The Nintendo Switch 2 is the fastest-selling console of all time, and it might be tough to get your hands on one if you didn’t preorder or buy it on release day. What I’m getting at is that it could be hard to replace your Switch 2 if something went wrong and you couldn’t use it anymore.
What could happen to it? I’m not talking about the Switch 2 getting punctured by receipts or dealing with Joy-Con 2 drift right out of the box. The real problem is having Nintendo ban your specific console from connecting to the internet after using the MiG Switch/Flash tool on your new device.
Plenty of users who used the MiG microSD tool discovered that their Switch 2 consoles could no longer connect to the web. A screen displaying error code 2124-4508 appears on the console, informing them that “the use of online services on this console is currently restricted by Nintendo.”
As shown in the video at the end of this post, there’s not much you can do to recover your console. A Switch 2 that loaded a MiG card remains banned even after a factory reset.
You can still play games offline on a banned Switch 2, but that’s not the experience most people are looking for. Playing Mario Kart with friends is one of the highlights of the Switch 2. You also won’t be able to buy content from Nintendo’s online store or export your game save data.
If you reset to factory settings, like YouTuber Scattered Brain did, you’ll lose access to offline games too. In that case, the banned console basically becomes an expensive brick.
It’s still unclear whether Nintendo will eventually lift the ban. The error message says the console is “currently” restricted, but it doesn’t give any timeframe.
You could try reaching out to Nintendo support and asking if there’s any way to undo the ban. Maybe they’ll figure you’ve learned your lesson and will stick to buying games from the eShop. Or they might just tell you to buy a new console. I’m just speculating.
What’s the deal with MiG cards?
YouTuber Scattered Brain says he used the MiG tool to dump the Switch games he bought onto a microSD card. That’s a legit use of the MiG hack that doesn’t involve piracy. It just puts all your cartridges in one place for convenience.
But others, maybe someone you know, might use the MiG tool to run pirated games on the Switch. That’s the real reason Nintendo is cracking down on MiG hacks.
The video below shows the ban only applies to the Switch 2, not earlier models. If you and your friends want to use MiG hacks, you’ll need to stick with the older hardware.
