Thinking of buying a Switch, questions !

[Andorin]

Hey there !

Tried to do some research, but did not find precise answers.

I'm thinking about buying a Nintendo Switch to hack it and play retro games and back-ups of Switch games.
Here are my questions:

1) Do you recommend to buy a BIG micro SD card ?
2) Can I buy a brand new Switch or they are not "hackable" ? I saw that, by checking the serial number, you can know if the switch is hackable or not, but I did not really understand it.

3) How stable a CFW Switch is ? Can I play retro games at full speed ? Switch back-ups without crash or slowings ?

Thank you so much.

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

1) big SD card is highly recommended. You'll fill the card very fast. Lots of games are 16gb+ plus emulators and ROMs and etc etc

A 256gb is a good choice. You can get them for like £40-$50 these days

2) Every switch up to around August 2019 is hackable. Those are 'Mariko' switches. You can check serial numbers to check if a switch is hackable. It's best to check second hand stores or skimming eBay and looking at serial codes in photos.

Newer model switches including the new OLED and the lite models require a physical soldered modchip which are rare and expensive


3) CFW is very stable. You'll rarely have any major issues. As for emulation. Lots of full speed emulation for everything up to PSP, DS and Dreamcast.

 

[cluesagi]

Every switch up to around August 2019 is hackable. Those are 'Mariko' switches.

Mariko switches are the later ones that require hardmodding. The older Switches that can be softmodded are called Erista.

 

[thesjaakspoiler]

Big SD cards is usually how you get scammed on ebay.
Anything that looks like a bargain is probably a fake SD card.

 

[xkrazykidx]

Anything that looks like a bargain is probably a fake SD card.

Yes, make sure you get your card from reputable sources. Don't skim costs unnnecessarily. Also, if you do happen to pickup a CFW-able Switch this will become a major pain down the line.

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

Mariko switches are the later ones that require hardmodding. The older Switches that can be softmodded are called Erista.

Oh. My bad.

 

[Jujube]

Mariko switches are the later ones that require hardmodding. The older Switches that can be softmodded are called Erista.

However, some Erista units are still patched. Your safest bet would be a switch bought before June 2018.