There's a secret game hidden in your Nintendo Switch, but you probably can't play it
The Nintendo Switch is an awesome console capable of operating as both a handheld and a home entertainment system. It's got its share of cool little secrets, as such. But there's one particular secret that no one actually knew about until some particularly talented users stumbled upon it.
As it turns out, according to Switch homebrew and custom software blog Switchbrew, there's actually a game hidden deep within the system's firmware. It's called “flog,” but that's just a misnomer that's hiding the 1984 sports game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Golf.
Read more: Nintendo will pay up to $20,000 if you can hack the Switch and 3DS
So there's a full-fledged game hidden within the innards of the Nintendo Switch that's just been uncovered. That's news enough, but there's currently no real way to play the game using the console as a base. Switchbrew says you can actually use a special “cheat code” method to set the system back to July 11 and perform some sort of motion with the included Joy-Con controllers, but no one currently knows what that is just yet. It certainly isn't stopping anyone from trying to figure it out, though.
One Switch owner was able to “unofficially,” as they say, launch the game, but has yet to figure out the correct sequence to get it started on the Nintendo Switch in the manner in which it was intended.
Why is this such a big deal? It's a super-old golf game, right? And you could just break out the original game on your NES to play it. Neither the game nor the fact that it's unplayable are the big draw here. It's the surprise that there's a built-in emulator on the Nintendo Switch, which implies that the Switch should be able to play original NES games on the system. Fans have been clamoring for some time about a proper Virtual Console, or a service on which arcade games and retro titles could be purchased and played straight from the Switch, and this clinches the fact that Nintendo is indeed planning on bringing several titles to the system.
It's 1984 all over again… pic.twitter.com/PXBY2aCMcD
— Pixelpar (@pixelpar) September 18, 2017
As for when that might be, Nintendo has remained tight-lipped on the new Virtual Console service, which was previously available on the Wii U and Wii in generations past. The only “official” bid retro gamers have to look forward to at the moment are Mario Bros. and Pinball on September 27, which will be coming to Switch as part of the “Arcade Archives” program.
As far as “flog” goes, it might be quite some time before someone decodes that hidden gem.
