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.
I’m just surprised you actually check this kind of stuff when buying a new game from a well known retail store. Is there a previous experience that has made you habitually inspect every new game cartridge you purchase?
I have no firsthand knowledge of the subject, but I would assume they get inserted at the factory as part of QA. How else would they make sure everything works as expected?
Been an engineer in manufacturing for many years. I’d think there’s a really good chance it’s manufacturing QA, whether by hand or by machine
If the cartridge works, who cares? It’ll have marks on it the second you use it. Presumably this isn’t the kind of game you’re gonna try to save for decades to resell
I don’t know how that would work. They make millions of these cartridges, and if a machine were to grip the top of the cartridge in order to push it into a consoles cartridge slot, I don’t think it would be able to fit all the way in. Then there’s also the fact that, how would a machine be able to confirm that the Switch cartridge definitely works? I think you would need human labor for that, and I don’t see how a bunch of human laborers would be able to test millions of cartridges on thousands of consoles. It would just cost too much money.
Edit: Another thing. It’s not really noticeable in the photo, but these scratches are not perfectly straight lines. They look like they’ve been inserted into the console by human hands. If it was a machine, while I don’t really know anything about manufacturing, you would think that a machine inserting a cart would create perfectly straight-lined scratches every time.
That’s why you test a sample. One every hundred or so. QA is most likely done by humans. Every mass production industry does it. You’d be pretty upset if they just didn’t bother and your shit didn’t work.
Okay. Based on what most people are saying to me, I think you’re right the games are tested by humans. It does make more sense the more I think about it. I’m not 100% sure yet that they’re all tested, because like you suggested, it might just be every hundred or so, or whatever the number may be. If that’s the case, I’m totally okay with humans testing the cart by inserting it into something; I guess the problem I have then shifts to the fact that these stores only sell games with the plastic wrap already taken off. If every cartridge has these scratches on it, how the hell can you tell the difference between a real brand new game and a used one? For all we know, they could have intentionally put a used game in a brand-new case to sell a used game for more. Or, perhaps more likely, a simple accidental mix-up. I don’t see how a mixup would be hard. They don’t actually store the games in their cases, they store them in a drawer behind the counter - I think in some sort of little cartridge pouch. I think they’re all labeled, but it seems like a very easy way for them to mistakenly put a used game in a new case. If the plastic wrap was kept on, this wouldn’t be a problem.
Then there’s also the fact that, how would a machine be able to confirm that the Switch cartridge definitely works? I think you would need human labor for that,
To answer this question, you don’t plug the cartridge-under-test into a regular Switch console. You plug it into a custom test rig, and the test rig has custom electronics and programming to interrogate the functions of the pins. It would probably also read the entire contents of the ROM and compute a hash to verify that the correct software is loaded.
They look like they’ve been inserted into the console by human hands.
Given what they sell these cartridges for, i think that would certainly be within the realm of economic possibility in a factory setting. A lot of electronics still get final assembly into enclosures by hand.
You plug it into a custom test rig, and the test rig has custom electronics and programming to interrogate the functions of the pins.
That makes perfect sense. Thanks for the input. It’s also nice to know there’s still a lot of human work involved in these things.
Automated testing would use a special rig not the switch itself. And it would have specialized grippers, maybe even with suction cups. Might be human testing though, just saying automated can’t necessarily be ruled out just because of the size of the cartridge.
I don’t see how a bunch of human laborers would be able to test millions of cartridges on thousands of consoles
This has been a thing for decades now… they still do it today.
Okay, well thanks for the lesson then 😀. I had no idea because I’ve never looked into anything around manufacturing of electronics. I just assumed millions of cartridges would be too time-consuming and expensive economically to work on.
Why do you think they would have an actual console that they get inserted into?
It’s quite likely they have a programming and/or test system that let’s it get automatically inserted, and then programmed with the software and validated that it wrote correctly, maybe some self-test operation, and then packaged and shipped.
As for line straightness, machines aren’t perfect either, if it doesn’t have to be perfectly straight it likely won’t be, why would they spend time making the machine grab the cartridge exactly the same way every time to make straight lines if it works just fine without being perfectly straight?
Other people here have suggested they use a specialised test system. It’s quite obvious to me now that I think about it and makes perfect sense.
Speaking again from a complete lack of knowledge about how these things work, my assumption would be that a machine is programmed to move and perform actions in a very specific order in the same exact way every single time. I could see though how there could be a little bit of shakiness that could sometimes cause imperfect straightness in the lines, but my assumption (not that I’m saying I’m correct, necessarily) would be that only some of the carts would be left with imperfectly straight lines. If it was shaky all the time, you would think it would greatly increase the risk of damaging something, after all.
There’s a certain amount of permitted lost/non-functional products off a manufacturing line. They don’t make the machines as precise and perfect as they can, that costs too much, they make them as fast and cheap as possible and if 5% of the widgets get busted or don’t work it’s likely an acceptable margin of failure to just reject those and move on.
It’d cost more to make the machines better than to just throw those items away or scrap them to some company that could fix or repurpose them.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pd-4aJSSHyk&t=115s&pp=2AFEkAIB0gcJCWQCo7VqN5tD
While I can’t say it’s exactly like this, it’s like this.
