Nintendo fans are convinced this supposed Switch 2 Joy-Con leak is real, but one piece of evidence isn't as compelling as it first seems

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Avoiding an 'invalid serial number' error isn't that difficult

Super Mario Odyssey - Mario underwater
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Mere days into the New Year, Nintendo fans are hungrier than ever to get their first look at the Switch 2, and many are convinced that newly surfaced images supposedly depicting one of the console's controllers are legitimate. 

As highlighted on Reddit by user SwordfishAgile3472, it's claimed that the images in question originate from Chinese forum site Baidu Tieba, and they show the side and back of what looks like a left Joy-Con. Its black and blue design is reminiscent of the black and blue New 2DS XL, and there are some obvious visual differences setting it apart from a regular Switch Joy-Con. For a start, it seems to be larger, and the SL and SR buttons are bigger.

New Joy-con Photos from Chinese SNS from r/NintendoSwitch2

However, many fans aren't focused on the features of the controller itself but rather on a bit of information printed onto it. Notably, if you zoom in and squint your eyes, there appears to be a 14-digit number running down the side of the controller, which fans have found to actually fetch a result if entered onto Nintendo's official 'Check Warranty Status' page, rather than an 'invalid serial number' error. With that said, while some are suggesting that this proves beyond doubt that we're looking at a legitimate controller, this isn't necessarily the case.

As others on Twitter have pointed out, it's rather easy to get the website to accept a completely made-up serial number – after a bit of testing, I was able to get it to work on multiple series of letters and numbers I entered at random. Although it didn't work every single time, it's fair to say that avoiding the error isn't that difficult. 

Needless to say, do take this all with a pinch of salt for now – chances are, we're going to see more and more supposed leaks appear online until Nintendo finally unveils the console, and fakes will likely become increasingly common. At the very least, the end is in sight for when we can expect the company to give us some legitimate information – it was previously confirmed that an announcement will happen within the current fiscal year, which means we can expect something to happen before the end of March. It's been a long time coming, but hopefully the new console will be able to meet expectations – so far, we already know that it'll be backwards compatible with current Switch games, which means it'll have a massive game library from the get-go. 

The Switch 2 news drought sent so many Nintendo fans to the page for a new AI upscaling patent that they seemingly crashed it.

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.