On Wednesday, a video surfaced of a Nintendo Switch in use, which gave us a good look at the device’s software and how its menus work. Nintendo claims that the device in question had been stolen from a distributor.
The maker of the video had claimed that the Switch was a preorder that had shipped early, but walked those statements back. In a statement made to IGN, Nintendo said that the device and others had been stolen by the employee of a US distributor, and the one in the video had been resold.
Earlier this week, individuals claimed to prematurely purchase a small number of Nintendo Switch systems from an unspecified retailer. Nintendo has determined these units were stolen in an isolated incident by employees of a U.S. distributor, with one system being illegally resold. The individuals involved have been identified, terminated from their place of employment and are under investigation by local law enforcement authorities on criminal charges.
The incident is frustrating, because it was a tantalizing window into how the device works. So far, Nintendo hasn’t released a lot of information about the device, and this brief look over it helped show off some details that we hadn’t known, such as that it the 32GB models really have only 25.9GB of free space.
According to hiphoptherobot, Nintendo got in touch soon after the video had been posted, and made it clear that the device had been stolen. Speaking to Kotaku, he indicated that he didn’t know that it had been stolen when he posted the videos. The device has since been returned.
Nintendo’s Switch will hit stores on March 3rd.