I like to think we’re mostly savvy enough to know when not to turn on ourNintendo Switch 2. At the movie theater, for instance. Or in the middle of our best friend’s wedding vows. Or while we’re actively exposed to the deleterious effects of an inferno, which, as we all know, is exactly what happens every summer throughout much of the world.
Still, there’s something to be said about a company that comes right out and formally begs us to use common sense. In a recent post from their Japanese official Twitter account,Nintendohas expressly pleaded with Switch 2 owners not to expose their hot new console to the kind of heat that will make mincemeat of its custom-made NVIDIA CPU, melting poor Mario into the lava pits of the island nation’s brutal mid-year months.
It’s Dangerous To Go Together. Don’t Take This
Automatoncaught the post, which they’ve kindly translated for those among us who are cursed with the inability to read Japanese text. “Recently, temperatures have been exceeding 35°C,” Nintendo of Japan denoted, referencing local weather conditions which reflect fairly global conditions. “Please be cautious when using it outdoors.”
“This could potentially cause malfunctions,” the tweet explains. While they’re mum on the specifics -better not to terrify folks- we do know from a 2022 warning that the original Switch, at least,will enter sleep modeif exposed to high temperatures for long. Hopefully, the Switch 2 follows suit, because the same sort of electronic damage that can happen to our smartphones and PCs is primed to potentially strike our Switches.
Nintendo’s statement mentions similar possibly detrimental scenarios regarding low temperatures, as well. The recommended play range is between 5 and 35 degrees Celsius (41 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit). This has prompted some folks who live up in the harsh-winter northern island of Hokkaido to preemptively worry that their consoles are in for a tough time.
“It’s midwinter outdoors, so it’s naturally below freezing,one Hokkaido resident says of the region, “but there are times when it’s 5°C indoors”, as well. A handful of replies to that tweet from Japanese players in more southerly parts of the country appear to have expressed surprise at the low interior temperatures, prompting the original commenter to explain that poor ventilation isn’t especially uncommon in many Hokkaido apartment complexes.
But back to those summertime infernos. “Gaming hardware can also get heatstroke, so I’m being careful,“another user chimes in. And while I realize that I am relying on built-in translation technology for this stuff, I sincerely hope that’s exactly what they meant to write, because henceforth, it’s totally how I am going to remind myself not to boot upDragon Quest 3: HD-2D Remakewhile I’m standing outside my local Starbucks in 90-degree weather.
Which I did just yesterday, for the record, and that was terribly foolish of me.