Basically, they don’t treat the cartridge like a game, but like a piece of hardware that responds to certain inputs correctly and has the right data on it, and returns that data at an acceptable speed.Game testing isn’t the same thing as cartridge testing.
Game testing isn’t the same thing as cartridge testing.
Appreciate the YouTube link. And I understood that thanks. I knew they wouldn’t be literally booting up the game and playing it. It’s just a matter of whether the correct data is on the cart and can be read correctly.
If it had the shrink wrap on it when you bought it, this is almost certainly from QA at the factory as others have said. It is trivial to build a machine that would read carts on the line, but also plenty of places will still do manually sampled QA.
If no shrink wrap, then it was either opened at the shop to use as a display case (pretty sure they had already stopped using real game cases for this about 2 decades ago, when I last worked in a shop like that), which could either mean a mix up or a staff member testing it out (this wasn’t allowed with non-preowned products when I worked in a similar place)
Or perhaps someone bought it and returned it within the return window if the store allows such a thing, I don’t think typically it would go into pre-owned, but maybe clearance in that scenario. Though I think many places don’t really let you return games once they’re opened due to online registration features
If it had the shrink wrap on it when you bought it, this is almost certainly from QA at the factory as others have said.
The game did not come with the wrap. I thought I mentioned this in the post, but just realised now that I only implied it when I said that stores in Australia don’t sell games with wrap on them.
It is trivial to build a machine that would read carts on the line
Thanks for letting me know. Others here have been saying this, too, which makes a lot of sense now that I’ve thought more about it.
If no shrink wrap, then it was either opened at the shop to use as a display case
It was on a shelf full of Switch 2 games. They are all real cases. Most of the stores I’ve bought games from in Australia sell the actual game cases that are on the shelf, and they are absolutely definitely official cases.
Or perhaps someone bought it and returned it within the return window if the store allows such a thing, I don’t think typically it would go into pre-owned, but maybe clearance in that scenario.
That’s maybe possible. I don’t know how they could easily tackle that issue if wanted to try, but that does still present the problem of: if the case is not in the plastic wrap, how do you know they haven’t just put a used copy of the game in a brand new case. Every store I’ve bought games from here in Aus doesn’t have the actual game cart in them. The game carts are all stored in a drawer behind the counter. It sounds like they could easily get mixed up by mistake, even if they have some specific organisation methods they’re supposed to follow.
Though I think many places don’t really let you return games once they’re opened due to online registration features
At least when it comes to EB Games, they do let you return used games as long as they weren’t a code-in-a-box. I’ve only ever returned one game before though, but that was like a decade ago so doesn’t really count. I know that they do still allow returns though, because I’ve asked them and they said yes.
Sounds like the jury is out then
When I worked in GAME (formerly EB in the UK) in the mid-00s we never unsealed new stock for display, we just changed the lining slip on the dummy boxes that always stayed on the shop floor (head office would send us the updated slips they wanted every couple of weeks). Fairly sure we had a policy that once the plastic wrap had been removed it was only returnable as a pre-owned trade-in (which seemed kinda scammy in some cases, but it was the policy)
FWIW I imagine genuinely pre-owned stock would get a label on it to not mix it up with new stock, but yeah no idea how they’re handling non-preowned returns
Oh wow, I forgot about GAME. I remember a GAME store in Australia near where I used to live prior to where I am now. I was about 5 then, lol. That was 2007. It shut down a very long time ago. I have no memory of how the games were displayed. I didn’t really think about games back then outside of the few games that were on the N64 at my Dad’s house.
But yeah, the only shop in current-day I can recall (of what I’ve bought from) that only does dummy-cases is Target… or it might be Big W, it’s one of the two.
Fairly sure we had a policy that once the plastic wrap had been removed it was only returnable as a pre-owned trade-in
That makes sense to me, but yeah, I can see how it would be annoying if someone were simply to just buy the game, quickly give it a try-out, then return it, get their money back, and then you can only resell it for used price.
FWIW I imagine genuinely pre-owned stock would get a label on it to not mix it up with new stock
At EB, the actual game cases that are on the shelf do have differing stickers depending on whether they’re pre-owned or new. Maybe they do stickers for the games they store in the drawer, too. I know that from what I could see of the drawer while the employee has the drawer open, they at the very least have them organised by platform and game name.
I don’t know about Switch games specifically, but at least in the DS-era, there were test-devices that games would be put in by factory workers before they were boxed and shipped. So they probably would have had slight scratches even when new.
In the end though, does it really matter if everything was in perfect condition otherwise? If those scratches weren’t there in the beginning, the would be there after first inserting the cartridge into the console. I’d get it if it was about collecting unopened games, but them removing the plastic wrapping pretty much makes that moot anyway.
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.
And as others say, it was probably new and just tested at factory as part of QA.
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.
I know back in the day, gamestop employees could borrow new games before they were available, and they still sold them as new. Don’t know if that’s still standard practice.
Someone else here said something similar, except that it was apparently store policy that this was only allowed to be done with pre-owned games. It would be insane if they were allowed to play brand new copies and then sell them as new.
That’s what the policy was bak in the day. My friend used to get games a week before they came out to try. The thinking was that he would be able to discuss new games with customers. Now, this was before day 1 patches and online activation and all such. Not sure if they still do this.
