If I want to pirate games which method should I use? (2024)

Always expect to be banned, I think people don't understand what emunand does, I doubt it will let you get around bans, but I guess I could be wrong.

FIRST thing you do is run hekate from RCM and do a nand backup, then you stay in airplane mode, then if you ever feel the need to go online, BACKUP your saves, then restore the nand backup, not certain you would get banned, but I'd guess you'd probably be safe IF you backed up nand FIRST.

Now for my opion, ReiNX is free, works great, install auto rcm after you backup nand.

If you want to stay offline NSP with ReiNX is the best way to go.

You should check out 90 DNS. It blocks all connections to Nintendo.
With this you can still use your Homebrew Apps online (Homebrew Appstore etc.)

: https://gbatemp.net/threads/90dns-dns-server-for-blocking-all-nintendo-servers.516234/

Ericthegreat said:

Always expect to be banned, I think people don't understand what emunand does, I doubt it will let you get around bans, but I guess I could be wrong.

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He probably meant it that he would have clean NAND without any traces for Online.

And yes I plan on making a clean nand backup before any modifications.

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Kubas_inko said:

He probably meant it that he would have clean NAND without any traces for Online.

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That’s exactly what I meant, not sure if this will still lead to a ban though.

Powerful said:

If I want to pirate games which method should I use?

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Wow, what a shockingly DIRECT question.

I was thinking it would be preferable to be more discreet, such as talking about "signature patches" or "backup loaders", instead of directly saying "how do I pirate games", as Reggie is watching.

as long as no copyrighted files are shared, people are doing what they want. We can't force them to do or stop pirating. at least, that's my own view. I don't give links or help pirating, only explain or point to what everyone can find publicly.
maybe other members can think differently and wouldn't help someone pirating, but it would just be hypocrite, we know when people say "backup" what it means, nobody can make backups of their own switch games. edit: oh, it's possible now, sorry. SD to nsp let you do that!

There are special piracy talk thread, let's not derail this thread please
he want to know how to stay safe and not be banned.

Cyan said:

make a backup of your current SD card's content too.
the day you decide to restore your NAND backup you should also format your SD as it may contains information that nintendo can use to detect if you hacked your console.
it will also get rid of pirated games installed to SD, to prevent the console detecting them on OFW.

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Okay that makes sense I will do this.

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Cyan said:

as long as no copyrighted files are shared, people are doing what they want. We can't force them to do or stop pirating. at least, that's my own view. I don't give links or help pirating, only explain what everyone can find publicly.
maybe other members can think differently and wouldn't help someone pirating, but it would just be hypocrite, we know when people say "backup" what it means, nobody make backups of their own switch games.

There are special piracy talk thread, let's not derail this thread please
he want to know how to stay safe and not be banned.

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Thanks Cyan, you have been very helpful with information.

Cyan said:

no problem, it's just information I found by reading other threads, provided by other users, and just have logical thinking about the data and how the console works.

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I have been trying to gather information from reading articles, but I’ve been getting mixed opinions on this which is why I decided to bring this up. You and others have helped me into figuring out exactly what I plan on doing now, and what I should do if I decide to pirate in the future.

90dns looks great and all but if one is serious about not connecting to Nintendo you should stay in airplane mode except when necessary and block the MAC address in your router. A proxy is great as well until it doesn’t work for whatever reason. Also the Switch appears to still be able to utilize Nintendo Hotspots so be especially careful when traveling outside the home, it is a minefield out there. My 3DS got nabbed by one 3-4 years ago and downloaded a system update becuase I didn’t have the WiFi shut off.

Canna’s guide seems to be the gold standard for backing everything up so follow it all and be sure to thank him.
Backup/Restore your Nand + Get your biskeys+tseckeys+keys.txt Guide

And mark your calendar September 19th for International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Cyan said:

Personnaly, I'd shut/delete the network entirely before making the NAND backup, or before using cfw.
I don't know what the DNS is really needed for, as there's no browser and you can't play online games. What the network interest?
at least, it could be used for local play and homebrew? I don't know if blocking with a proxy is enough, it depends how the console works. Proxy blocking allows the PS3 to see LAN, but not the wiiU (it checks internet connection first before allowing lan).
maybe the homebrew appstore could be useful to access, but I'd rather block the URLs myself with a proxy than rely on someone else's DNS servers. at least, 90dns is opensource and the urls provided

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There are also a handful of users who use FTP to transfer their files because it is quite annoying to constantly turn off the console and open the kickstand to replace files on it. While its not useful for moving large games, it has its merits when it comes to homebrew apps and smaller games/files.