If anyone thought Nintendo was bluffing when they said they would ban or brick your Nintendo Switch 2 console if you use it in a non-Nintendo authorized fashion, we’re now seeing that the Japanese gaming company was not lying. Nintendo recently made headlines that, as part of the End User Licensing Agreement, it reserves the right to render your device permanently unusable as it attempts to curb piracy and unauthorized tampering of Nintendo hardware and software. Reportedly, several console owners are receiving the error code 2124-4508, preventing the usage of online services associated with that console if they have utilized or equipped the ‘MIG Switch’ Flash cartridge.
The MIG Switch is used for loading multiple games onto one cartridge, and once placed in the Nintendo Switch 2, it should ideally allow the user to access all their purchased titles from one central cartridge. This removes the need to change cartridge inputs every time a new game is desired to be played. However, owners of the MIG Switch can also dump copies of Nintendo Switch games onto the flash cartridge that were downloaded from online repositories, avoiding the need to purchase the title themselves.
On X, creator @SwitchTools shared their personal story of attempting to legally dump their own bought cartridges onto the MIG Switch, resulting in their device being banned from online services. This narrative is not unique, as similar reports of banning are being reported on TikTok, Reddit, and other social media platforms from individuals who attempted to utilize the MIG Switch flash cartridge on the Nintendo Switch 2.
It’s been noted that this banning is not the same as the threat Nintendo has issued towards bricking the console for unauthorized usage of the Nintendo Switch 2. This is currently only an online service ban to the individual consoles that received error code 2124-4508. This also means that the Nintendo accounts themselves are not being banned, only the online services for the individual devices, which can still be utilized in offline mode. Attempting to factory reset the affected Nintendo Switch 2 may, in effect, brick the device, as you’ll be unable to set up and sign into a Nintendo Account on the device since it cannot connect to online services.
Realistically, this outcome was quite predictable as Nintendo has always had an aggressive attitude towards protecting its brands and IPs against piracy and theft. Last year, the Nintendo Switch emulator, Yuzu, folded its operations and paid out $2.4 million in damages to Nintendo as a settlement to the company’s facilitation of piracy of Nintendo’s IPs. Similarly, the creators behind Palworld, Pocketpair remain in litigation with Nintendo for patent infringement of the Pokémon brand.
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