For some Pokémon players, the art of shiny hunting is a special, sacred activity that can be just as enjoyable – if not more so – than playing the base game itself. Some players spend hundreds of hours hatching eggs, soft-resetting their game when encountering special Pokémon, and more, all in the hopes of tracking down a rare, differently-coloured variant of a particular Pokémon for their digital collection.
It's perhaps understandable, then, that an external device that can completely speed up this process is proving to be quite the talking point. The Switch Up from Collective Minds is a third-party Switch accessory that lets you use your Switch and play some of its biggest games in unusual ways. You can use it to hook up a PlayStation or Xbox controller, for example, or activate a variety of cheats to use in games like Fortnite.
It comes with a variety of 'Modes', each specific to a certain game; Mario, Zelda, and Animal Crossing are all included, as well as Pokémon Sword and Shield. In the latter's case, loading up this 'mode' lets you activate specific mods and make use of a number of automated shortcuts including shiny egg chaining and shiny soft reset chaining.
"SHINY EGG CHAINING: This mod will endlessly chain for eggs from the "Bridge Field" Pokémon Nursery in the Wild Area."
The interesting thing here is that the device is essentially putting in the hard work for you, making the hunt for a special shiny Pokémon significantly easier, but doesn't simply generate a hacked Pokémon that can't be used in official competitions. Instead, no one would ever know that you 'cheated' to get your new shiny Snorlax – the Switch Up just played the game for you while you were off doing better things with your time.
The whole thing has been causing quite the debate over on Reddit, where some players are arguing that saving time and getting shiny Pokémon quickly in their game isn't hurting anyone, while others are suggesting that it cheapens the experience and takes something away from those doing it 'legitimately'.
We can see both points of view, so we'll leave it to you to (calmly) discuss in the comments.
[source reddit.com, via comicbook.com]
