How an Advance Wars fan accidentally played the Remake Early
A few weeks ago, Nintendo decided to delay the Advance Wars 1+2 remake on Switch, Re-Boot Camp. Although the platform holder claimed that the delay was caused by ongoing events, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Russian military analogies used throughout the original Advance Wars games, he did not give any details about when the game would be released.
This was a devastating blow for fans who were eagerly awaiting the series, which isn’t getting much attention from Nintendo these days. This is unless you are the only one who was able to access the game due to a preload glitch.
A tweet was sent out by someone saying they were playing Advance Warson Switch. The screenshot appeared to have been taken directly from the Switch’s sharing interface. Rachael Adamson purchased a copy of the game several months ago. She was then sent a code to enter the shop. The code worked only on her Switch Lite. It had a copy preloaded with the game from the time she entered it and went live the day after the game was due to release.
Adamson explained to Fanbyte that the game was unplayable for several months on his Switch. “The game was on my home screen, but it wouldn’t let it play it, just like any other game that hasn’t been released yet.” However, this changed a few days ago. “I received a notification on my Switch indicating that it was available for play. It was available for play, so I did. It was not something I imagined, but it worked for me.
Adamson tweeted bits of the game, showing off parts that were not in the pre-release marketing. People laughed at Adamson’s absurdity and accused her of fakery, pirates or other malice against Nintendo. Adamson was content to just enjoy the game without caring.
It was clear that Nintendo realized this and decided to terminate her services. It is not clear how the publisher discovered this. Adamson believes that enough large Twitter accounts retweeted Adamson and placed it on Nintendo’s radar. Nintendo did not waste any time pulling her license.
Adamson stated that Adamson received an email stating “We’ve successfully returned your item”, with the game being listed as the item to be returned. “The timing of the tweet was suspicious. It was sent the day following the tweet. It was impossible that it could have been a coincidence.
Adamson knew this was the direction it would go so she had already put her Switch in aeroplane mode to prevent it from ever going online. The Switch must check for valid licenses every 30 days. However, it can’t verify a new-invalidated license online. Adamson could continue playing the game for another month, even though Nintendo had removed it from her library.
Adamson stated that while my computer was on aeroplane mode for a while after I received the email, it hasn’t been online since. “I have no idea if it will stop working if this happens.” It will, I think.
