missing the 3ds

are you familiar with flash carts? flash carts are cartridges that fit into the slots of game consoles that have micro SD card slots. game files get loaded to the micro SD card, which gets placed in the flash cart, which then can run the game as if you had the actual game cartridge in there.

those game files are then playable as usual on the original hardware. these were very common for the nintendo DS, but you can find them for gameboy, GBA, 3DS, and coming soon: the nintendo switch.

now, you might be thinking, what does this have to do with the used switch game market?

to get the game files to put onto the micro SD card, you do what is called a dump. you take the cartridge and 'dump' the files from the cartridge onto other storage. this can include a unique identification in the code of each nintendo switch game cartridge, which links it to a physical game cartridge, and allows it to be played on the switch.

and after those files have been dumped from the original cartridge, and make it onto the flash cart, the person with the flash cart is then free to sell the physical game cartridge, because the flash cart works the same as the game cartridge. whether that is online, at a flea market, returning it to the store, or wherever else used games are sold.

as is mentioned in the video below, a lot of people are looking forward to buying switch games, dumping the files, loading them onto a flash cart, and then either returning them or selling them to get their money back without disclosing that they already took the unique game ID. and basically get a ton of switch games for very cheap, if not free.

now. there creates a problem for people who want to buy used games.

say you buy a used cartridge, which has been used for this dumping process. you go online.

and that person with the flash cart with the files from the game you now have also goes online.

nintendo is then able to see that two consoles playing the same game with the same unique game ID are online at the same time, which is impossible without doing this dumping process. it would be VERY easy for nintendo to ban both switches or both nintendo accounts.

nintendo is known for banning people for using flash carts as well as modded hardware or modded games. nintendo has even taken legal action against people associated with modifying their hardware. so to say that this whole situation might result in bans is hardly a stretch of the imagination. and having two of the same ID online at the same time is a pretty fucking clear sign that something is up!

and once these dumped files get uploaded online, which some of them inevitably will, any used game cartridge could have its unique ID be in use from zero to thousands of people. and all it takes is two people online at the same time with the same game ID for nintendo to know something is up.

once this flash cart is on the market, there will be no way to know which used switch games have been dumped, duplicated, and are in use by someone else before you buy it, connect to the internet, and potentially get in trouble.

the tech used in this flash cart will also eventually make it very easy to make bootleg switch cartridges down the line which look and function identically to an original game cartridge. and say somewhere online sells a bunch of these bootleg cartridges, without disclosing that they are bootlegs, and they all have duplicate game IDs. and then more than one of these bootleg cartridges goes online with the same game ID. nintendo can see that.

these flash carts and bootlegs will work on ANY switch, modded or not. and if you might be thinking, “but wait! right now you need a modded switch to dump a switch game! surely that will make getting a used duplicated game less likely.” the flash cart company is also selling a system to dump these files without ever using a modded switch.

you can tell you have a flash cart by a visible micro SD card slot, but there might not be an easy way to tell a bootleg apart from a genuine copy with a legitimate unique ID.

whether you accidentally buy a legitimate cartridge that has already been dumped and is in use by a flash cart, or you accidentally buy an identical bootleg, or you go online with a flash cart with game files that might be in use by someone else, nintendo can see if duplicates of the same unique game ID are online. what happens next is up to nintendo. and again, nintendo has been known to freely ban anyone suspected of doing any form of hardware or software modification, including the type mentioned here.

so just going online with a used game purchased after late february MIGHT get the person playing it banned. it is unclear if just having your switch connected to the internet could get you in trouble, or if you need to play online with the game with a nintendo online subscription, or if one scenario will be more likely to result in a ban than the other. <- if anyone knows this and has a good source, let me know and I will add it here.

say a parent buys a nintendo switch and a bunch of cheap used games for their kid. that kid could then go online and get banned, by absolutely NO fault of their own. and then their parents might get REALLY mad thinking their kid did something awful online. damn even thinking about this sucks so hard. :( fuck

once a switch is banned at the console level, that console can never go online again. even with a different nintendo account. just like game cartridges have unique IDs, so do nintendo switches themselves.

and it is worth noting, since the nintendo switch launched, nintendo has been FAR more likely to ban nintendo switch consoles than nintendo accounts. if a nintendo account is banned, you can just make another account. but if the console is banned, you need another, non-banned nintendo switch to go online.

and since there may be an uptick of banned switches: people who get their switches banned, whether or not they ever realize why, may then try to sell or return their switch without disclosing that the console can no longer go online, use the eshop, or get updates. and some games require updates to run, even offline!

we have no idea what will happen, because this flash cartridge and associated hardware will be released to the public in late february to early march and is the first of its kind for the switch. maybe nothing will happen. maybe a ton of people will get banned just for accidentally buying a game used by someone else with a flash cart. maybe buying a used nintendo switch will become a huge gamble because banned switches will saturate the market. we have no idea yet.

taki udon has a very comprehensive video on this. right here. watch the video to learn more about what these products are and how to identify them. videos like these, on the subject of flash carts, often get taken down quickly by nintendo, and taki does a much better job at explaining this than me.

long story short, if you like the nintendo switch and buy used games or consoles: BE CAREFUL, and when march rolls around, PAY ATTENTION. we have no idea what will happen once this product and these practices become widespread. maybe there will be widespread bans. maybe nintendo will get this stuff taken off the market before there can be these kinds of accidental bans in any widespread way. we can only wait and see.

if you want to be the most cautious and proactive, consider buying used games sooner than later. if in the future you somehow suspect you bought a bootleg cartridge (hi from past rune!), do NOT play it online. and if you plan on using this flash cart without having the physical cartridge the files were dumped from on hand, DO NOT GO ONLINE WITH IT. you might fuck someone else over or get your own console banned.

and if you need to spread the word off of tumblr, I really recommend just linking taki udon's video. if it is still up. this post is long and contains a lot of my own opinions, and taki is the expert.