The first batch of the Mig Switch flashcarts have made their way into the hands of reviewers. Plenty of initial impressions have gone live, with users showing off how the device works. Just as promised, you can in fact play your "legally owned Nintendo Switch games", across any model of Nintendo Switch. However, there are more questions raised than answered.

For one, it's still uncertain if and when you'll get banned after playing online using the Mig Switch--the team claims so long as you have a valid certificate, card ID set, and card UID, and a fully complete game dump, you'll be able to play online just fine. Whether or not Nintendo can notice and take action is something that will take time to see. In order to obtain updates and DLCs for games, you'll need to be online to download them, as the Mig Switch can't load those files itself.

This leads into another quandary. The three aforementioned aspects--the certificates and IDs--come from a backed up copy of a Nintendo Switch game. If someone were to illicitly share their certificate online, there could be dozens or hundreds of users using the same cert for multiple games, across multiple systems, at the same time. Since you can obtain a certificate from a physical game, there's growing concern as to how it could affect pre-owned backed up copies of games that might have had their certificates used and banned. We know for a fact that Nintendo has banned gamecart certificates in the past, as found by scene memeber SciresM back in 2018.

If you're interested in seeing the Mig Switch in action, there are a handful of reviews from notable emulation-focused YouTubers.

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So far, what are your thoughts on the Mig Switch? There's plenty of interesting quirks to the device, from its usage, to its mysterious development team. Have you ordered one, either to test out, or for use on trickier to softmod Switch revisions? Or are you staying away from anything to do with this flashcart?

 

[tabzer]

It's progress.

Literally Nothing was said in this word salad. MigSwitch if used as a Pbackup has no downsides besides the Cartridge rotation issue. Its doing its Job in emulating the Cart EXACTLY. Of course it wont Hold Modded files (Yet) Its 100% stealth if your not a moron that pirates AND goes online Something CFW doesnt allow anyway.

As it is the Certs are the only IDs Ninty has on switch cards and if you use your own cards there is a ZERO % Chance of them Banning it. Also why bundle Updates for your Backups your switch will already DL them thinking its the legit card anyway same with DLC. Then again Pirates only think about themselves and less about how this is a better way of playing a collection they own. Not like Ninty can detect the MIG as in authentic otherwise they can only see the certs.

People are assuming that it works as you say, but I am definitely cautious of undisclosed methods of detection.

It took the 3ds a few generations to get 4ds.

 

[DSoryu]

I still don't get why people is excited about this, when clearly this is just a banwave machine that will also affect users not using it. Imagine buying a second hand game and the asshole that sold it to you already dumped the game on this piece of junk, you'll also get insta-banned.

 

[weatMod]

I still don't get why people is excited about this, when clearly this is just a banwave machine that will also affect users not using it. Imagine buying a second hand game and the asshole that sold it to you already dumped the game on this piece of junk, you'll also get insta-banned.

IT will generate even more hate toward Nintendo and possibly law suits,
I am very excied about that.

 

[tabzer]

IT will generate even more hate toward Nintendo and possibly law suits,
I am very excied about that.

I am excited that it could happen, but i am not counting on it. I think they want to avoid too much scrutiny.

 

[Woody211]

Auction sites are going to be a mess of banned consoles many undisclosed as banned I'm sure. If ban waves happen be the innocent buyers that suffer the most so not a good look for Nintendo.

 

[DJPlace]

glad i'm a digital buyer but still.... i gave up on the switch after nintendo save cloud bullshit with pokemon. the only reason i'll go back on the switch side of things if i can import my saves with this flash cart but i know it's not going happen.

 

[Draxzelex]

Literally Nothing was said in this word salad. MigSwitch if used as a Pbackup has no downsides besides the Cartridge rotation issue. Its doing its Job in emulating the Cart EXACTLY. Of course it wont Hold Modded files (Yet) Its 100% stealth if your not a moron that pirates AND goes online Something CFW doesnt allow anyway.

As it is the Certs are the only IDs Ninty has on switch cards and if you use your own cards there is a ZERO % Chance of them Banning it. Also why bundle Updates for your Backups your switch will already DL them thinking its the legit card anyway same with DLC. Then again Pirates only think about themselves and less about how this is a better way of playing a collection they own. Not like Ninty can detect the MIG as in authentic otherwise they can only see the certs.

I don't know if you can qualify my post as "word salad" when you don't spell backup properly, randomly capitalize words, or use proper punctuation but there are important takeaways regarding what I said. You cannot backup DLC or digital games with the Mig Switch which might be fine if you're the sole owner but considering Nintendo only allows one additional console usage of digital content, it could have been useful if you're a "moral pirate". And accidents do happen so having a way to backup save data for games that Nintendo does not offer is also useful. Also I don't understand why you brought up bans again. I never mentioned anything about getting banned; that was you. You said the hate comes from Team Xecutor. That's not the truth because Team Xecutor themselves released a far superior product earlier in the form of SX OS. This is a downgrade.

 

[jellybeangreen2]

This will affect the second hand market; Whether this will actually cause ban waves, only time will tell. If this does get bought by the masses, then it will be interesting to see how Nintendo respond. - Whether they try and block the cart from booting or they ban accounts / Switches. (from what I heard the cart requires the files from a legitimate cart to boot. License, IDs etc). If they do decide to try and do the ban wave method, this would effect legitimate customers; so we will have to see how they respond.

I HOPE this does work on the new revised Switch, aka Switch 2. If the Switch 2comes with backwards compatibly then it more than likely will.

