Video shows alleged Nintendo Switch flashcard demonstration

An X user shared a video reportedly demonstrating the first working flashcard for the Nintendo Switch. This seems to work on unmodified consoles, and recent versions of the console that haven’t yet been cracked.

The video has been shared by X user After Time The card must be inserted into the gaming slot of the Nintendo Switch. Based on the video, the downloaded games are rotated each time the flashcard is inserted into the slot.

It is not entirely clear whether Nintendo would be able to track down users of this card. Since each game has a unique identifier, Nintendo could potentially use these IDs to find out which users are playing a dumped game and then ban them. In addition, the Japanese company could possibly block the flashcard completely with a firmware update.

According to After Time These would work on all types of Switch consoles, from all regions, and on all firmware versions. The authenticity of the video has not yet been confirmed. It is also not clear how exactly this flashcard works. The Switch contains an ASIC that communicates directly with the game card using a custom protocol from Nintendo, to verify the legitimacy of game cards. So the modders should have found a way to get around this restriction.

This isn’t the first time piracy has been possible on the Nintendo Switch, but it would be the first working flashcard for the device. The first version of the Nintendo Switch contained a hardware flaw that allowed it to be cracked and custom firmware booted, but this vulnerability was repaired in later revisions. There are mod chips in circulation for these later models, but they must be soldered to the motherboard of the device.

A prominent seller of such chips, Gary Bowser, was sentenced to three years in prison and had to pay $10 million in damages to Nintendo. The man is now free again. Well-known Switch dataminer Mike Heskin it seems hinting in a post on X that Bowser is behind the After Time X site.

Flashcards were also in circulation on Nintendo’s previous handheld consoles, the DS and 3DS. In the case of the latter, it concerned the Sky3DS and Gateway cards. This flashcard shows many similarities, especially with Sky3DS, as it also had to be placed in the slot again and again to switch between games. Later, a version became available with a button on top of the card, so that rotation was somewhat easier. If Nintendo found out that a 3DS user was using a flashcard, they would ban it. As a result, it was no longer possible to play online.

Exciting news for the Switch scene

We have obtained from one of our followers an exclusive video from an upcoming product this person is a beta tester for.

Apparently a “flash cart” type device is coming pretty soon for the #NintendoSwitch which supports all firmwares, all… pic.twitter.com/BsOtRzMkMN

— After Time@AfterTimeX) December 22, 2023