked to an expensive hardware device. I certainly think they can deny access to their online account though its just denying use of the hardware completely could be an issue. Maybe Nintendo will change slightly what they do. In the UK and Europe its legal to use backups of software you own. How this applies to a console I don't know but there will be updates to this story I'm sure.

@Zyph Hell even if you're dumping your own game you're still creating a copy of the game that can be played independently of the original.

Nothing stops someone buying a game, dumping it on one of these and then returning the game and just playing the "backup".

Nobody using this device is using it innocently, they know what they're doing and they know why they're getting banned from Nintendo's online.

Like I've said before there's no way to fully stop piracy, prevent people from playing backups or just messing around with their consoles a bit.
The only thing the potential bricking of the Switch 2 is going to 'achieve' for Nintendo is to exacerbate the furore with witch all those very clever hackers out there come after the Switch 2 and a full on jailbreak for the console is an absolute inevitability as a result.
The only thing Nintendo can possibly do here is to take some very cautious steps that don't pose any threat to the general consumer in order to mitigate any unwanted nefarious behaviour with it's hardware.

@Dhaladog

I personally think they should close down the account itself rather than brick the hardware. The Switch 2 should be resettable and usable by another Nintendo account perhaps with the restriction that it will need to be a online paid account at that point rather than have access to a free account for offline use. That way the hardware still has value and still generates income for Nintendo but the banned account they don't have to refund. Of course that could mean a greater loss for many people who have digital purchases linked to that account. It feels like the account should not be banned completely but banned for a time period i.e. 1 year.

I think Nintendo are too aggressive with their current process and it certainly puts me off the Switch 2 a bit.

I've already seen one person on youtube who had his Switch 2 banned and then went out and bought another Switch 2 which he won't use his mig-switch cart with. He has loads of original Switch cartridges which he showed on screen he just wanted the convenience of not having to carry them all about with him. Of course digital purchases and a big sd card was another option.

@pikachupikachup An online ban which stops you accessing their servers. Considering most Switch 2 games are on Game Key Cards which need access to online servers, I’d say this is a pretty big deal.

Hell, Brazil right now are suing Nintendo for the 'You break the TOS/EULA, you have an expensive paperweight'. And they have a good reason.

I right now am very reluctant to get a Switch 2. I don't know if the fact I run a semi-legal Japanese account as well as my English account will trip Nintendo's ban hammer. They could put in a check that verifies your account is from the same country as your console and brick systems for circumventing THAT restriction.
And that's why people are terrified of Nintendo's aggressive stance. They want you to do it only one way, and that's Their Way.