• @acosmichippo
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    11 months ago

    why not just use an SD card?

    • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️
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      11 months ago

      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).

      • Quokka
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        -2011 months ago

        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.

          • Carlos Solís
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            2111 months ago

            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).

          • @NinjaTeensy
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            1711 months ago

            Yes, basically only switches made in the first year can be hacked (without soldering).

        • voxel
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          11 months ago

          patched on all v2/lite/oled models and some v1 revisions

        • sebinspace
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          111 months ago

          You need a lot of asterisks on that statement…

    • @escew
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      2011 months ago

      Interestingly there appears to be an SD card in the cart they’re putting in the switch.

      • @jackoneill
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        -111 months ago

        That sounds like an SD card with extra steps

          • @[email protected]
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            211 months ago

            Fewer, unless you’re measuring steps in volume, as in “these steps go up to eleven”

        • Brokkr
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          2011 months ago

          Kind of is, but it probably gets around some of the security that Nintendo puts on running games from the SD card.

      • Carlos Solís
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        511 months ago

        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.

        • @[email protected]
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          311 months ago

          That wouldn’t be a product, though.
          This must bypass protections, or it wouldn’t offer any advantage over the existing microSD card slot.

        • Carlos Solís
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          211 months ago

          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.

    • @yamanii
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      1111 months ago

      For a newer switch and lite model you need to solder a chip on it first.

    • @echo64
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      811 months ago

      It’s for pirating games

      • @errer
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        1111 months ago

        Nintendo loves making us pay for their games multiple times over on every console release, so fuck ‘em.

        • @[email protected]
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          011 months ago

          I don’t seem to recall Nintendo making me pay anything for something I didn’t want.

          I’m 100% in favour of emulation and whatnot, but I don’t understand what your problem is.

          Remakes, re-releases and ports? What’s the big deal? If you had BotW on the WiiU, don’t buy it on the Switch. TotK came out on the Switch, so they’re still releasing new games.

          Again, I love the emulation scene and I know piracy is important for game preservation. I don’t understand what your complaint is, though…

    • @FangedWyvern42
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      611 months ago

      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.

    • partial_accumen
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      11 months ago

      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.

      • Kraiden
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        911 months ago

        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)

        • partial_accumen
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          411 months ago

          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.

        • @didnt_readit
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          111 months ago

          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.

  • @graymess
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    1611 months ago

    Based on what I know of the Switch homebrew scene, I cannot fathom how this would work. Any ideas?

    • Something Burger 🍔
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      11 months ago

      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.

    • @yamanii
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      711 months ago

      This is precisely why everyone is so skeptical of it.

  • sebinspace
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    211 months ago

    Only a matter of time before another vulnerability is found.