New Nintendo user agreement targets piracy/emulation, reserves right to brick your system

https://www.thegamer.com/nintendo-switch-emulation-piracy-update-terms-and-conditions-brick-console/

Nintendo is notoriously tough on anyone who emulates its games, even if they're decades-old titles that haven't seen re-releases. With that in mind, it goes even harder on attempts to pirate its more recent games on Nintendo Switch, since these are the ones it's actually making from.

Now, Nintendo has ramped up its efforts to stop its users from emulating games on the Switch. An update to the Nintendo Account user agreement now states that the company has the right to effectively brick your console if you try to modify it, or break other conditions in the agreement.

This was spotted by Game File, but anyone with a Nintendo Account should have received an email with these updated terms by now. The new wording goes after anyone modifying their Nintendo games or consoles, since this is also done to pirate and emulate titles.

As per the agreement, users cannot "publish, copy, modify, reverse engineer, lease, rent, decompile, disassemble, distribute, offer for sale, or create derivative works of any portion of the Nintendo Account Services". That's about as all-encompassing as you can get, and is clearly trying to prevent the entire piracy process.

The agreement continues, forbidding users from doing anything that would make Nintendo products "operate other than in accordance with its documentation and intended use". This would also seemingly affect those who modify their console and games, even if they have purchased their games legitimately.

If you breach the agreement, Nintendo states that it reserves the right to "render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part." In other words, make your Switch unplayable, lock you out of games, and your account.

Thoughts, SW? Do you think this will stop people from pirating the Switch/Switch 2 system and/or games?

yes i think so

Honestly, this may not hold up in the Court of Law, and is more of a means of a scare tactic if you ask me. But lets be serious about this, we all clicked on these various game installations, consoles, apps, etc. without reading the "User Agreements" as they are long as hell to read from start to finish and half the time, they're kinda more the same rules for every major tech brands.

But the way this is going with Nintendo, it's almost like they're taking a page from Ubisoft and it reads like...Nintendo: gamers need to get comfortable with "not owning your games...or your consoles" is what I'm getting at.

It might stop some but don’t people who do this sort of thing refrain from having their system go online anyway so as to not get any system updates that interfere with their mods and what nots.

Not sure what's new. They've been bricking consoles ever since their first online one, the Wii.

And no, it will not stop people this time either.

I'm sure if you were to ask internally at Nintendo HQ, there stance would be:

"You buy a license to use the console. It's not your console".

It won't stop any attempts. It may even add to the thrill :P.

No email as of yet.

Maybe they have the right to emulate but I would make note to gamers that Nintendo and other could be in trouble if so.

Meh, not interested in switch 2 and its turd hardware and $80 games.

Serves them right, everyone who doesn't own a Gamecube should see their consoles bricked.

Good luck 😉

Other consoles have this same clause too. Even past Nintendo consoles.

I don't remember such an update. Is it for both consoles? Is it for people who paid for the online? If it is, that might be why I haven't gotten it.

Just use a pc it’s better for emulation anyway

Wont be a Problem for me. Im not buying a Switch 2 until I can get one for $300. Im not paying any more for it.

what if it gets a really cool Japiname game??

JAPANIMEEEEEEEEEE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

LOL of course Im eventually going to buy it

@osan0: "It may even add to the thrill :P."

What are you planning? 🤔

This is SHOCKING, not that Nintendo will brick your console, the fact Nintendo knows how to send emails 🤣🤣🤣

Actually I was notified by carrier pigeon.

Moi? Nothing! I Swear..... 😇

Nah in all seriousness I wish I was even close to smart enough to actually work out how the hacks for these systems are made or how things like Homebrew are developed. I mean you have a system in front of you that's basically a black box. No documentation. No APIs. No Diagrams. Nothin.