Nintendo Temporarily Bans Switch 2 Owner for Playing Used Switch 1 Games—Decision Reversed After ‘Proving Innocence’

Whoa, okay, so here’s the thing — some dude on Reddit, let’s call him dmanthey, totally got his brand new Nintendo Switch 2 basically kicked out of the online world. Why? He bought some second-hand games from Facebook Marketplace (yeah, maybe not the best idea, but we’ve all been there) and then went ahead and updated ’em on his shiny console. Next thing he knows, boom, banned — like, no more online fun for you, buddy.

So now he’s thinking, great, what now? Surprisingly, Nintendo Support swoops in like a superhero, and it turns out getting a real person on the line was actually, you know, a breeze. They tell him it’s all coz of fake games — like Nintendo’s on a witch hunt for fakes. But here’s the twist! He shows them the Facebook receipts (sorta) with pics of those legit-looking game cartridges, and they’re like, “Ope, our bad.” Frustrating for sure, but at least he didn’t get stuck in tech support purgatory like you might with some other companies out there (no names…Microsoft, Sony).

Anyway — oh, right — Nintendo’s notorious for hardcore defense of their stuff. Imagine Mig Flash users getting booted just for messing with their own stuff. Not saying getting banned makes your Switch 2 into a doorstop, but let’s face it, no online means your console feels kinda, I dunno, half-alive?

This whole drama? It’s a big “beware of second-hand games” sign. Some sneaky sellers out there will copy the game info onto a new card — which, honestly, anyone could pick up at, like, the nearest electronics store — and sell the original like nothing’s wrong. Nintendo’s got super eyes everywhere, so if two identical game IDs pop up miles apart, well, you know what happens next — bye-bye online access!

Luckily for the genuinely bamboozled folks, Nintendo seems to be softening up a bit, reversing bans if you prove you got scammed. But here’s the kicker: Can these used games still work, or are they just ban-bait now? No one really knows.

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