A man accused of selling modified switch consoles has been arrested

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Summary

  • Modifying consoles for piracy is illegal in Japan.

  • A man has been arrested for modifying and selling Nintendo Switch systems.

  • There have already been cases of arrests for game modding in Japan.

A Japanese man was arrested for the modification Nintendo Switch console. It's the latest way to crack down on those who modify consoles like the Nintendo Switch and/or games and then try to sell them on the open market.

Console modding is a popular hobby and has been for almost as long as consoles have been around. Whether it's something as simple as using a cheat device like GameShark on the original PlayStation, or jailbreaking the console to play illegally downloaded games, gamers and DIYers have come up with ways to change their hardware to do things that were not programmed. for years. Japan has shown before that they don't take these things lightly, and now another game modder is behind bars as a result.

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According to Japanese publication NTV News, a 58-year-old man named Fumihiro Otobe has been arrested in Japan for the crime of violating trademark law by modifying and selling modified Nintendo Switch systems. The report claims the man modified the devices by changing their circuit boards. By welding modified parts onto them, he was able to make any pirated game playable on the device, and he also included 27 pirated games with each sale. He used used Switch consoles to do this and sold them for around $180. News reports say this is the first time such an arrest has been made involving the Switch.

The game of Piracy is taken seriously in Japan

While most system modders can get away with limiting their modifications to their own systems, trying to sell said systems is another matter. There have previously been reports of individuals being arrested for editing Pokemon games, adding critters to titles that players haven't actually captured themselves. It's nothing new either, as a 44-year-old man was arrested in Japan in 2020 for modifying a PS3 that would copy the games loaded into it in order to return or resell the disc.

At this time, the case against the Switch modder is still under investigation. However, he had already confessed to the crime, stating that he thought others would think he was “awesome” for doing such a thing. It remains to be seen what kind of punishment he will receive, as it will likely be based on how many systems he modified and distributed. In addition to all the ones he had already sold, four units were found in his home that have now been seized.

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