Everyone’s heard the excuses that a dog ate someone’s homework or a toddler grabbed the cell phone and ran up a huge bill with in-app purchases. These ridiculous stories typically involve either an animal or a kid messing something up so the person who is actually responsible can skirt the consequences of their actions.
But, in one very odd twist, a Nintendo Switch owner in Japan actually lived out a real-life version of one of these incidents. A YouTuber who goes by the handle Mutekimaru now has an unintentional credit card bill after his pet fish accidentally ordered funds on his Nintendo Switch. How is this possible, you ask? The magic of technology.
How Could a Fish Use a Switch?
Mutekimaru’s fish don’t have an unusual ability to actually mash buttons or use a touch-screen. Instead, the YouTuber has set up a fish sensor pointed at their tank that converts their movements around their tank into inputs for his Nintendo Switch. The streamer then allows his little swimming pals to “play” games while he’s away, leaving the stream running for his fans online.
Online viewers enjoy this kind of stream because it’s relaxing and humorous in equal measure. The fish have no idea they’re playing a video game, so the on-screen action is downright nonsensical. However, this led to some problems when the game the fish were playing crashed, and they were brought back to the Switch’s home screen.
Wreaking Havoc
Mutekimaru has set up the “fish controller” in such a way that the fish can’t exit the game he has open. This is to prevent them from accessing sensitive things like the eShop. And, as you might expect, that’s exactly where the fish went when the Pokemon game they were playing on stream crashed.
Mutekimaru wasn’t nearby when the crash happened, so his online viewers watched on helplessly as the fish entered the digital storefront, connected a PayPal account to the Switch system, and eventually made a purchase of around $5. Once Mutekimaru returned and saw what happened, he was more baffled than angry. He did note, however, that the fish had accidentally revealed his personal information when they linked a PayPal account–exposing his credit card information to the world.
Thankfully, he was able to contact Nintendo customer service and explain the situation. As ridiculous as it sounded, he had the benefit of a video recording to show the company to prove that he didn’t make the purchase himself. Nintendo refunded the purchase, but the laughs everyone got to have in the meantime were downright priceless.
