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You might want to think twice before you
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buy used Nintendo Switch games because
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somebody just bought a $20 cartridge off
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eBay and it got their brand new $450
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Nintendo Switch to permanently banned
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from online play. Not modded, not
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hacked, just a regular cartridge with a
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very shady history. And this might be
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way bigger than anyone realizes.
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So, here's what kicked this off. There's
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a YouTuber by the name of Quinn Nelson,
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also known as Snazzy Labs. They're a
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tech YouTuber with over a million
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subscribers. They tweeted that their
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Switch 2 got banned right after they
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inserted a used copy of Bayonetta 3 that
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they bought off eBay. And according to
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him, he just bought the cart secondhand,
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plugged it in like normal, and suddenly
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got hit with the dreaded console ban
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message. That means no Splatoon, no
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Smash, no online Mario Kart World,
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nothing. His $450 Switch 2 is offline
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for good. This is scary, guys. The
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kicker here, though, is that Quinn
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thinks the cart had been previously
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dumped using what's called a MIG Switch
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device, which could have flagged it, you
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know, from Nintendo system. They have
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some kind of like software detection
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system thingabber to prevent piracy. So,
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what's the MIG switch? If you guys don't
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know, the MIG Switch is a flash
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cartridge tool that lets people dump
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their physical Switch One games and
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unload them onto a micro SD card. You
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insert it into the cartridge slot, tap a
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button, and you can cycle through
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multiple games from one handy little
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device. You don't have to use multiple
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cartridges or anything like that. And it
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sounds convenient, right? But here's the
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catch. Here's the real issue here. Every
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legit cartridge. So, this little
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cartridge that you see right here has
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what's called a unique game ID tied to
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it. Okay? So, if Nintendo sees multiple
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consoles using the same ID and they're
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all logged in online, that's a huge red
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flag to them. And this is where the bans
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come in. Like DSP says, banned, banned,
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banned, gone forever. Not because of
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piracy, but because of duplication.
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Okay? Even if you didn't do the dumping
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yourself, your cart might be tainted.
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So, I bought this game used a couple
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weeks ago from GameStop and I haven't
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put it in my Switch 2 yet. I'm glad I
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didn't because I could run risk of
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getting my console banned if this whole
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story is true. If the last owner of this
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game used a Meg Switch to dump the game
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onto their micro SD card, even though I
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didn't do it myself, I'm running risk of
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my Switch 2 being banned. That is a big
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yikes. So, let's talk about Nintendo
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Switch 2's detection system, right? The
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Switch 2 is a much smarter console when
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it comes to online validation.
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Some developers actually believe that
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Nintendo has quietly rolled out some
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kind of like serverside system that
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automatically detects cloned G cartridge
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ID. So, if these were all cloned, as
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soon as they go in online, uh they'll be
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detected. Okay? It's like a digital
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fingerprint. Now, these these aren't all
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online games, actually, but this is just
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for visual effect right here. All right.
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So, let's say I have Smash Brothers or
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Splatoon 3 and I put it in and then
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there's another person that might have
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actually previously had it and it's on
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their MIG Switch, they go online, too.
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If they see two or three consoles go
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online with the same ID from the dumped
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cartridge, that's a instant banhammer.
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And that's the terrifying part because
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again, like I said, it means you don't
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have to do anything that is wrong to
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lose access. You you might even be
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totally innocent buyer, but your used
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cartridge has a dirty fingerprint on it
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that gets you flagged. And I think
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that's actually outrageous. I see on
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paper what Nintendo is trying to do with
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it, but this is scary. I'm I'm glad some
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of my used games I actually bought
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months ago and haven't even put them
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into my Switch. I'm glad at that point,
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especially when you look at right now
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when you get all these games that have
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free Switch updates like Super Mario uh
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Deluxe and Super Mario Odyssey and
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Bowser's Fury and Splatoon 3 and uh
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Kirby and all those, they got Switch 2
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updates, previous Switch OG games,
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whichever ones actually have online
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gameplay, you're running risk of getting
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your console banned if somebody
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previously dumped it, if you bought it
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used. So now Snazzy Labs is insisting
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they never used a MIG switch on the
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Switch 2 and uh people quickly found a
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tweet actually from back in April where
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he actually talked about doing exactly
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that. So people were questioning is this
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actually happening right? He even showed
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the device on this tweet cycling through
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Zelda and other games. So, he might be
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backtracking, you know, maybe, maybe
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not, but it's still raising a massive
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concern for the rest of us. Uh,
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regardless of what he did, this opens a
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very real possibility. Uh, used games
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bought online might have a history that
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you can't see, and that history can get
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you banned. So, there's speculation
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right now because this tweet called them
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out that they could be lying about it,
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that they basically used a MIG switch on
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the Switch 2 in the past, and they're
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being called out for it. But you still
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have the risk of used games. All right,
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look, I buy used games all the time.
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Again, like I said, I just bought Mario,
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Luigi Brotherhip the other day. You got
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Facebook Marketplace, Merkari, eBay,
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Retro Stores, you name it. Now, I'm
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wondering how many of those cartridges
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in a store alone? Like, what are the
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odds have been dumped by a previous
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owner? Uh, could I get banned just for
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inserting one of them into my Switch,
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too? Even though I don't even own a MIG
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Switch. The MIG Switch community is
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tiny, right? But it only takes one bad
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cartridge and one ID clash, one false
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flag, and boom, Nintendo pulls a plug on
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your account. It's almost like a
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pandemic, like like a virus going out
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there because somebody decided to dump
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their Switch game, and we can't do
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anything about it. So, here's the bigger
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question, right? The real question here
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is, is Nintendo going too far with this?
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Should they be banning consoles just
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based on duplicate IDs without warning?
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Uh, I get that piracy is a concern, but
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punishing regular consumers, people that
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had nothing to do with it for
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unknowingly buying a tainted game. Uh, I
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think this is a PR disaster in my
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opinion, waiting to happen. If this
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story gains traction, guys, you could
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bet it will not be the last time we hear
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about it. Like, if this thing blows up
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anymore, seen a few people cover it.
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RGT, for example, covered it today. Uh,
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the used game market's huge. I mean,
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GameStop is literally a used game chain,
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right? If Nintendo doesn't clarify
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things, people are going to get burned
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and they're going to be angry. And
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Nintendo so far has been making some
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questionable anti-consumer decisions as
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of late. So, here is my advice, guys. If
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you're buying used Switch One games for
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your Switch 2, be extra careful, okay?
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Buy from trusted sellers. Avoid sketchy
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listings. If a price seems too good to
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be true, it probably is. And you can
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never be too sure on this because if the
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cartridge ID theory with the situation's
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legit, it means Switch two bands are
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actually going to get a lot more common
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and most people won't even know why.
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They're going to go buy a used game, put
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it in, and they're going to be like,
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and they're going to look this up and
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they're essentially going to be upset
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like like me. I'm running a risk of bait
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in my console if I buy a used game.
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You're running a risk. That's not right.
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Okay. Do you think Nintendo system is
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fair? Would you still risk buying used
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games? Let me know in the comments down
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below. Okay? And if you found this video
7:43
helpful, make sure you hit that like
7:44
button. It helps this channel grow.
7:47
Subscribe for more Switch 2 updates, uh,
7:50
news, leaks, you name it, and real talk,
7:52
right? Uh, like this. I'm 8bit Eric and,
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uh, I got more coming your way. See you
7:56
on the next one, guys. Thank you so much
7:57
for watching as always.
