Nintendo Reverses Switch 2 Ban After User Proves Innocence for Playing Pre-Owned Switch 1 Games

Oh man, so you won’t believe what happened. Some dude with a Nintendo Switch 2 got nailed—like, banned—from Nintendo’s stuff ’cause they snagged some used games from Facebook Marketplace. Weirdly enough, they picked up, like, four games, slapped ’em into the Switch 2, and update time it was! The very next day, bam! They switch on the console and get greeted with this lovely message: “No online services for you, pal!” Plus, their bought games? Yeah, can’t download those babies anymore.

Anyway, turns out Nintendo tuned in pretty quick. They head over to the Nintendo Support site, and guess what? There’s a real human. Imagine that. So, the company checks it out and says, “Yep, it’s our bad.” Apparently, they slapped the ban hammer because of what they thought was pirated stuff. Nuts, right? But Redditor dmanthey managed to show proof—a FB listing and some cartridge pics—and Nintendo was like, “Oops, our bad.” Seems like proving you got tricked isn’t too hard, thankfully. Others on Reddit say, “Hey, it ain’t always that smooth though.”

Gotta say, Nintendo is kinda notorious for clamping down on their IP stuff super hard. Heard folks even got the boot over using Mig Flash, whatevs that is, even when they owned the ROMs? Crazy. Okay, banned doesn’t mean your Switch turns into a paperweight, but yeah, no online anything? It’s like having a TV with no remote.

And then, here’s the deal with second-hand games, right? Some sneaky sellers might dupe the game to another microSD card and sell you the original as “used.” Nintendo catches on if the same game ID pops up in two places at once. Genius, no? They’ll smack a ban on your console in a jiffy (or, uh, slowly? Still debating).

Thankfully, if you get blindsided and banned, showing proof can fix things fast. Fast enough, at least, to not wreck your week. But… here’s a what-if: Can you still use those cartridges, or will they trip another ban? No one knows. It’s like waiting for a plot twist in a thriller or something.

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