Nintendo locked down the Switch 2's USB-C port and broke third-party docking | Hacker News Reader

Nintendo locked down the Switch 2's USB-C port and broke third-party docking

theverge.com

46 pointssnvzz23 comments

Screwing customers with sabotaged crap is standard Nintendo behavior. See also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30773214

But I wonder if they have run afoul of the EU Radio Equipment Directive in this case, by refusing to receive power from some devices.

> But I wonder if they have run afoul of the EU Radio Equipment Directive in this case, by refusing to receive power from some devices.

Sorry for being out of the loop, but is this recent?

I have been annoyed on my ps5 dualsense controller since purchase, as it wont take charge from several of my USB-C cables. Most notably it refuses to take charge from my macbook USB-C charging cable.

One of those small annoyances, I need a "special" usb-c cable around just to charge my usb-c controller...

> Most notably it refuses to take charge from my macbook USB-C charging cable.

Had the same issue, thought I was going crazy, luckily it's my alternative charger, since I don't own any some products

That directive (Radio Equipment Directive of 2022) has been in effect since December 2024, so fairly recent.

>I have been annoyed on my ps5 dualsense controller

I have ds and ds pro, no problem with either.

(I own no PS4 or PS5)

Probably some unintentional, accidental incompatibility rather than by design.

The biggest annoyance of USB-C is the proliferation of identical looking cables that are actually physically and computationally different.

The Mac charger cables won’t sync a phone because they’re power only, iirc.

I didn't have this problem when I had a PS5. Is it a known problem? Because I charged my controller using a Sennheiser headphone cable, and even an old type-A to type-C cable worked. Never had a single problem.

> But Nintendo has intentionally broken the Switch 2’s compatibility with those devices, using a new encryption scheme and some form of dedicated encryption chip, two accessory manufacturers tell The Verge.

It's pretty unclear from the article if this is about charging or video. DRM for video might be OK if properly labelled in the shop, but not charging.

I really hope the USB-IF punishes this behavior, and the EU too. Don't use the USB-C connector if you don't have honorable intentions regarding interoperability.

The terms of the USB-IF don't give it any enforcement powers, how exactly is that going to happen? They stop letting Nintendo representatives having bad sandwiches at the meetings?

The EU also only requires USB-C for charging, and the Switch 2 is entirely compliant with that.

They can disallow Nintendo from calling the port a USB port if it doesn’t conform to the spec. Although I suppose that would not be too relevant.

USB-C is trademarked, but USB isn't, nor is the USB logo, so they can't stop either of those.

This looks like something that EU might question or treat as anti competitive perhaps.

Is this behavior also present in the EU? Was the legality of this in the EU discussed already?

https://archive.is/GGivC

i just dont understand how nintendo can get away with so many anti-customer shenanigans. They are even somehow worse than Apple.

They make stuff their customers desire - other companies should try that instead of running to the EU for help.

I don't know that customers have really cared that much about console hardware for several generations. They care about their games working well enough to be enjoyed, and only upgrade when they have to for the next game to work at all. Bad behavior like this just means people like me are going to boycott them until the games can be emulated on something better. I would even be willing to pay an emulation tax if it meant I could get legitimate copies and use them as I please within reason, and I know I'm not alone in that.

There are a lot of things they made that customers don't desire.

The existence of a third party dock industry disproves the customer's desire for lockdown.

the new dock is huge and has a fan. We won't be able to find a more compact alternative.

Who is Nintendo's biggest buyer? I don't know if it is parents buying Switch 2 for kids to use, or adults for themselves. Weird choices from Nintendo on the Switch 2 given the needs of the two markets.

Most likely the latter, based solely on price.

For now, perhaps. But within time the vast majority of users of the Switch 2 will be children (for some value of “are teenagers children”) - our first switch was bought for me, but the other ones are definitely kids toys (and they’ve overtaken ours, too).

But even a five year old can understand “use this charger/connect and it charges fast, that other one is very slow, and this one doesn’t work.”

It’s way more annoying to the parents.

> But even a five year old can understand “use this charger/connect and it charges fast, that other one is very slow, and this one doesn’t work.”

It's funny to consider the layers upon layers of abstraction modern children are taught as common sense. Putting water in a container is one thing, but charging a battery must be downright metaphysical at that age.

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