Update: To the surprise of no one, this Switch 2 unboxing video has already been removed from YouTube. The page now says "this video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Web Capio," notably not Nintendo itself.
Original story:
Batten down those hatches, folks. Nintendo Switch 2 consoles look to be out in the wild, at least in a retail setting, so a whole new wave of leaks is starting to build as we approach the system's official launch on June 5. Now un-batten those hatches right up, because the first purported "unboxing" video I've seen for this console launch is damp as squibs come.
As ResetEra users noticed, YouTube user Ali Almarzooqi, with a whopping 44 subscribers and climbing after the release of his second video ever, released a 7-second "Nintendo switch 2 unboxing" video earlier today. Shared by game news and deals hound Wario64, the video has topped 5,000 views at the time of writing.
When this person said "unboxing," what they apparently meant was, "opening the top lid of the box." Tada! Behold, what certainly seems to be a Switch 2 console flanked in white cardboard by what certainly seem to be new-gen Joy-Con controllers.
Folks in the comments, when not lamenting this person's prophesied doom at the hands of "the ninjas" deployed by Nintendo like some secret service armed with DMCAs, requested a little more detail. 10 seconds, dare we dream. But our apparent leaker, who may have ties to retailer Noon based on the "Supermall" bag and Lexar-brand card in the background of the video, says the console is just a paperweight right now.
"Nintendo locked the switch 2 it needs update to function so I am waiting for June 5th to unlock it," the YouTube user said in a comment written as if spat out in one frantic breath while evading the aforementioned ninjas.
Wario64 claims that another user with early access to a Nintendo Switch 2 has likewise found that the system needs an update to be used, seemingly as a measure from Nintendo to prevent pre-release game leaks. That said, this is all pretty thin on the ground, and so soft you could spread it on white bread.
As it happens, Nintendo recently raised some eyebrows with the recent (and altogether not surprising) rollout of updated terms of service reserving the right to render your account or console "permanently unusable" if it determines you're up to funny business like unauthorized games or mods. Pre-release bricks and post-release bricks – all the bases are covered.
