TLDR: A Switch 2 game sold as brand new to me has scratches on it’s pins, indicating use (seen in photo). Can anyone here confirm if brand new games are supposed to come like this? Or, if you have any unwrapped brand new games that have never been inserted in a console, could you please check for me if the pins have any scratches on them?
I’m pretty annoyed because I just bought a “Brand New” copy of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition from EB Games in Australia, and it appears to have been used. It has scratches on the gold pins. You can see them in the photo, but it’s very hard to tell from the picture, you have to zoom in and look really closely for a faint line going down every pin. I’ve not inserted it in my Switch at all yet. Now, I personally know that these scratches are completely normal for Switch 1 & 2 games (even DS & 3DS). They are not generally a reason for concern. Every single Switch game you own should have these scratches if you’ve ever used them - they’re normal. But this is supposed to be brand new. This to me indicates EB Games sold me a used copy. Also, as usual in Australia, like seemingly every store here, they annoyingly don’t sell ANY brand new games with the original plastic wrap on them, meaning issues like this can in theory easily occur.
Other then it not having plastic on it, the game case itself is perfect looking condition on the outside - it appears to be brand new. The only thing off about the case was that when I got home and opened it, it had a very tiny white hair sitting inside it that looks like it came from a short-haired dog. It also had just a few very tiny flake-like white specks the size of dust inside it too.
Really, everything seems to point to that they sold me a used game as a brand-new one. But I’m not 100% sure yet. The only reason I’m slightly skeptical is because I’m wondering if the games possibly come with those scratches when it comes from the factory or if they’re tested before arriving in stores (I doubt it, but it’s just a thought). Does anyone here have any unwrapped brand new Switch games, or, ideally, Switch 2 games that you’ve never played that you can check for scratches for me? It has to be a cartridge that has NEVER been inserted into the console even once, otherwise it’s almost certain it will have these scratches. If I can prove brand new games aren’t supposed to have these scratches, I can know for certain that they sold a used game to me. I have a couple of wrapped Switch 1 games, but I was hoping to save them for when I do an unboxing video of them, which I was going to do when I get around to playing them.
Update: Okay, to save you some reading time, from what people are telling me in the replies below, this seems to be almost certainly a normal thing, even for brand new games. Apparently the games do get tested before being sent out, and the pins get scratched in the process. I’m not sure about the hair that was in it, though. I’d still appreciate if anyone check a copy of their own unused cartridges for these scratches. I’m a collector like many of you, so I get it if you don’t want to open any games that are still wrapped until you want to play it; I’m the same. I was just wondering if anyone who has an already-unwrapped copy might be able to check.
Well then that still leaves the problem of, if all cartridges have these scratches on them even when wrapped, then how on earth do you know that the game store didn’t just put a good-looking-condition cartridge inside a brand new case to rip you off? Or, perhaps more likely, they simply got the brand new and pre-owned cartridges mixed up and put the wrong copy in the wrong case? When it comes to EB Games and most or all other stores here in Australia, they don’t keep the original cart in it’s case while it’s sitting on the shelf, presumably to prevent theft. They put all the cartridges, usually in a drawer behind the counter. The same was the case with this copy of Metroid Prime 4 I just bought; when I showed them what I was buying, they turned around and opened the drawer to look for a copy of Metroid Prime 4. How do I know that they didn’t get it mixed up with a used copy?
If I’m buying a brand new game, I should be getting a brand new game.
Doing this at volume is basically impossible
What would be the theoretical source of used carts? There would be some buyback program that people know about to funnel the carts back to EB, if your concern was based on something real
I’m sorry. I don’t quite understand your question. “What would be the theoretical source of used carts?” Used carts come from people who trade in (sell) their games to EB Games. Is that not normal wherever you live? Or am I not understanding the question right? EB Games sells used games all the time. I believe the same applies to GameStop in the U.S.
Yeah the volume of those trade ins is not large, and they sell used ones. If your theory is correct they would have to fabricate the cases identically to the manufacturer and mix them in to the stock on the shelves.
I’m pretty sure there’s more used games out on the shelves then there are new ones, and it’s like that in every EB Games I’ve been to in Australia. Maybe people just sell their games here more. As a matter of fact, one of the guys working there today told me that someone just traded in 30 games, and they get quite a few trade-ins on most days.
I’m not sure if you’re understanding my “theory” correctly. I never said they could be making and selling fake cases, I said they could easily put a used cartridge in the case of a brand new copy. The case already has it’s plastic wrap taken off after all, it’s only a matter of… popping in there. And I’m not actually saying they’re doing this, the problem is the fact that they shouldn’t be unwrapping the plastic, because it allows this sort of thing to happen. I acknowledged that this not likely to happen though. I said that what’s more likely to happen is they simply get the cartridges mixed up by mistake because they store them all in the same drawer as each other. Even with good organisation, mistakes can and will inevitably happen eventually.
Oh your shops unwrap the new games instead of putting a card with a barcode on the shelf.
Yeah they probably could mix new and used, but that one you have looks very fresh, unlikely it’s used.
Then you should order online, so they come shipped in original packaging.
Buying games from stores has always been like this. For discs they would usually give you a full copy and just put the display case you hand them back, but for little cards, I guess they just chose to put it back in at purchase.
And as others say, it was probably new and just tested at factory as part of QA.
Though this is outside the realm of the topic, the reason I don’t buy online is because I want to support physical on-site stores of all kinds as much as I can (especially since this is the only dedicated game-store in the area I live. The next-closest EB Games is around 2-3 hours drive away). And by principal I also strictly try to support cash payments as much as possible. Honestly though, if they can deliver it to you online through post with the plastic wrap on, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to keep the wrap on at the physical store as well.
Yes, you’re all probably right. I’d still like to wait and see first if someone checks a new game. I know there are lots of Nintendo collectors who buy games brand-new and don’t play them until they get around to them, which could be over very long stretches of time. There’s bound to be someone here who can easily help.
Maybe bring up your concern in store? Perhaps they could find you a sealed copy. If others share the same sentiment, perhaps they will change the way they handle it.
I dont know why stores dont just have cards on the shelves instead of actual cases. Then it’s easy to have many “stocked” and the customer can be handed a sealed copy.
That sounds like a terrible store policy. Couldn’t the cartridge have been scuffed up when it was in the drawer behind the counter, even if new? Honestly I wouldn’t buy from EB Games if this is their policy and you have concerns of getting a used game (either accidentally or nefariously).
This is also the same drawer that they store all the discs for PlayStation & Xbox, too. I’m not personally concerned about the cartridge getting physically scuffed up in the drawer, because I can see that they store them in these little sleeves that keep them protected.
Unfortunately though, as I’m in a pretty rural area, this is the only game store within a few hour radius, and I prefer supporting actual cash-payments at in-person stores as much as possible. There’s a few other stores just nearby to that EB Games that sell games: JB Hi-Fi, Target, OfficeWorks… but they all do the exact same thing with storing the games in a drawer. I think it’s just standard practice in Australia, or at least Victoria which is the state I live in.