 

[NeoGranzon]

It would be nice to be able to use it as a double SD card to increase the space of the Switch.

 

[VTemp]

Been a long time since I visited this forum but the news and hexkyz's twitter caught my attention, and I guess my own account got nuked or I don't remember my info.

This will affect the second hand market; Whether this will actually cause ban waves, only time will tell. If this does get bought by the masses, then it will be interesting to see how Nintendo respond. - Whether they try and block the cart from booting or they ban accounts / Switches. (from what I heard the cart requires the files from a legitimate cart to boot. License, IDs etc). If they do decide to try and do the ban wave method, this would effect legitimate customers; so we will have to see how they respond.

I HOPE this does work on the new revised Switch, aka Switch 2. If the Switch 2comes with backwards compatibly then it more than likely will.

It won't have any meaningful impact. N has sufficiently capable telemetry to tell apart a genuine user with a bad cert copy from a pirate using a stolen certificates, think of it is multiple strikes. The number of compromised carts with bad certs will be collectively very small across the entire world. Stats don't favor repeating strikes on a legit user.

This dupe cart will work on Switch 2 if N continues hardware backwards compatibility on the slot, a spoof is a spoof is a spoof and will remain a spoof, but it will only work for Switch games up to any that start using T2. It won't work on Switch 2 games as it won't be the right cart ID in the first place but N will not unexpectedly shift to T2 on carts for Switch 2.

There's plenty of value for N to up some of the detection criteria to sniff-test users of this spoof and start passing console bans. Why even ban common cart certificates when you can use them for an obvious flag to pass console bans that shutdown much of an unhacked Switch's capabilities that this spoof does not alleviate? This is an easy solution to cartridge piracy with the significant risk of turning your Switch into only being able to do cartridge piracy without updates or DLC or online.

that isn't to say that they won't be creative with detection to reject it working. If you aren't compromising Horizon, ultimately any data you try to pass to Horizon is at the whims of Horizon accepting it.

 

[LanHikariDS]

I wonder... if MIG switch, when inserted, acts like a legit game card with the legitimate certificates...
What if you tried to redeem gold points from new games in the flash cart...?

Actually the correct question is: What is the probabilty of getting banned if you try that?

In theory, it should be the same as redeeming it on the cart the ROM was dumped from. It won't give extra Gold Points, it'll just give you that card's points.

 

[Tex_McBladeSword]

I wonder... if MIG switch, when inserted, acts like a legit game card with the legitimate certificates...
What if you tried to redeem gold points from new games in the flash cart...?

Actually the correct question is: What is the probabilty of getting banned if you try that?

I imagine you can only redeem a cert once per account. Trying it more than once is likely an easy ban

 

[SylverReZ]

Nintendo cannot ban me if I self-ban.

View attachment 415388

Its likely possible if two people are using the same games with the same certificates, then it'll be easier for Nintendo to straight up ban both consoles theoretically speaking.

 

[tabzer]

Its likely possible if two people are using the same games with the same certificates, then it'll be easier for Nintendo to straight up ban both consoles theoretically speaking.

That's a little dangerous. Think if you bought a game that someone else dumped and your console got banned over it. You could only complain, with no impact, until a lawsuit magically appears to vindicate you.

 

[VTemp]

That's a little dangerous. Think if you bought a game that someone else dumped and your console got banned over it. You could only complain, with no impact, until a lawsuit magically appears to vindicate you.

It is simply rejected by the server. You'd have heard of used game bans by now, otherwise. Can't have your little bro banning you and himself because he input a family cart into his switch and tried to redeem it.

Don't think of bans as some obvious single-issue event but as death by a thousand cuts, any competent telemetry and detection system will be built this way.

 

[tabzer]

It is simply rejected by the server. You'd have heard of used game bans by now, otherwise.

Don't think of bans as some obvious single-issue event but as death by a thousand cuts, any competent telemetry and detection system will be built this way.

I was referring to the "console" ban. It's both in the quote and my response.

 

[VTemp]

I was referring to the "console" ban. It's both in the quote and my response.

I misread something, somehow. My apolo.

 

[tabzer]

I misread something, somehow. My apolo.

No prob. I have entertained the potential ramifications of banning every dual-instance of a cert in another thread if you are interested. It's a pedantic sideshow now.

 

[choconado]

Another person here who's been absent for so long but getting pulled back in by this news

Anyways, looking at Alien Retro Gaming's videos testing the cart, it sounds like the console itself doesn't care if your cert file is a match for the game it's attached to, merely that it exists. Considering the pre-mentioned quagmire of used market games, loaning to friends, and even multiple switch hardware households, the primary anti-piracy measures nintendo must have for cert files is making sure the same id isn't being used in more than one game at the same time.

There's still needed more self-sacrificing testing to see if the online detection cares about a mismatch of game and cert file when the console itself doesn't (which might mean information within the file identifying which game title it matches). If the online detection only checks that it's not duplicated at the time however, the safest plan would be obvious: Just use a cert from one of your physical games with the dumper tool and append it to any xci you put on the cart. You're the only one playing with that cert, there's not going to be a duplicate online.

Though again, much like factors such as updates and dlc, this is going to require more risky testing once the carts are widespread available, but I don't think things should be automatically discounted as not being worth it just yet. Time will tell just how useful this winds up being...

 

[eater_ofcrayons]

Well just have to hope there's no suicide code this time.

Bowser screwed up by bricking people who pirate SX