Jailed Nintendo hacker denies connection to newest Switch flash cart

If you follow the piracy and hacking side of Nintendo news, you’ll no doubt remember the name Gary Bowser. Bowser was part of the hacking group Team-Xecuter, which paved the way for products that allowed people to play pirated games on the 3DS and Switch. Once Nintendo became aware of Team-Xecuter’s involvement and Bowser’s ties, it led to Bowser paying $10 million in damages to Nintendo along with serving jail time.

While it seemed like Bowser had been on the straight and narrow since release from prison, a new Switch flash cart has caused the hacker’s name to come up once again.

Depending on the internet circles you travel in, you may have heard of the “MIG-Switch,” a flash cart that allows Switch owners to play back-up games on unmodified Switch hardware. Of course, while the MIG-Switch is promoted as a way to access legitimately backed-up copies of games you own, the internet at large knows the product is mostly about piracy. (h/t VGC)

As people started digging into the team behind the MIG-Switch, a familiar name came up. Searching data tied to the MIG-Switch’s official website led to the discovery of Gary Bowser’s name, which was listed in the DNS records. This led many to believe that Bowser was once again involved with a Switch piracy project, but Bowser claims that’s not the case at all.

Bowser hopped into Discord to say he has no involvement in the MIG-Switch, and his name being associated with the project was due to a DNS poisoning attack from bad actors looking to employ a ransom attack. Bowser went on to say that he has since fixed the problem and changed all of his passwords.

It does seem like Bowser is in the clear here, but you know that Nintendo is going to triple check that as they aim to hunt down all involved with the MIG-Switch. Should this situation escalate in any way, we’ll be sure to bring you the details.