When you pull out the cartridge from a switch you get a message saying: „always close the software before removing the game card.“ why though? What’s the worst that could happen?
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The system is running code that is off the cartridge. If that code gets interrupted at the wrong time, it can result in things like corrupted save files.
Really the worst that could happen is that the console is reading something important, which is done by running a current through the pins on the cart, and suddenly removing the cartridge could damage some circuitry. They surely accounted for that and took precautions. (I don’t think the console can write to the cart on the Switch the same way it used to be on the GBA/DS)
Realistically, it causes the software to crash and you’re gonna lose whatever progress you didn’t save yet, and also if you yank it while the game is saving, it could corrupt your save and you lose all progress. Also, on a really low level, removing the cart suddenly probably causes some unexpected behaviour in the software, which *maybe* could be exploited by hackers to crack the console.
Worst case? It can fuck up the cartridge. Not sure how common this is nowadays, but pulling a Sega Genesis cartridge when powered on could definitely wipe it.
Closing the application is like making sure that when you go away on vacation the windows and doors are locked, the oven is off, your appointments for the week have been cancelled, the dog has been left with your Uncle.
Pulling out the cartridge is like burning the house down and having a new one built while you’re away. Oops, you forgot about those documents you needed and now they’re gone and your neighbours are really annoyed because you didn’t tell them what you were doing.
I wonder what is the worst that could happen in a flash drive. I am asking because previous windows versions, when “remove safely” would actually close the file explorer. Now it only complains that the device is being used instead of disconnecting it safely (=prompting to close all programs that might use it).
They are warning of the theoretical possibility of a partially completed write operation corrupting a file.
However, _good_ software programs take care to ensure that this won’t happen even if a write is interrupted for whatever reason, by ensuring a property we call “atomicity” in computer science. Basically that means the software can detect and recover from an interrupted write operation, such that logically it will either have fully completed or not happened at all.
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Worst case scenario, you could short the game cartridge and permanently damage its storage making it unusable.
More likely is minor data corruption which could potentially corrupt a save file or something.
Most likely is nothing at all.
In QA testing one of the tests is often to do memory card/disc/cart pulls to test that nothing too bad happens. If first party submission can corrupt a save this way you have to talk to them and fix it or get it waived
In general, it can run the risk of not saving information completely. Typically, this just means you lose some save data. At worst though, it can completely corrupt your save file, forcing you to fully reset & redownload the software.
Nintendo doesn’t wanna get complaints about games getting wiped because children are too impatient to close the games properly. The warning means you can’t whine to them about destroying your progress.
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