Nintendo Switch 2 gamers issued major warning ahead of launch

Several reports of people receiving Nintendo Switch 2s early have been popping up online over the past 24 hours, and those who managed to get their hands on Nintendo’s upcoming system ahead of time have revealed a somewhat concerning issue with the new console.

As reported by IGN’s Rebekah Valentine, a couple of people have been uploading footage and pictures of Nintendo Switch 2s online ahead of its June 5th release date.

While many have labelled these reports as potentially fake, copyright claims made against the uploaders in question (and the subsequent removal of said videos) more than implies that they are indeed real.

However, while you might be quick to label the folks that received them early as “lucky”, it seems that Nintendo actually prepared for this possibility… as the systems are essentially just fancy paperweights in their current state.

That’s because the Nintendo Switch 2 needs to be connected to the internet and receive a day one update patch to even function– a patch that seemingly won’t be available until the console’s official release date next month.

Basically, they’re unusable in their current state. You can turn them on, sure, but you can’t do anything with them past this point.

In theory, this sounds like a smart idea. Nintendo has been battling leaks regarding the Nintendo Switch 2 since 2023, and as a result we knew pretty much everything about the system before it was even officially unveiled.

I can’t be the only one thinking that this is actually setting a terrible precedent though.

If a Nintendo Switch 2 can’t be used until a day one update is installed, does that mean that these consoles, if left unboxed, are going to be literal, permanent paperweights in the future, once they’re no longer officially supported?

It also adds a bit more weight to the updates Nintendo made to their user agreements, which threatened to remotely brick user’s Nintendo Switch 2s if they were detected to be running any pirated software.

Personally, I think this is setting a worrying precedent.