For some time now, Nintendo games, particularly first-party games, have been some of the biggest targets for piracy, particularly as the cost of titles continues to rise, despite some of the best efforts by companies to make older games playable. Nintendo, for its part, has done extensive work to stop piracy in its tracks, going after those who provide emulators, ROMs or any other tools that may aid in the ability to obtain games illegally.
That said, things have taken a rather drastic turn, specifically when it comes to Nintendo Switch titles, as it’s been discovered that original Switch, as well as Nintendo Switch 2 cartridges can be re-cased. That means pirates can begin reproducing cartridges and passing them off as legitimate, authentic copies.
The discovery, which was first shared on Reddit, shows how hard it’ll be to tell the difference between authentic and reproduction cartridges. Granted, there are a few tell-tale signs that could determine whether a cartridge is truly authentic. However, most common gamers likely won’t be in the “know” to discover that, helping add to the problem’s potential.
A few physical game collectors noted that they’ll begin licking their second-hand Switch games to verify their authenticity due to Nintendo’s built-in coating on cartridges, though it remains to be seen if even that feature will be replicated down the line.
Cartridge Reproduction Is A Massive Problem
Because many older titles, particularly ones like classic Pokemon games, are stranded on their respective consoles with constantly rising prices, bad actors have begun passing off reproduction carts as the real thing.
That only helped add to the price hikes for legitimate copies, as those begin to become even more scarce. However, the issue isn’t just relegated to Pokemon games or Nintendo titles, as largely anything that has had a cartridge that can be reconstructed isn’t safe.
The subreddit, r/gameverifying, sprouted up, in part, to the mass number of reproductions, allowing potential buyers to have their potential purchase verified by other users before committing to a purchase.It figures that the subredit will only grow in popularity as Switch games can now be added to the list of circulating fakes.