Nintendo can disable your Switch 2 for piracy in the U.S., but not in Europe, as confirmed by its EULA
Nintendo can disable your Switch 2 for piracy in the U.S., but not in Europe, as confirmed by its EULA
Remember, when tech bros complain that Regulations Stifle Innovation, this is the kind of "innovation" they're talking about.
They want to innovate some more money out of your pockets.
They can have the moths over my cold dead body.
Common European W
Well, their shitty attitude towards consumers is why I won’t be getting a switch 2. So they can try bricking my asshole.
I'll do what I did with Switch games: download the emulated versions, barely play them, and seed them.
prevent access to online services...that's all they should be allowed to do. I don't think I'd be able hold back on any company that decided what I do with MY hardware.
If they going to brick the console they better refund the money.
They haven't so far.
Online services includes firmware updates, and many new first party games require the newest firmware as of release to be installed
Those do typically come with the firmware update bundled in the cart.
Ironically this is a security measure because it also closes security loopholes and jailbreaking exploits.
Of course for that you need a cartridge that actually has something in it or whatever, but that's the idea. You're more likely to have a firmware update in a physical game than the full playable game.
Checking, downloading and installing irmware updates is the only thing that works on a banned console. Of course they are not allowing it because they're nice, just because they want to close eventual exploits
Don't they include the firmware updates on the game carts now?
That is what they do. It's an online ban, you can still use a banned console offline.
Untrue, full console disabling is possible rendering it unusable for any content online or offline
That is until the console is reset, at which point you need a valid account just to boot into the launcher.
The vast majority of games require being online at least once to run. This is enough of a loss if function to be considered unusable.
False, too many games require internet access for the first start to download the actual games
Banned console = you can only play 1st party games as almost all 3rd party devs ship empty cartridges with no game inside
I secretly hope they screw up and brick all the switch 2 devices by uploading a bad update, and are forced to send replacement units, potentially crippling finances of their company.
Doubt it'll happen, and I'd feel bad for people and kids just wanting to enjoy some Mario and stuff on their weekends (which makes me sorta hope it doesn't happen at the same time), but... Nintendo needs to be hit very hard for their constant BS.
Or some “bad actor” will figure out a way to upload and push the bricking update. Forcing probably a recall and/or a costly class action. Maybe that will make them think about putting a kill switch on there in the first place.
In 2008, someone did the math. Just from 2 years of Wii sales, just the hardware, not the games, Nintendo could stay afloat for 163 years based on the ecconomy at the time.
So, lets adjust for inflation that we know it is today, and call it 110 years.
I don't think it's been 110 years since 2006. I could be wrong though. Covid screwed up everybodies internal clock.
Yet another reason for you peasants to throw down your pitch forks and accept the all mighty PC as your lord and savior.
I have had this long-term tendency in my gaming platforms where I alternate between PC and console as my primary long-term focus. For example, I remember that 2019 was almost nothing but VR gaming on my PC, but in more recent years I’ve used game pass on xbox to play all kinds of titles that I wouldn’t have otherwise.
My family uses the Xbox pretty regularly still, but I think now that I can use my Linux PC from the couch (without taking over the TV) it has broken me from caring about consoles. Like, I recognize the skill of Nintendo’s developers and I know I’m going to play the mario & kart releases eventually, but I haven’t even considered getting a switch 2. I know a family member has one, so likely my first time playing Mario Kart World will be at thanksgiving, lol.
I am also a fan of emulation. I’d be content if you only ever allowed me to play my NES, SNES, and PSX roms for the rest of my life. But since Nintendo’s business model means putting their beautifully designed games only on restricted/limited hardware, it’s a better way to play some of their newer stuff too.
Because in the US, you guys aren't really consumers (which would give you a status), you're merely walking and vaguely sentient (hopefully enough to click on "add to cart") wallets that the corporations pluck money from at every opportunity. This is your legally enforced reality.
We are not even people anymore.
Nintendo: "you bought our hardware, but we will brick it if you don't use it in exactly the way we like!"
Lol, why even buy such a piece of shit then? Even when in the EU, the fact they do this is enough.
Because Banana!
But no, seriously, you can rage all you want about brands and corporations, but in cultural industries content is always king.
That's why you need regulation. You can't expect people to not play or watch cool stuff just because you're aware of and latched onto some particular moral, ethical or economical transgression. It's res publica to prevent the misbehavior so people don't have to have a stance on the extent of licensing for software/hardware combo services whenever their kid wants the cute gorilla game.
And yes, I do own a Switch 2.
Same for veganism. Taste is always king :/
Luckily I don't have kids and hence don't have to buy them such crap 😁
But yeah sure, I'm all in for regulations. But voting with your wallet is still the most basic way to say "lol no". If I'd be hellbent on gaming on-the-go I'm sure there are alternatives that come close at least. If not, the I guess I'd carry a laptop around for that
Yea, distribution and creation of art has to be separate. Only way I see against enshitification.
Like, there must be a choice between ad spreader datahoarder low price offer and premium low data no ad offer. There must be no monopoly over distribution of a specific art piece if it is no unique art form, like a hand drawn picture. (Like music, games, movies, series, trading card game, tabletop games, apps etc.)
