Reviewers have started receiving their copy of MIG Switch Flash Cart for Nintendo Switch. Most people who received their review copies confirmed that the device works as expected (it plays “backups” of Switch games on any Switch model), with one notable exception: a MIG Switch cart that apparently didn’t work according to one reviewer (video below). There are still questions about the risks associated with banning a console or account from using the Nintendo MIG Switch
What is a MIG switch?
MIG Switch is a flash cart for the Nintendo Switch that can store and load multiple “replacement” games on any revision of the console. Although the MIGSwitch is advertised as a “backup and development device”, there’s no doubt that its primary purpose is to pirate Switch games.
Mig Switch Flash Cart – Quelle Skinpixel
While it’s possible to hack any Switch model, the technology to do so on the latest consoles requires soldering in a modchip. It works great once it’s done, but the method is not for the faint of heart. In comparison, a MIG converter is more limited, risky (prohibitive risk) and more expensive, but much easier to use. Therefore, the MIG switch remains a viable option for people who are unsure of their welding skills or don’t want to pay a third party to do the welding for them.
For the homebrew scene, part of the MIG Switch’s interest is how the team behind the device was able to bypass some of the switch’s security measures, and whether the scene will be able to reverse engineer the MIG Switch (which it probably should) also be encrypted. There is also an air of mystery surrounding the MIG switch team, which is said to be from Russia but is probably quite old. “Three years in jail wasn’t enough,” said Tim J. Cuter, to hit even harder.
The MIG switch works as advertised most of the time. Concerns about the ban remain
Reviewers including some YouTubers have already received their devices Specifically, YouTuber Alien Retro Gaming has a video that introduces the device and answers some questions.
Overall, all reviewers who have purchased the MG Switch agree that the device works as advertised. However, NanoSpeedGamer reported that their MIG Switch device crashed after updating to firmware 1.0.8. (Published 2 days ago on MIG Switch).
Banning the use of MIG switches is the danger of Nintendo
Most local people are concerned about the risks associated with banning the use of the device.
As we know, each cartridge has a unique certificate to play games on switch and MIG switch doesn’t go outside. This means that if you copy someone else’s game and credentials, Nintendo can now detect that the same credentials are being used twice on different consoles.
No one (other than Nintendo) knows exactly how Nintendo checks to see if a particular certificate is being misused.
If a single certificate is used by thousands of consoles around the world (eg if it is shared publicly on a piracy website), it is likely that the console or the certificate itself will be banned from the Nintendo Network. (Whether you can live with it is another discussion, but be aware that banned consoles lose a lot of value on the used market.)
However, sharing your game with friends or family members or reselling a game on the used market are perfectly acceptable use cases. Therefore, in typical usage scenarios, a given certificate will appear on multiple consoles at different times. This raises questions about the risks of buying used games in the past if they were copied for piracy purposes. Will this get you (or your newly purchased game) banned despite being a valid user?
ARG offers some explanation for how this device could be used for hacking: they note that each cartridge has a unique certificate, but in their tests the certificate was not tied to a specific game. Specifically, that’s how it is I was able to play a copy of Hogwarts Legacy with a Mario Kart certificate. In other words, it seems possible for users to use one valid certificate for multiple games. Or keep lots of valid credentials from cheap games for reuse in pirated versions.
Of course, it’s very possible that Nintendo will admit that a specific certificate was not used for the correct game. In this case, the result will again be, you guessed it, a ban.
I have no doubt that people will unwittingly use the device to hack and a ban will occur. The question, of course, is whether only “stupid” pirates will be caught, or whether those who make sure to only use backups of their games will also be banned at some point.
I also see people saying “I don’t care, my console is already locked.” However, if your console is already locked, that means you can already play CFW on the console, so you probably don’t need that device.
Switch error code to use a revocation certificate 0x1F727C – 2124-4025. (They are)
MIG switch. Reverse engineering voltage
I’m sure some guy locally is hard at work reverse engineering a MIG switch. Although the device doesn’t seem very useful to me (I personally think that modified chips are a much better solution at the moment, especially considering the price of the MIG switch + cartridge dumper, which costs about $150 in the package) what kind of protection can the groundbreaking device bypass? It will be interesting to see.
In an attempt to delay reverse engineering efforts, TX has apparently removed the IDs of some of the device’s chips, as several reviewers have noted:
IDs scraped on MIG switch chips, presumably to delay reverse engineering efforts – screenshot from a NanoSpeedGamer video on YouTube
Not surprisingly, the MIG switch’s firmware is encrypted. It requires quite a bit of hardware and effort to unlock the firmware, monitor and secure it while it’s running on the MIG switch.
No ha ha ha. Unsurprisingly, the update binaries are hard-coded, so anything running on the actual chips will have to be scrapped (which would probably be a low-cost FPGA for LSI playing card emulation and an MCU for general management tasks).
— Mike Heskin (@hexkeys) 19 January 2024
No doubt this device will reveal its secrets at some point. I’m not entirely sure we’ll see versions of this as it has limited utility (in my opinion). The MIG Switch reminds me of the Vita Black Fin (not in its functionality, but certainly in its purpose and its vulnerability), a device that ultimately never made it to market (at least the MIG Switch).
