Used Switch 2 Games Risk A Ban and Fix
A Nintendo Switch 2 owner shared a big risk with buying games that were owned before. The user, dmanthey on Reddit, got their new console banned from Nintendo's online services after they got and updated four used game cartridges from Facebook Marketplace.
The Ban and a Quick Fix
The user found out about the ban when they tried to use online services and saw a block message. The problem was that Nintendo saw the games as fake copies.
Luckily, solving this was easy. The user called Nintendo Support and talked to someone right away. By showing the Facebook Marketplace list and photos of the games they bought, they showed they bought the games without knowing they were fake. As per the user, Nintendo lifted the ban fast, and they said it was an easy and pain-free process, better than with either Microsoft or Sony.
Still, not all users have had such good luck.
How a Real Cartridge Can Lead to a Piracy Ban
This case shows how Nintendo's steps to stop game copying can hit buyers by mistake. The issue comes when a seller makes a copy of a game cartridge before they sell the real one.
- A tricky seller can copy all the game’s data, including its unique ID, to a different microSD Express Card.
- They then sell the real game cartridge as a "used" game.
- If both the real cartridge and the copy are used and connect to Nintendo's servers at the same time, the system sees two of the same unique ID.
- Nintendo thinks it's piracy and bans the console where the copied game was used, cutting it off from all online services.
What a Nintendo Ban Really Means
Nintendo is tough on breaking its rules about owning and using games. Although a ban does not stop the console from working fully, it deeply cuts what it can do. A banned Switch 2 can't get to any of Nintendo's online services, including game downloads or playing with others online.
This story is a key warning. Even though Nintendo's support was useful this time, the risk of buying a copied game stays. It's not clear if the user can use the used cartridges they got, or if using them might cause another ban, as they might now be seen as fake copies by Nintendo's system.