It’s launch day for Nintendo’s latest, the Switch 2. After all the hype, all the teasing, you’d think everyone’s just excited to get their hands on the thing and dive into new realms of gaming. But nope. Turns out some folks are getting a different kind of experience—one nobody signed up for. Already, there are reports of these brand-new consoles showing up with… holes in the screens. Yes, holes. From store receipts being stapled onto the boxes at retail. Because of course it is.
Switching into chaos: the early disaster of the Nintendo Switch 2 launch
Some players who hit up their local GameStop for the midnight launch found themselves heading home to find their shiny new console damaged—holes punched right through the screens. Thanks to IGN reporting on the ordeal, it’s confirmed that store employees stapled receipts directly onto the boxes—well, onto the front of the box, near the screen. Classy. The damage appeared to be caused by staples, which, unsurprisingly, punctured the screens.
One Reddit user pointed out that this happened to many at the same Staten Island GameStop, almost like a concerted shenanigan. Everyone walking out of that store with their receipt stapled to the box. The tedium of retail, right? Apparently, the store used a stapler to attach the receipts, and in the process, compromised the screens. Several reports confirm this isn’t a one-off fluke either; other affected consoles are believed to have come from that same location. Ouch.
As for the unlucky customers, it’s probably a wait until the store gets new stock, assuming they even get replacements. The online response? Not surprisingly, it’s not all about throwing shade at GameStop. Plenty of gamers on social media are saying Nintendo should’ve packaged this thing differently—maybe not with the screen exposed at the top of the box, or at least without staples that turn screens into Swiss cheese.
So, will Nintendo step in? Might be too early to tell. Perhaps they’ll rethink how they package the Switch 2 to avoid such mishaps. Or maybe this is just an odd glitch—strangely enough, no widespread reports have emerged from other stores, including the recently separate and Canadian-owned EB Games, which also did midnight launches. For now, that Staten Island store stands as a pretty stark example of what *not* to do on launch day—hopefully just a one-off freak incident, but it’s certainly one way to make a terrible first impression.