Nintendo Bans Switch 2s

[Renegade042]

https://www.tomsguide.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendos-switch-2-hasnt-even-been-available-for-2-weeks-and-people-are-already-getting-banned-for-using-this-emulators-controversial-cartridge

 

Beware.

[Millios]

The title you chose is very misleading

Nintendo's Switch 2 hasn't even been available for 2 weeks — and people are already getting banned for using this emulator's controversial cartridge

They also stop you from using ONLINE features and you can still play offline

 

[jaslion]

I mean its the usual. If ya mod a console DO NOT GO ONLINE

[Mark Kaine]

2 hours ago, jaslion said:

I mean its the usual. If ya mod a console DO NOT GO ONLINE

PS3 had all the security keys leaked nothing Sony could do if it was done properly... I suspect other systems can be spoofed as well even without such keys. 

[jaslion]

47 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

PS3 had all the security keys leaked nothing Sony could do if it was done properly... I suspect other systems can be spoofed as well even without such keys. 

Yeah wii u had the same thing. Zame with the 3ds and such because there was basically no check due to nintendo being so behind in the online space. 

 

I fully expect the switch 2's bans to be bypassed soon enough as nintendo and good security features are not something that fits in the same sentence

[Donut417]

3 hours ago, Renegade042 said:

https://www.tomsguide.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendos-switch-2-hasnt-even-been-available-for-2-weeks-and-people-are-already-getting-banned-for-using-this-emulators-controversial-cartridge

 

Beware.

Nintendo warned people that if they fucked around they were going to find out. 

[MC Morrado]

Bro just use emulators on a gaming PC. Nintendo ARM chips are potato spec compared to a fucking iPhone. Anything from a Game Boy Advance to the Nintendo Switch models all use the same architecture.

[Donut417]

29 minutes ago, MC.Morrado said:

Bro just use emulators on a gaming PC.

You make the assumption that they have a gaming PC. Not everyone games on a PC. I know people that are all about the console. Some people also may want to game on the go. Also dont forget, when you tell people not to do something they will do it. 

[Renegade042]

2 hours ago, Donut417 said:

You make the assumption that they have a gaming PC. Not everyone games on a PC. I know people that are all about the console. Some people also may want to game on the go. Also dont forget, when you tell people not to do something they will do it. 

 

Now I'm wondering if the Microsoft handheld can run emulators...

[Donut417]

7 hours ago, Renegade042 said:

 

Now I'm wondering if the Microsoft handheld can run emulators...

ITs an ROG Ally running a custom version of Windows from what I read. I wouldn't put it past someone to have an emulator for it. I mean the Steam Deck can easily run emulators, I know because I install EMU deck on mine. 

[makahi]

16 hours ago, MC.Morrado said:

Bro just use emulators on a gaming PC. Nintendo ARM chips are potato spec compared to a fucking iPhone. Anything from a Game Boy Advance to the Nintendo Switch models all use the same architecture.

Emulators don't exist for the Switch 2. The switch 1 was hacked quickly because nintendo used old and known hardware that Nvidia had released years prior. Switch 2 as far as we can tell is not using that. Also, people may still want to use their switch 2 for legit purposes instead of only off line stuff.

 

On 6/19/2025 at 1:43 AM, Millios said:

The title you chose is very misleading

Nintendo's Switch 2 hasn't even been available for 2 weeks — and people are already getting banned for using this emulator's controversial cartridge

They also stop you from using ONLINE features and you can still play offline

 

The switch 2 is sadly very online focussed. You need to have a Nintendo account to use a switch 2, and the device won't let you authenticate if it has previously detected the chip. This means that if someone buys a used Switch 2 they may be SOL if they can't even log in.

 

Add into that the inability to access the online store or save transfers or game updates or even lots of physical purchases not having the game (thanks game keys) and suddenly the amount of games that you can actually play on the switch 2 are quite low.

 

I would be more in the "sucks to be you, fafo" boat for people using piracy devices, but the issue is that this results in a hardware ban (not account ban) and so it effectively turns the console into ewaste that makes buying on the secondary market a risky affair. It has been only a few weeks since launch, well within the return period. People can still return the switch to the store claiming "it doesn't work" for a refund or exchange for a new one. The store then does its due diligence of inspecting the console and verifies that it boots. Satisfied that everything seemingly works, it sells it again as "used like new". Someone looking to save money on the console sees the console and buys it, unaware that the console is unable to connect online for any services, severely crippling it.

 

It harms innocent people buying the console.

[ewitte]

2 hours ago, makahi said:

Emulators don't exist for the Switch 2. The switch 1 was hacked quickly because nintendo used old and known hardware that Nvidia had released years prior. Switch 2 as far as we can tell is not using that. Also, people may still want to use their switch 2 for legit purposes instead of only off line stuff.

...

The switch 2 is sadly very online focussed. You need to have a Nintendo account to use a switch 2, and the device won't let you authenticate if it has previously detected the chip. This means that if someone buys a used Switch 2 they may be SOL if they can't even log in.

