Summary
- People can use a flashlight to check if a Switch game box has a cartridge inside to avoid buying tampered goods.
- Switch games are still popular in physical form due to the system’s portability.
One clever shopper has shared a simple trick with the Nintendo Switch fan community to help people distinguish legit Switch games from fake ones. The trick works to assist people while shopping in a store, preventing them from accidentally buying Nintendo Switch game boxes that have been tampered with by thieves.
Though the sales of physical copies of games are on the decline across the board, the Nintendo Switch remains a relative bastion of physical game sales compared to other consoles. This is in part due to the fact that Nintendo opted to store physical Switch games on cartridges rather than discs, as well as the console’s portable nature, which encourages players to bring their games with them in physical form. Even the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection is getting an exclusive Switch physical release, with publisher Capcom recognizing the strength of the market for physical Switch games.
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Unfortunately, physical goods can be vulnerable to theft and tampering, prompting Reddit user Far-System1555 to share a simple trick to help the Switch community protect itself. The trick involves shining a bright light, such as a flashlight, through parts of the Switch game case to spot the presence of a game cartridge inside. Since Switch physical release boxes are made of translucent white plastic, any parts not covered by the label will admit light, illuminating the black Switch cartridge in its holder and verifying that the package has a cartridge inside. Thus, the technique reduces the chance that someone might receive a case for one of the best Switch games of 2024, only to open it and see a missing game cartridge.
Simple Trick Helps Verify Real Nintendo Switch Cartridges Without Opening Package
Commenters on Far-System1555’s thread praised the trick, citing it as a potential defense from being victimized by Switch game thieves. They also wondered if the trick might work when the Switch 2 is released, seeing as Nintendo announced that the Switch 2 will support game cartridges. They linked to other Reddit posts and news reports focused on cases where perpetrators would open up Nintendo Switch games, remove the cartridges, and reseal the cases for victims to buy. Others shared tips to enhance the effectiveness of the trick, such as trying to spot the metallic contacts that indicate that the cartridge inside the case is indeed a game cart, rather than a piece of “decoy” plastic some thieves leave inside a tampered-with case to fool buyers. Some commenters did advise caution, saying that the trick won’t work on a Switch game case that’s not translucent. They added that the trick simply verifies if the cartridge is present, and not if the cart matches the game being purchased.
Despite the rise of digital distribution, cartridges aren’t going away anytime soon. In fact, Nintendo is releasing more than ever, thanks to recent advances allowing it to put Pokémon Scarlet and Violet on a single game cartridge. With that in mind, it’s good that Switch fans have come up with ways to protect themselves from theft. Then again, it’s also worth lamenting that such tricks are necessary in the first place.
Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch is a hybrid console launched in 2017, capable of being played in handheld mode or docked to a television. The Switch Lite, a handheld-only model, followed in 2019, with an OLED refresh coming in 2021.