Nintendo Warns Gamers Not To Play Switch During Heatwave

Assuming you live in the UK, I think I’d be able to safely bet that you’ve made some sort of complaint about the heat this past week. Come on, we’re all guilty - us poor Brits really aren’t built for any temperatures above 20 degrees. 

Well it’s not just us that can’t stand the warmth - neither can our consoles. Specifically the Nintendo Switch, anyway. As Eurogamer reports, Nintendo have issued an official warning to make sure that anyone trying to get their fix of Mario Kart during the hot weather don’t melt their device. 

They've not said anything about using custom, portable SNES consoles, though - check it out below.

“If you use the Nintendo Switch in a hot place, the temperature of the main unit may become high. Use in a place of 5 to 35 °C,” Nintendo’s Japanese customer service account tweeted (translated by Google). “Also, if the intake and exhaust ports are blocked, the temperature of the main unit may rise. Make the air around the intake and exhaust ports better.

気温が高い場所でNintendo Switchを使用すると、本体の温度が高くなる場合があります。5～35℃の場所で使用してください。

また、吸気口や排気口がふさがれていると、本体の温度が高くなる場合があります。吸気口や排気口まわりの風通しを良くしてください。 https://t.co/bgS883YDWX pic.twitter.com/0c86fcgxnV

— 任天堂サポート (@nintendo_cs) July 11, 2022

“If the temperature of the main unit becomes too high, it may sleep automatically to protect the main unit,” they continued. “When playing in TV mode, install the Nintendo Switch Dock in a location that does not retain heat. If there is foreign matter or dust on the air intake / exhaust port of the main unit, remove it with a vacuum cleaner. For your safety, do not disassemble the main unit.”

While they’ve not specifically said that using the console in temperatures above 35 degrees will cause damage, it’s almost certainly still preferable to avoid, even if only so it doesn’t send itself into sleep mode unprompted, midway through a gaming session. No one wants to get interrupted during an intense match of Smash Bros. 

The warning about not getting anything in the intake and exhaust ports is also worth keeping in mind if you were planning on bringing your Switch to the beach this weekend - it might be a fun idea in theory, but no one wants to spend the next week vacuuming sand out of their console. 

Keep those consoles (and yourselves) cool, folks.