After buying several second-hand games without issue from Amazon Warehouse, a disgruntled customer now advises against it thanks to a counterfeit copy of Pragmata.
The obvious benefit of buying second-hand video games is that, unless it’s an especially rare and out-of-print game, you’re usually not paying full price for them and thus saving money.
However, buying them through sites like eBay is not without some risk, as there’s every chance your purchase arrives in poor condition and doesn’t actually work.
In one such recent case, an unfortunate Nintendo Switch 2 owner found themselves buying a ‘fake’ game through Amazon; one that managed to break their console.
The game came from Amazon Warehouse, a separate part of the website where you can buy and sell used goods, including second-hand video games and consoles.
On ResetEra, jokkir shared a warning about using Amazon Warehouse following a recent incident involving a second-hand copy of Pragmata for Switch 2.
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Having bought from Amazon Warehouse in the past, jokkir, who lives in Canada, thought nothing of it when they made the purchase, but they claim the game not only refused to work when plugged into their console, but it became stuck.
They had to forcefully pull it out, which jokkir suspects ‘broke some pins on the way out’ since the console now refuses to run any physical games at all.
Upon inspecting the Pragmata cartridge, they discovered it was ‘just an empty shell and was missing the insides of the game,’ sharing a picture to demonstrate.
This makes it sound like someone opened up the cartridge, removed the innards, and then resealed it, which seems like a lot of effort to sell someone a fake game.
However, jokkir claims the casing itself is fake too, suggesting that the seller bought a legitimate physical copy of Pragmata, kept the game, but sold the box with a 3D printed cartridge inside.
Forum members have been sympathetic to jokkir’s situation, with some sharing anecdotes of similar instances when using Amazon Warehouse.
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‘Amazon is bad about not thoroughly inspecting for things like this. It’s common for people to do this with action figures by swapping their contents with much cheaper ones,’ says HardinBuffalo.
A forum user named gappvembe, says they received a copy of rougelike shooter Wild Bastards last Christmas that wound up being an empty case, although they managed to get a replacement through customer support.
Thankfully, jokkir has already claimed a refund, but that still leaves them with a damaged Switch 2, which Amazon says it has no responsibility for. As such, they’ve shared their story on Reddit as well, to spread awareness.
‘So be careful for buying stuff on Amazon. They sell fakes and refuse to take responsibility do anything if it damages your property [sic],’ they wrote.
Some Redditors have recommended jokkir take legal action, but they think ‘going to small claims court might be more expensive than getting a new console or getting it repaired.’
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