 

2 hours ago, makahi said:

 

Already being developed.  Removed the name for "reasons".  It's been decided that being able to back up your devices is "legal".  If it completely brakes access to something you have purchased, I can see them getting in trouble for that.  If it were just online access they could possibly get away with that.

 

[makahi]

43 minutes ago, ewitte said:

 

Already being developed.  Removed the name for "reasons".  It's been decided that being able to back up your devices is "legal".  If it completely brakes access to something you have purchased, I can see them getting in trouble for that.  If it were just online access they could possibly get away with that.

 

Today I learned of the new emulator. Cool!

 

Would breaking access to using Pokémon Home (which uses a separate subscription) or p2p save transfers (which i don't think requires the internet) count? 

[RockstarArthur]

Firstly, Nintendo did warn people and they don't really hesitate to ban offenders. Secondly, their hardware will get emulated successfully again and again no matter how hard they try to secure them.

[skywake]

On 6/21/2025 at 3:22 AM, ewitte said:

Already being developed.  Removed the name for "reasons".  It's been decided that being able to back up your devices is "legal".  If it completely brakes access to something you have purchased, I can see them getting in trouble for that.  If it were just online access they could possibly get away with that.

Worth pointing out that at this point there is no Switch 2 emulator. There are people claiming that they have made a Switch 2 emulator but the ones I have heard of ended up being literal scams. Opportunists will do what they do I guess. But yeah, I wouldn't trust anyone claiming that there is an emulator for Switch 2 already or they are even remotely close to that. Buckets of salt, have your scam detectors up for those

In terms of the account bans? What happened here is that every game has a unique key, Nintendo can and would log the unique game keys you have on your system. If they detect that the same key is being used by multiple accounts at the same time? There's no legitimate way to copy keys therefore one of those users must have an unauthorised copy of the game. Violating the terms of service. So they block them from using online services

I'm not a huge fan of this action but I also don't feel a great amount of sympathy for someone who pirates the game and then gets upset when the platform gets out the ban hammer. It's like being caught for shoplifting and then complaining they stopped you at the door the next time you go there. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes

 

On 6/20/2025 at 7:37 AM, MC.Morrado said:

Bro just use emulators on a gaming PC. Nintendo ARM chips are potato spec compared to a fucking iPhone. Anything from a Game Boy Advance to the Nintendo Switch models all use the same architecture.

I get that this is a PC gamer centric site and people like to project this kind of image but there's nothing smart about being ignorant. At the end of the day every hardware platform is fundamentally the same. There are different stores and sometimes different philosophies or forms but the end result is largely the same thing. I'd much rather play games on a modern ARM SoC than I would the PC I had 10 years ago, and if you think different while also bragging about the performance of your preferred platform family there's something wrong there I think

Yes, Nintendo has used ARM since the launch of the GBA. But the GBA used a single core ARM7 clocked at ~17Mhz paired with 0.4MB of RAM while the Switch 2 has an 8 core ARM Cortex-A78 clocked at 1Ghz with 12GB RAM and paired with a GPU core that's probably best described as like a heavily modified mobile 3050. Saying they're "the same architecture" is about as descriptive as saying that a gaming PC and the original Apple AirPort are "the same architecture". Technically true, but completely meaningless

 

Lastly, as far as "potato spec" goes. It's a portable device, it can run games on sub 10W, no shit it's not competing at the high end. That's not what it's for. But within that power range? This is the only NVidia product on the market of this class. It's easy to shit on NVidia for, well, being the way NVidia be. But you can't deny that they're masters of efficient GPU architectures. We can talk about the merits of one platform over the other all we want but the hardware itself? As of right now, nothing else comes close to what Switch 2 is doing in this device category. And certainly not your phone

[RockstarArthur]

On 7/16/2025 at 4:08 PM, skywake said:

Lastly, as far as "potato spec" goes. It's a portable device, it can run games on sub 10W, no shit it's not competing at the high end. That's not what it's for. But within that power range? This is the only NVidia product on the market of this class. It's easy to shit on NVidia for, well, being the way NVidia be. But you can't deny that they're masters of efficient GPU architectures. We can talk about the merits of one platform over the other all we want but the hardware itself? As of right now, nothing else comes close to what Switch 2 is doing in this device category. And certainly not your phone

It's a great device for sure, but it isn't some special out of the world device either. Nintendo are only thriving primarily because of some of their exclusive games. These greedy fools are just taking advantage of this and imposing nonsensical prices for their games. I get the bans, but you not completely owning the device that you paid for sucks.

[SteveGrabowski0]

I can't understand the just use emulators argument. Emulation of modern systems blows because of shader caches needing to be created. Who wants to play a game and have it stutter every since time a new texture pops up? The most recent emulator that I actually enjoyed playing was Cemu and only BOTW on it because people used to post nearly complete shader caches for the game so you didn't have stutter compiling shaders. Yeah Yuzu looked pretty compared to Switch but only if it was your second time through an area in the game. Wii is the newest system that emulation is generally enjoyable on using my i5-12400F.