Chaos

a wee bit obsessed with these restraints

Me: Oh haha, what a weird thing, probably some remnant from the debugging process -

“Since that was a game that Satoru Iwata programmed himself, this could have been intended as a way of saying that Iwata is spiritually a part of every Switch and is watching over and protecting every system.”

Me:

On July 11th*, the date of Iwata’s passing, doing Iwata’s “directly to you” motion with the Joy-Cons on the home screen will play a sound clip of Iwata and launch the game.

(* Before you try this yourself, note that simply changing the date on your system will not work, as this runs off the Switch’s internal internet-synced clock, meaning that changing the date manually will only work if the system has never been connected to the internet)

Firstly, opening the game like this person is in the video is only possible with a brand new unit on system version 1.0.0 that has never been connected to the Internet. Because of this, opening it is pretty hard to replicate, unless if you have a completely brand new Switch. So, even if the system’s internal date is on July 11, it still won’t open if the system version is up to date.

The thing is, it’s not supposed to be opened.

The hidden Golf game has been described as an omamori, which, in Japanese culture, is a charm usually bought at shrines that offers spiritual protection and good luck if you keep it close to you. Sometimes they’re made of cloth, and look like a tiny bag, which can contain a written prayer. People often tie them to something like a purse or a backpack, so that it’s always with them. Here are a bunch of different ones:

Omamori are not supposed to be opened, as doing so is said to remove its blessing.

All of the files of Golf in the Switch system were removed in an update back in late December.

As @lunarhalo24 helpfully pointed out, this inclusion of Golf in the Switch system was meant to be an omamori, a blessing from Iwata. And there’s another important cultural thing about omamori to note here:

An omamori’s blessing is only good until the end of the year, after which it expires and the omamori is traditionally disposed of in a sacred fire. So the files being deleted at the end of last year seems as though it was symbolic of the blessing’s time expiring.

A red charm bag tied with white cord may be made to keep one’s significant other faithful. Tie therein some dried skullcap and two lodestones, stuck together.

*

Also to keep a lover faithful, sprinkle some of the dried herb in their shoes before they go out.

*

Restorative baths may be made with a combination of skullcap and vervain, or these may be tied up in a green or white charm bag together.

*

A bundle of skullcap may be tied up together in a green cord and placed in a dish of coins in order to attract wealth and gifts.

*

The smoke of the burned plant will chase out disagreement and disharmony and draw truth and forgiveness. It will also protect one who is traveling on the astral plane or meditating.

*

Take two animal bones of equal length, a long length of black thread, some holy water, some salt, a white candle, and some frankincense. 

Light the candle and the incense and focus your mind. Cross the bones together in an X shape and begin to tie them together securely with the black thread. Say as you do this:

ossa, ossa, protegite me de fossae, puragete me de malo, sorbete odium, luite lui.

(bones, bones, protect me from the grave, cleanse me from evil, absorb hatred, cleanse pestilence.)

Sprinkle holy water over the crossed bones, then sprinkle salt, then pass it over the candle flame, then pass it through the smoke of the frankincense. Wear it on your person to shield against the evil eye.