Third-party video game cheating devices have been around almost as long as home consoles themselves, and the newest one for the Nintendo Switch, the Switch Up, is available now. Allowing players to cheat their way through a handful of Switch titles including Pokemon Sword and Shield, Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,and more, the Switch Up is essentially the newest iteration of the Game Shark.
The Switch Up is a USB stick that plugs into the Switch dock and, in addition to providing players with cheats and other mods, makes it possible to pair any wireless Bluetooth controller to the Switch. The product overview video posted to the official Collective Minds Switch Up Game Enhancer YouTube channel shows controllers such as the DualShock 4, the Wii U Pro controller, and the Xbox Elite all pairing to the docked Nintendo console.
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Similar to older third-party cheating devices like the Game Shark or Action Replay, there are a handful of preinstalled mods and cheats that players can access through the Switch Up. Some make certain in-game items easier to collect, such as a mod that automates shiny Pokemon encounters in Pokemon Sword and Shield. Other cheats, however, generate powerups and items for the player without any additional input, like infinite arrows, rupees, and stamina in Breath of the Wild.
Controversially, the Switch Up also includes cheats for Fortnite, allowing players to have dramatically increased aim-assist as well as other programmed movements that make them harder to hit. Recently, there's been a movement to ban cheating players from plenty of online communities including Fortnite, so those wishing to use the Switch Up to cheat should consider the risks before using it.
In a similar vein, many in the Pokemon community don't consider Pokemon acquired through cheating as legitimate, so those using the Switch Up for rare Pokemon farming should also consider the risks before doing so. The difference between the cheats included with the Switch Up for Fortnite and the mods for Sword and Shield is that in Pokemon, the Pokemon are still technically acquired through natural means whereas the Switch Up enhances the player's abilities in Fortnite. In Sword and Shield, the Switch Up simply plays the game for the player to minimize playtime spent catching and releasing wild Pokemon in search of shinies.
The list of games supported by the Switch Up currently includes Pokemon Sword and Shield, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Fortnite, Super Mario Odyssey, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
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