LogFAQs > #980297656

faramir77 posted...

I don't remember hearing anything about the Switch in March 2015. In fact I very specifically remember first hearing about the Switch in the fall of 2016, followed by its sudden release in March 2017.

It was known that Nintendo was working on a new system for a while before the Switch was actually announced, but the window between the official announcement and the Switch's launch was indeed quite short. They kind of rushed it out once it became apparent that the WiiU wasn't salvageable, which I'm guessing was a call they made a few months after Smash 4 failed to turn it around (which would have been determined in early 2015). There were a bunch of games still to come in 2015 and early 2016 that they let play out, but then support for the WiiU trickled off and transitioned directly into promoting the Switch.

Zareth posted...

They cracked down on it after it was already released. It was known about for years. Somebody on Nintendo's legal team wanted to play it. That's the only explanation.

That, or they couldn't do anything about it until it was actually being distributed. There's nothing illegal about modding your own games, after all. The problem is distributing a ROM and/or a product that uses their IP without permission.