Nintendo Switch controversial system update slammed by fans

The latest Nintendo Switch firmware update has ticked off a lot of Nintendo fans, for one reason that’s a little silly, and for another reason that is actually pretty terrible.

Last night, the latest firmware update, version 20.0.0, dropped for the Nintendo Switch… and the general response online has been pretty negative.

Alright, let’s get the silly reason out of the way first: they changed Donkey Kong’s profile icon.

On the surface, this one might seem even sillier than it actually is, but the reaction is a bit more justified than you may assume.

The new design is supposed to be for DK’s new look in the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 title Donkey Kong Bananza, and a lot of fans are upset that the change seems to be implying that this will be Donkey Kong’s official, permanent design moving forward.

Personally, I don’t really care. But it is odd that Nintendo chose to replace the icon entirely, rather than just add a new one. Guess that means they’re serious about this being Donkey Kong’s look for the foreseeable future.

Now, the more serious reason is that the latest firmware update seems to have affected Nintendo Switch owners’ ability to share games with their friends.

A previous method allowed users to play the same digital game under one account with someone else at the same time, but it seems that Nintendo has cracked down on this with update 20.0.0, seemingly in an attempt to make their new Virtual Game Card feature a bit more alluring.

Check out the trailer for Virtual Game Cards below.

However, a lot of users over on the r/NintendoSwitch subreddit think that this is actually a downgrade overall.

“I just tested, and it doesn't work anymore. I opted to have the online check for the license on both consoles. Tried to boot the game on both console at the same time, using my boyfriend's account on my primary console and my account on my secondary console. It kicked me out on the secondary console,” commented user phoenixphontes.

“It's really a bummer. The other accounts on the primary console can still use the games from the primary console, but you can't play the same game at same time anymore.”

“Yea this new system sucks for people like us who used the old way to play the same game on different systems/accounts,” replied user SplicedBunny.

“I was playing Portal 2 co-op with my sister but now loading the game gives an error for me that someone else is using it if she has it loaded up.”

Yeah, I kinda had a feeling something like this was going to happen.

When Nintendo started touting the Virtual Game Card feature for the Nintendo Switch 2, a lot of folks (myself included) were confused why it was even necessary when a method to do the same thing already existed.

Guess this means they were planning this downgrade the whole time. Hope you’re looking forward to paying for the same game twice just to play co-op.