Early Nintendo Switch consoles were actually stolen

Remember those Nintendo Switch consoles that were supposedly shipped out early? It turns out that these consoles were actually stolen from retail stores and Nintendo is slapping down the hammer.

"Earlier this week, individuals claimed to prematurely purchase a small number of Nintendo Switch systems from an unspecified retailer. Nintendo has determined these units were stolen in an isolated incident by employees of a U.S. distributor, with one system being illegally resold," Nintendo told IGN in a statement.

Nintendo is treating this quite seriously and has identified the thieves, wiped out their jobs, and are pursuing criminal charges. "The individuals involved have been identified, terminated from their place of employment and are under investigation by local law enforcement authorities on criminal charges."

Read Also: Nintendo won't make you rebuy eShop games on the Switch

Was it worth it? Sure we got a heads up look at the main menu, evidence of possible Gamecube Virtual Console support via 480p resolution downscaling, and confirmation that games will be tied to our Nintendo Accounts instead of the console itself, but was it worth jeopardizing your career and future over?

Just think..if the thieves didn't succumb to temptation and spread the word across the net for fame they might not have ever been caught.

The Nintendo Switch launches on March 3, 2017 for $299. Check below for everything we know about the console so far.

Everything we know about the Nintendo Switch:

• Nintendo Switch supports wireless Bluetooth headsets
• Zelda: Breath of the Wild has $20 season pass
• Nintendo Switch uses 20nm Maxwell Tegra SoC
• Nintendo Switch easy for devs, light years past Wii U
• Hitman dev may be working on new IP for Nintendo Switch
• Nintendo Switch could get Wii U game remasters
• 3DS supported alongside Switch 'for the time being'
• Devs can 'easily' port PC games to the Nintendo Switch
• Nintendo Switch JoyCons have 525mAh lithium ion battery
• Nintendo Switch is the gamer's dream, says Hideo Kojima
• Zelda: Breath of the Wild is about doing things your way
• Nintendo Switch has over 100 games in development
• Nintendo Switch paid online service only costs $26 a year
• Nintendo Switch appeals to Japanese smartphone gamers
• New Zelda is based on three words 'climb, live, protect'
• EA: Nintendo listening to third-party Switch game devs
• First footage of Nintendo Switch's touchscreen in action
• Nintendo Switch games lineup: a visual guide
• Nintendo Switch replaces Wii U on Nintendo homesite
• Nintendo Switch battery life analysis
• Resident Evil 7 isn't coming to Nintendo Switch
• Zelda: Breath of the Wild's Hyrule is bigger than Skyrim
• Zelda: Breath of the Wild has an awesome physics engine
• Switch's 4310mAh battery takes 3 hours to fully recharge
• Could the Nintendo Switch's hit full potential and boost CPU/GPU power via NVIDIA's cloud servers
• Nintendo Switch will have 'steady pacing of content'
• Switch is all about 'playing games anywhere with anyone'
• Nintendo Switch will have 'steady pacing of content'
• Putting Nintendo Switch launch games into perspective
• Stock Nintendo Switch JoyConGrip won't recharge JoyCons
• The new Zelda game takes up nearly half Switch's storage
• Zelda: Breath of the Wild runs at 900p 30FPS docked, 720p 30FPS undocked
• Nintendo Switch supports 2TB Micro SDXC cards
• Nintendo Switch online chat requires smartphone app
• Here's why Nintendo Switch doesn't come with any games
• Nintendo will soon charging gamers to play online multiplayer via subscription service
• Nintendo Switch UI revealed, let's take a closer look
• Nintendo Switch touchscreen has haptic feedback tech
• Nintendo stock drops after Switch unveil event
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch runs at 1080p when docked
• Nintendo Switch hardware specs revealed
• Nintendo Switch costs $299, coming March 3
• Nintendo Switch battery life is 2.5 hours to 6 hours
• New Mario: Odyssey game won't be Nintendo Switch launch title
• Zelda: Breath of the Wild is Switch launch game