A Nintendo Switch that found its way into the hands of a NeoGaf poster well before its street date was allegedly stolen and is now back in Nintendo’s hands.
It’s nearly two weeks until the official release of the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo’s latest console. Yet, as reported earlier this week, at least one person got hold of the console before its official street date. The individual in question went on to post video footage of the console’s user interface in action.
However, Nintendo have claimed that the Switch was from a batch of stolen consoles. As such, Nintendo have now reclaimed it. The leaker, a poster on the Neogaf videogame forums, was reluctant to go into further detail but did state that:
“Nintendo has the console back and I am personally not in any trouble. Somewhere down the chain some switches had ‘mysteriously disappeared’. So while it was unknown to me, once I found out that it had probably been stolen I didn’t feel comfortable keeping it.”
In a statement to IGN, Nintendo confirmed the console’s questionable providence, explaining:
“Earlier this week, individuals claimed to prematurely purchase a small number of Nintendo Switch systems from an unspecified retailer. Nintendo has determined these units were stolen in an isolated incident by employees of a U.S. distributor, with one system being illegally resold. The individuals involved have been identified, terminated from their place of employment and are under investigation by local law enforcement authorities on criminal charges.”
Could there be other Nintendo Switches currently in the wild? Or, as their statement suggests, have Nintendo successfully corralled them all? Stock availability notwithstanding, the rest of the world will have to wait until the console’s 3rd March release date.
