Redeem now - YouTube channel Mutekimaru regularly live streams with his fish, who play games using motion sensors.
- During a live stream earlier this month, a glitch resulted in the fish exiting the game.
- Using the motion sensors, the fish were able to make purchases and set up a PayPal account.
A YouTuber accidentally documented his betta fish taking control of his Nintendo Switch for hours, changing his user name, setting up a PayPal account, and even charging a credit card.
The YouTube channel Mutekimaru, based in Japan, regularly features the fish, which are able to control actions through motion sensors that detect their movements over squares corresponding to different buttons on a Nintendo Switch controller.
Although the channel does not disclose why Betta fish were chosen to control the games, they have been known to show traits of intelligence, including the ability to suffer from depression.
The gaming fish have beat multiple Pokémon games by swimming around in their tank. Fish featured on the channel are named Maurice, Moo, and Ponyo. A fourth fish, Lala, died in September.
During a livestream earlier this month of the fish playing Pokémon Violet, the owner stepped away from his screen to take a break, CNN reported. A glitch resulted in the system leaving the game and returning to the home screen.
The fish, however, still had control of the Nintendo Switch. Over the next several hours, the fish changed the owner's name on his Switch, downloaded a new avatar, set up a PayPal account (and sent an email about it to the owner), and even read a set of terms and conditions on the Nintendo eShop.
"Fish eagerly read the terms and conditions. Many of us humans don't read the terms of service, but fish are smarter than we are," one caption in a recap video of the incident read.
The fish also added 500 yen, or $4, to the Switch account, while exposing his credit card details to his audience, which had been following along with the fish's actions while he was away.
"This is the world's first shocking video of a pet fish making a purchase with its owner's credit card," the video was humorously captioned.
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