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Nintendo just officially revealed the Switch 2, and the company is still trying to stop people from selling illegitimate versions of its predecessor.
As reported by NTV (and spotted by TheGamer), Fumihiro Otobe, a 58-year-old Japanese man, was arrested for allegedly violating trademark law by selling "an illegally modified Nintendo Switch" online. This is apparently the first arrest in Japan relating to the sale of an illegally modified Switch.
As we've reported recently, Nintendo takes its trademarks very seriously. A few years ago, it sued hacker Gary Bowser for his role in selling emulators that could play pirated Nintendo games, and he'll now need to pay the company a third of his earnings for the rest of his life, or until he repays $10 million in damages.
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According to NTV (with translations provided via DeepL), the Switch Otobe was selling had a modified circuit board that would have allowed it to run "illegally obtained software." Police have reportedly recovered four devices and Otobe has apparently admitted to the charges brought against him.
It's unclear if Nintendo will sue Otobe like it sued Bowser, but if there's one thing in life that's certain, it's that the company is not afraid to send its lawyers after those it believes has infringed on its copyright. We have reached out to Nintendo for comment.
I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.
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