We all know Nintendo were not happy about the homebrew/modded/piracy situation of the Switch 1 and it looks to be they are going to be ruthless this time around with regard such a situation with new terms and conditions regarding attempts to modify the console etc. A common way of protecting devices from modification is making them self-brick if the battery is disconnected. Many Bosch ebike batteries self-brick if the voltage is removed. This stops people modifying the battery packs or trying to replace cells themselves in the battery pack. The issue is those who only use their ebikes every summer and fail to top up charge the battery may have a bricked battery pack because the charge level went too low. I'm sure other people can give examples of other products that require the battery to be always present and providing a small amount of current. This makes teardowns and other examinations of Switch 2 more expensive possibly but also means the battery has to be replaced by Nintendo or we will have to develop a different technique to replacing the battery where there is always voltage to the circuit board. Long term this means surely the Switch 2 will be harder to keep in a working state. It feels like the Switch 2 is moving more towards a gaming service than a hardware product and long term access to your Switch 2 games may be more difficult. I didn't like this with digital editions of Sony and Microsoft consoles and must admit I'm not keen on key cards and these sort of measures. I like consoles to be robust and games I've purchased always to be mine even if that means I come back to them 15 years later and fancy a play on them for nostalgia sake. Presumably if the battery pack fails the console is bricked even if you wanted to use it in the dock and never as a portable. A Nintendo Switch battery lasts 3-6 years with about 800 full charge cycles i.e. 1600 half charges etc.
Do you think Nintendo is going to be more aggressive like this with the Switch 2 to protect their intellectual rights?
Do you think they will reserve more of the battery capacity for safety meaning such issues are less likely to happen? It is only a 20Wh battery though so very low capacity.