Meaning, nintendo, netflix, apple, disnay and similar would have to offer distribution licenses according fair market rights and not limit those licenses to themself as self distributor.
At least, that is my opinion
Seriously! Just buy a used 3DS and hack it to run every game, emulator, etc. You can actually play DOS games and ScummVM games on it!
You can't play Donkey Kong Bananza
Sounds fine to me. But I bet there are a handful of "nice" exclusives.
Because I have no intention of playing pirated games so I'm at no risk? Also I'm in the EU so I'd be fine regardless?
Which is fine until the piracy detection system has a false positive and you lose your Switch. Or you buy a second hand copy of a game the original owner made a copy of and continues to use and your switch gets bricked. I understand you're in the EU, but this kind of nonsense would definitely put me off a system that's already inordinately expensive.
Pirated games can be one or several of the following:
More directly relevant to you: the money you give Nintendo goes to their legal teams, to continue to find loopholes around the protections you have. They're the ones fighting the "Stop Killing Games" movement. Nintendo recently won a lawsuit against 1fichier in France for hosting emulated games. It has been marked as a "significant" win against any level of piracy in the EU. Nintendo is continually working to make sure that despite living in the EU, you won't be fine regardless. Your purchase directly funds that.
Maybe you have no intention of playing pirated games, but I hope you can appreciate that this is larger than just some teenager feeling powerful because they stole something?
It's already happened that Nintendo remotely bricked a switch 2 because its owner bought an used game, but that game was dumped by its previous owner.
You also have no intention of buying 100% genuine original, but used, games?
yo ho, all hands, hoist the colors high,
heave ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die.
The current management of nintendo will never figure it out. Piracy is the competition. It's not about getting the thing for free, it's about getting a better service. I'd buy mario 3 again (again) if that meant I'd get a rom I could run on my pc through FCEUX and enjoy all the features/enhancements that software offers. There's a handful of gamecube games available on switch2, but all of them are better through Dolphin than what official hardware can offer. Nintendo's refund policy is a joke. The eshop is unpleasant to use. Even ignoring all of that, the original switch only had a handful of actual first party titles, not enough to justify the console's price tag (and each those were merely ok, not enough to justify buying a console for one game).
sega sells their games on steam, and while I don't like the emulator they use I can at least say that I own a legal copy of sonic spinball.
i stopped buying nintendo after wii. fuck them
I started pirating my Nintendo needs last generation and it runs so much better. Never buying from this anti-consumer company again.
It's gonna be a shame if H4ckerM4n2015 may brick you Switch after loosing a game of Mario Kart.
Vulnerability for me, not for thee, right?
Remember when one guy got thousands of people banned from Call of Duty through exploiting the anti-cheat?
Nintendo, you are supposed to be the good guy company remember?
Sadly the good guys retired and left the company with the rats.
Nah, they can, but likely won't risk it w/European owners’ “rights.”
Change the headline a little bit.
"litigation" is not really how we usually talk about consumer's rights in Europe though. As the article clearly states:
the legal framework in Europe is much more protective of users. The corresponding laws understand that disabling a device for unauthorized access to software is an excessive and illegal measure.
It’s less about rights and more about "consumer protection"
NintenDONT Boycott in Full Effect!
This was the final straw for me, I'm done with Nintendo.
Nintendo has already disabled my ability to give a shit about Nintendo, let's see them disable my CFW 3DS babyyyyy
Why do I suddenly hear someone yelling "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED" ?
Hmm... How to use Switch 2 from behind a VPN so they think I am in Europe?
Gonna go ahead and guess; buy it in EU, turn on your vpn, connect, setup, register. Keep your vpn turned on perpetually. Maybe you'll be required to have a european bank issued card when you make purchases as well.
Or just get a steam deck, or another device you can install your own software on. This for me is a reason I never would get an iPhone. Although I don't have a ton of apps from outside the playstore I do want the option. Maybe my next phone will just be a Linux phone.
Wouldnt you need a european account as well?
I believe to have heard about regional accounts being a thing.
Some routers will let you configure a VPN onto a VLAN or SSID. Set that up and configure your Switch to use it and you're golden.
From the other comments, I am not sure if they understood my question or maybe they are assuming I know how VPNs normally work; could I just run the VPN on any PC on the network and it works for the whole network, or does the service need to run on the device itself? Because I can't do anything directly with my ISP managed router and my personal router is too old go support my gaming setup (it doesn't have WiFi 6 or 5GHz and I do VR).
I've never used a VPN before, so I really don't know. 😅
NetBird is your friend 😄
When they release a new system they will probably brick them anyway
considers altering entire network stack to trick a Switch 2 into thinking it never leaves EU soil
"Nah, I'll probably just not buy one. Fuck em."
Steam Deck, nothing more than Steam Deck...
I kind of want to pick one up, but i can't get a clear picture on if I should wait for a steam deck 2. From what I could find, they want to wait until there's enough of an upgrade to be worth it. At one point that suggested around 2025, but more recent stuff makes it seem like they're not even working on one, and other stuff hints that they are.
Are there switch 2 emulators yet?