The hype train barrels forward for the Nintendo Switch 2 as preorders continue to mount with the handheld console rapidly approaching its June 5 launch date.
Given the astronomical success of the original Switch, which sold over 120 million units to date following its March 2017 release, expectations are sky-high regarding Nintendo's next-gen offering.
However, while fans ponder performance, fantasize about frame rates, and rave over ray tracing, there's another side to the Switch's story: ownership itself.
You may have spent 450 (or $499 if you opted for the MarioKart World Bundle) of your hard-earned dollars on a brand-new Switch 2 ahead of its launch, or you may be prepping yourself for a midnight release at your local brick-and-mortar. In your mind, the Switch 2 is already yours.
And that might be the problem. According to a recently updated section of Nintendo's End User License Agreement (EULA), Switch 2 ownership might be all in your head.
Nintendo Switch 2: Hands off the merchandise
Saying Nintendo has always had a tumultuous relationship with issues of piracy, emulation, imitation, and modding is a bit like saying dynamite and sparks find each other slightly disagreeable.
This is, after all, the company that attempted to sue a Costa Rican supermarket in January over trademark infringement, got multiple streamers banned for the unforgivable crime of playing a game they legally owned, and struck down the sale of custom-designed JoyCons in honor of popular, deceased YouTuber, Desmond “Etika” Amofah. (And you can read many more instances here.)
When it comes to obsessing over its brand, intellectual property, and the sanctity of its products, nobody does it quite like Nintendo. It has a vice-like grip on everything it produces.
And you may find yourself wrestling with that same grip when it comes to the ownership of "your" Switch 2, as updated language in the company's EULA (as spotted by Game File's Stephen Totilo) suggests that Nintendo will be retaining its hold on the console, long after you've made your purchase.
The updated agreement offers the usual legalese language to indicate Nintendo's disapproval of piracy, tampering, and modding of its console. As well as efforts to exploit Nintendo Account Services in any way.
While the language is stricter, and clamps down tighter than before on any potential meddling, it's the end of the paragraph that should prick the ears of those interested in picking up a Switch 2 for themselves.
It reads: "You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the foregoing restrictions Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part."
Roughly translated: break the rules, and we're well within our rights to not just ban you from using Nintendo's online services, but we can also break your Switch 2 at will. Permanently.
What's next
The Switch 2 may end up being Nintendo's biggest hardware launch to date, but the question of what it really means to own the handheld console may loom over that parade like a dark cloud.
Yes, technically, this rule should only impact those ne'er-do-wells that hope to interfere with the Switch 2 in ways that the vast majority of owners won't. But if they've bought it, if they "own" it, do they not have the right to do with it as they see fit?
It's a wider point than Nintendo preventing piracy, or the use of emulators and homebrew on its platform. In a time where we're routinely told that we don't actually own any of our games by various publishers, is the next step on that path being told that the hardware in our hands? Is just a very expensive lease that's only upheld on the grounds of you being a good boy/girl?
If you're looking to hop aboard that Switch 2 hype train, just remember: toe the line, or Nintendo may remind you who has final say over what ownership of the upcoming console looks like.
Spoiler: "It's-not-a-you!"
