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Due to the technology used and the recent release date (March 2017), it's unlikely that fake Nintendo Switch carts are on the market currently (as of Feb 2023). However, if you're unsure your Switch cart is fake, lick it. Seriously. As quoted by Nintendo:

To avoid the possibility of accidental ingestion, keep the game card away from young children. A bittering agent (Denatonium Benzoate) has also been applied to the game card. This bittering agent is non-toxic.

You'll probably regret licking the cartridge due to how bitter it is, but at least you'll know it's legitimate.

Endorsed by Lickitung.

Dummy Cartridges

Dummy cartridges for display purposes can be common. Simply put, the PCB is legitimate, but there isn't a usable chip to have data on the cartridge. It won't work in a Switch. It's just for display. This is not a fake cartridge.
Does it taste as good as it looks?
Unpopulated PCB. Yummy.

Joy-Cons

Below is an alphabetised table of the Joy-Cons released by Nintendo in the European, Japanese and US regions. Special edition and pack-in Joy-Cons are included, but not third-party or reshells.

Colour Joy-Con L Joy-Con R EU Release JP Release US Release
Animal Crossing Pastel Green Pastel Blue Pack-in Only Yes Pack-in Only
Disney Tsum Tsum Purple Pink No Yes No
Dragon Quest XI Liquid Metal Slime Slime No Yes No
Grey Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
LABO Creators Contest Yes Yes Contest Contest Contest
Neon Blue Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Neon Green Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Neon Orange N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Neon Pink N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Neon Purple N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Neon Red Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Neon Yellow Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
NES Controller Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Pokemon Let's Go Eevee Pikachu Yes Yes Yes
Super Mario Red Yes Yes Yes Yes Pack-in Only
Super Smash Bros. Hori./Vert. Stripe Horizontal Stripe Yes Yes Yes

Cartridge Codes

This section is a work in progress.

The cartridge code over the connectors looks like this (based off of Zelda BotW)

AAAA A 22 X 003

So we can derive this structure:

AAAA B CC D EEE

  • AAAA Game ID
  • B Language ID
  • CC Production Line
  • D Supported Languages (possibly)
  • EEE Cartridge Revision

Switch Games

Cartridge Code Game Title Label Code
ACBA A 09 X 000 Animal Crossing: New Horizons LA-H-ACBAA-EUR
AAAA A 22 X 003 Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild LA-H-AAAAA-EUR
AABP A 15 A 003 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe LA-H-AABPA-EUR
BAAN A 13 Y 000 Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle LA-H-BAANA-EUR
AMLJ A 15 B 001 RICO LA-H-AMLJA-EUR
AD8H A 12 A 000 Starlink: Battle for Atlas LA-H-AD8HA-EUR
AAAC A 22 X 002 Super Mario Odyssey LA-H-AAACA-EUR
AK9Y A 34 B 000 Trailblazers LA-H-AK9YA-EUR
Game ID (A) Lang ID (B) Prod Line (C) Lang. (D) Rev China Danish Dutch English Finland French German Italy Japan Korea Norway Poland Portugal Russia Spain Sweden
ACBA A 09 X 000 ZH NL EN FR DE IT JA KO RU ES X 10
AAAA A 22 X 003 NL EN FR DE IT JA RU ES X 8
AABP A 15 A 003 NL EN FR DE IT JA PT RU ES A 9
BAAN A 13 Y 000 EN FR DE IT ES Y 5
AMLJ A 15 B 001 EN FR DE IT JA PT ES B 7
AD8H A 12 A 000 ZH DA NL EN FI FR DE IT NO PL PT ES SV A 13
AAAC A 22 X 002 ZH NL EN FR DE IT JA RU ES X 9
AK9Y A 34 B 000 EN FR DE IT JA PT ES B 7

LANGUAGES

  • A Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norway, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish
  • B English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese
  • X Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish
  • Y English, French, German, Italian, Spanish

What "D" in the code means

  • A Worldwide
  • B Europe + Jap & Brazil
  • X Worldwide - Scandinavia & Eastern Europe
  • Y Europe