why not just use an SD card?
Just using an SD card requires modding your Switch to run homebrew and, er, “backups,” right?
A properly constructed cartridge that can masquerade as a retail Switch cartridge would make owners who aren’t willing to modify their console very happy indeed. That’s how the various NDS/3DS carts work – just plug and play (literally).
Soft modding requires a 5c plastic part off eBay, it’s already safe enough to do and requires no modifications.
But a flashcart is far simpler.
I thought that only worked on older models before 2018?
Correct! The newer models (including all OLED versions) were already patched from the factory (or more accurately, redesigned to prevent the soft-mod from working).
Yes, basically only switches made in the first year can be hacked (without soldering).
You need a lot of asterisks on that statement…
patched on all v2/lite/oled models and some v1 revisions
Interestingly there appears to be an SD card in the cart they’re putting in the switch.
That sounds like an SD card with extra steps
It’s an SD card with less steps, actually.
Fewer, unless you’re measuring steps in volume, as in “these steps go up to eleven”
Kind of is, but it probably gets around some of the security that Nintendo puts on running games from the SD card.
For a newer switch and lite model you need to solder a chip on it first.
This sounds like it’ll be able to run home brew apps. Like R4 for DS.
Not sure if running from the cart slot is permitted to even detect anything not properly signed by Nintendo. Which means this one is squarely for “backups” and nothing else.
That wouldn’t be a product, though.
This must bypass protections, or it wouldn’t offer any advantage over the existing microSD card slot.It does have a specific niche: users of OLED models that just want to play “backups” and don’t want to bother soldering chips to their products. A few people will like the hassle-free multicarts.
I was just looking at my R4 powered DS. Memories…
It’s for pirating games
Nintendo loves making us pay for their games multiple times over on every console release, so fuck ‘em.
That’s what a flashcart is. It’s a cartridge with an SD card in it, which has game ROMs on it. You can see a microSD card in the flashcart in the video.
why not just use an SD card?
Because then you could buy any old SD card and Nintendo makes no money from you. This way Nintendo can sell you the same NAND flash except wrapped in a propriety Nintendo container with the multiple orders of magnitude price increase to pad the bottom line. They can also pursue you for civil or criminal charges if you attempt to break into the container of flash charging you with copyright infringement and attempted hacking.Edit: ignore my post. Its not a Nintendo first party product.
Lol, you’ve made some assumptions there. It’s not a Nintendo product. Nintendo would NEVER release any kind of flash cart themselves, as they’re begging to be used for pirated games.
Everything you’ve said about game carts are basically why we’ll never see an officially licensed product like this from Big N themselves.
With that in mind, it still makes no sense as a product because you can run games off the SD card already (I assume. Very out of touch with Switch hacks)
Lol, you’ve made some assumptions there. It’s not a Nintendo product.
You’re absolutely right. I saw the headline and responded. I withdraw my statement.
It makes perfect sense as a product because running game backups off an SD card without any hardware modding only works on the oldest console version. If you have a Lite or OLED (or even just the patched original model) you need a mod chip which is not an easy install.
None of what you said makes any sense. Do you even know what a flash cart is?
Based on what I know of the Switch homebrew scene, I cannot fathom how this would work. Any ideas?
In the video that was posted, the user testing the card is manually inserting and removing the card in order to cycle through the different games on the cart.
It appears it cannot run unsigned code, as it doesn’t have a menu. This is probably similar to the Sky3DS. It behaves like a real cartridge, so it would only run pirated cartridges. No DLC or homebrew.
Don’t cartridges have unique IDs though? They could just start disabling cartridges by ID and banning any accounts that run them.
So like how they tried and failed to stop Tengen back in the day with their unlicensed NES carts?
This is precisely why everyone is so skeptical of it.
Only a matter of time before another vulnerability is found.
Something like this would have been hot news in 1986
