Nintendo is making me question whether you actually own your Switch 2
Nintendo is already banning Switch 2 users for utilizing the Mig Flash tool for legal game cartridge backups, and it's not surprising, to say the least.
- Nintendo Switch 2 users are reporting console online bans due to the use of the Mig Flash tool
- The tool allows players to back up legally purchased games
- It raises the question of console and game ownership amid the industry's shift away from physical game copies
The build-up to the Nintendo Switch 2's launch was shrouded in controversy, due to the price of the handheld console and its $80 first-party games – and it's now gone a step further in the aftermath of its arrival.
As highlighted by Tom's Hardware, Nintendo Switch 2 users are reporting cases of console online bans due to the use of the Mig Flash, a tool used to allow players to backup legally purchased games, essential for keeping multiple game copies on a single Switch cartridge.
Before launch, Nintendo essentially suggested through the user agreement, it may 'brick' Switch 2 devices that have been modded. The agreement warns users: "Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part". Based on user reports, "in part" appears to be the case, as access to all online services for banned users is no longer accessible.
This means multiplayer and access to the eShop to purchase digital games (both fundamentals to using a Switch 2) are gone, making the console an offline-only brick. It's a very similar measure to Sony exercising account bans to players caught jailbreaking or modding PlayStation systems – the only difference with the Switch 2 is that users state they aren't using pirated ROMs, but rather legal dumps of purchased games.
This further adds to the controversy of gamers losing ownership of games entirely; physical copies of games are slowly fading away, and players can have their games stripped away from them at any moment, even if piracy isn't involved, as Nintendo has just shown.
Analysis: Do you really own your Nintendo Switch 2 at this point?
While I've berated Sony and Microsoft about this with their PlayStation and Xbox consoles, respectively, the Nintendo Switch 2 case is absurd to me.
Piracy is real, and I'm aware that Nintendo is trying to stamp it out from its Switch ecosystem, but when measures also affect those using legal game backups, it begs the question: Do you really own your Switch 2 handheld console?
The simple answer is no, because if you've purchased hardware at $449.99 / £395.99 / AU$699.99 or any price for that matter, and you can no longer access online services or be restricted (especially when you've done nothing illegal), then you don't have full ownership.
It's almost the equivalent of buying a gaming PC and using an Asus or MSI motherboard, and having it be bricked because the vendor didn't like what you did with the system. Yes, I know you can have Steam, Epic Games, or Battle.net bans, but the chances of that happening are slim, and you can easily make a new account.
With the Switch 2, the ban message states: "The use of online services on this console is currently restricted by Nintendo", which effectively means even if you create a new account, you still can't use online services on the same device. Not only does that affect owners, but it also ruins the value of reselling. It adds to the collection of Nintendo's anti-consumerism, and I'm expecting it to continue for a long while.
