It’s one thing to say “Merry Christmas” but it’s truly another story to actually mean it, and the Nintendo Switch modding community has just given us a glimpse of a miracle as we head into the new year.
A video has emerged online, showcasing an alleged upcoming Nintendo Switch flash card that is loaded with multiple Switch games.
In the posted video, the user testing the card is manually inserting and removing the card to cycle through the different games stored on the cartridge. The video demonstrates these games being successfully booted up.
I personally have quite a nostalgic history with flash carts and Nintendo devices, the entire concept really takes me back to the Nintendo DS and the infamous R(evolution) 4.
Essentially, a flash cart is an exploited cartridge that allows the user to download and install various ROMs onto a microSD card which is inserted into the flash cart allowing for game to be natively accessed and played independently, without the need for actual system modifications or “chipping”.
As shared on Twitter by ‘After Time X,’ there seems to be ongoing testing of an upcoming cartridge for the Nintendo Switch that contains multiple Switch ROMs. The individual conducting the test has posted a video demonstrating the use of this card in a Switch, showcasing the ability to load and play games stored on the card.
This upcoming flash card is expected to be available soon, with the first units anticipated to arrive in January and most importantly, After Time X claims that this illusive Switch flash cart will support ALL versions and hardware revisions, including the latest Switch OLED model, regardless of Firmware and or region.
Happy days indeed, the Nintendo Switch is about to be cracked wide open, this is a phenomenal achievement for avid enthusiasts who simply do not wish to purchase a crusty second-hand early year model that can be modified into running downloaded games and modified homebrew.
I of course would prefer you to simply emulate Nintendo Switch games on your PC but as of right now neither Yuzu or Ryujinx offer seamless compatibility across majority of the Switch’s ever expanding catalogue of games, with performance of course varying depending on the hardware, however for most of the time you’d have a better experience playing Switch games on a handheld PC much like the Steam Deck via emulation, but this isn’t feasible for everyone.
Some people prefer to own the real hardware as it allows them to purchase games to support the developers, games that I hope are Japanese given the lighter restrictions on censorship that Nintendo has versus other console manufacturers, regardless soon it would appear that you’ll be able to natively play any particular Switch title on native hardware without having to fork over obscene amounts of cash to undeserving corporations (like Nintendo themselves).
Nintendo are one of the most heinous corporations on the planet when it comes to issuing DMCA takedowns, as previously established with Link’s Awakening DX HD, if there’s one thing Nintendo hates more than unofficial fangames and remake projects, it’s piracy.
Nintendo has fought to such extravagant lengths to avoid ROM archival, it seems they wish to sit amongst their near endless supply of games long forgotten and abandoned, with Nintendo taking various ROM sites to court, effectively shutting them down, such as ROMUniverse and EmuParadise.
Oh yeah, and Nintendo quite literally put a guy in Prison for assisting in the creation of “circumvention devices” for the Nintendo 3DS and Switch handhelds allowing pirated ROMs to be played. Gary Bowser was sentenced to prison for three years and forced to pay Nintendo $14.5 million dollars in damages, he was released from prison after a year of his sentence but will have to pay Nintendo 25% of his monthly income until the day that he dies.
So yeah, fuck Nintendo.
If this flash cart is genuine I fully condone the purchase of such a device, delusional brand loyalists will most certainly be up in arms about this device and especially knowing that Nintendo has also targeted outlets that were once upon a time selling R4 cartridges for the Nintendo DS and 3DS, it’s almost a guarantee that they will stop at nothing to see to it that this Switch flash cart cannot be sold in broad daylight.
