Relabels
Due to the encryption used similarly to the Nintendo 3DS and the release date (March 2017); counterfeit Switch cartridges are unlikely to be on the market, unless you have a relabel.
Example of a relabled Guilty Gear 20th Anniversary Edition (ATQXA) cartridge, dressed up as Super Smash Bros. |
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