How the Nintendo Switch prevents downgrades by irreparably blowing its own fuses

Too Long; Didn't Read

Downgrade prevention has been a cat-and-mouse game between consumers and companies since the inception of remote updates. The <a href="https://hackernoon.com/tagged/nintendo" target="_blank">Nintendo</a> Switch adopts a worrisome-strategy of preventing <a href="https://hackernoon.com/tagged/firmware" target="_blank">firmware</a> downgrades by permanently modifying your device every time it updates. While this isn’t a new concept (the Xbox 360 was doing it back in 2007), it is part of a greater effort to prevent end users from modifying their devices to their liking.