
Nintendo Switch game cards are great - they have massive storage capacity yet they're smaller than their 3DS equivalents.
While their diminutive size is boon for when you want to carry around a lot of games with you, there's one issue - the cards are so small they may find their way into the dribbling mouths of babies and young children who are fond of licking, chewing and generally consuming everything that's not nailed down (parents, you know exactly what I mean).
Thankfully, Nintendo has considered this and has covered every Switch game card with disgusting tasting coating. We found out the hard way; while swapping out a game we foolishly placed one of the cards between our teeth to free up both hands, and recoiled at the quite frankly revolting taste.
Here's the official statement on why Switch games have such a funky taste:
To avoid the possibility of accidental ingestion, keep the game card away from young children. A bittering agent (Denatonium Benzoate) has also been applied to the game card. This bittering agent is non-toxic.
It might sound like a totally stupid idea, but it shows that Nintendo really does think of everything.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 75
This will only encourage everyone to give the cards a lick to find out for themselves.I know I will be.
That's so weirdly ingenious O_O
I once found one of my DS' cards under a door, filled with bites from my "adorable" kitty.
Luckily Nintendo's cards are invincible, my DS game still works, but glad to know no cat will be able to chew my Switch's games XP
I have a curious cat. This is a great idea as he eats bits off his toys all the time!
@Frosty_09 It could mean the difference between having a choking toddler and damaged BOTW card or a crying but perfectly fine toddler and working card.
That's a potentially huge issue avoided,no one wants a damaged BOTW card.
Edit: Ah you deleted your post
This will probably be the first thing I do when I get my Switch...
You could say it's a bitter Switch victory for safety
Brilliant! I initially thought this was just a click bait filler article whilst the BoTw review was being put through its final edits!
But wow, seriously Nintendo, mad props for this. With my 1st child right around the corner, this just put a smile on my face.
Admittedly I have no intentions of leaving Switch cards lying around, but still good to know!
Not à la cart?
Definitely will give it a bite 🤓
Just MORE evidence that Nintendo is OUT OF TOUCH with the modern gamer's INSATIABLE APPETITE for all things gaming. Above all DELICIOUS games media.
Reggie is always talking about the end result for the consumer, but what's up with that if we CAN'T ACTUALLY CONSUME ANYTHING!?
Just another example of Nintendo shooting itself in the foot. I always buy two copies of a game, so I can enjoy the game from an audio-visual AND a culinary standpoint, and I know I'm not alone. Nice job HALVING your profits Nintendo!!!
I know that I for one shall be giving BOTW a good licking. How could I not, it's basically an additional challenge Nintendo have set us. I may even convince my 4 year old to give it a go, you know, for the lolz....
This just makes me WANT to do it to see how bad it is
GG, Ninty. By trying to make sure no one would want to lick their cartridge, you made everyone want to lick their cartridge!
Even Overcooked's game card? =(
It's a trap!
ring ring
'Hi Damien. We need you to cover something for the site'
'Sure. What is it?'
'Could you report on horrible taste of Switch carts with a photo of you staring out at something out of frame while licking one of the cartridges'
'Sure. No problem. It'll be a fun article to read and then I...wait...lick the cartridge?'
'Yes, is there a problem?'
'Er...no. Sigh.. It's fine'
hangs up
'Im a serious journalist! I've done Retro Gamer!! Why do I have to do this?!'
cut to Alex
'phew'
turns to camera
'Dodged that bullet, didn't I lovely people?'
Alex winks
Ew...
OK... Now this only makes me tempted to actually try it.
All the news about how they taste, but what happens when you actually swallow one? Do you gain some kind of super power?
This is fantastic, a small but great design choice like the rounded edges of the Wii U discs!
Damn, I wanted to buy a switch but because of the fact that the cartridges taste horrible, I won`t do it. Thank you Nintendo!
Take PS4- Discs as an example - they are delicious!
@martynstuff Have you been tapping our telephones?!
Lick it once you used that card for gaming... after some hours lick it while it's hot
@Maxz Comment of the year.
No I don't care that it's only March.
@Sakura They're cards, not carts.
@Menchi187 cartridges
I thought this was just some sort of joke when I saw it reported elsewhere but it's actually true... x_x I'm tempted to try it now.
I wonder why they started doing this now and not with the 3DS? And I hope this coating doesn't end up damaging the games after a while?
Good thing you explained how you found this little fact out, for a minute there i wondered whether or not taste-testing a cartridge was a standard part of game reviewing...
@Maxz Seconded for comment of the year. We need an award for this.
@Damo Maaaaaaaybe
@Sakura No, Game Cards.
@Menchi187 Well, if we're being THAT pedantic, it would be more correct to say "game card" without the capitals, but I don't really care. If a term exists in common usage, then semantics are irrelevant.
The Guardian and The Telegraph call them cartridges. This very site called uses the term "cartridge" as well as "game card."
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/02/nintendo-switch-game-cartridges-taste-bitter
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/03/02/nintendo-switch-game-cartridges-taste-revolting/
It will be a lonely Pedant's Revolt.
Wow Nintendo, the only reason why I got the Switch obviously was to taste test it, I'm deeply disappointed in you
I think this is brilliant. It weird what gets outed by popular culture.
Que a hundred licking meme's and News pieces on 'cart licking'
What a way to get the zeitgeist Nintendo. o/
@OorWullie Us gamers are a weird sort. It was bound to happen sooner or later. <3
@Maxz Your post slayed me. <3
So I guess Splatoon 2's gamecard will taste exactly as we imagine the ink would? WELP! This totally beats out the VR experience.
I don't know why they didn't just make the carts bigger...seems like they would be pretty easy to lose.
Soon… otaku will band together to host a Nintendo Switch Game Card Taste Testing Festival and further contribute to Japan's declining population without resorting to famine or genocide.
Oh boy, this is it, for the next 30 years, "you have to give your Switch cart a lick" will be as broadly accepted an urban legend as "you have to blow in your NES cart first!"
This is pretty awesome
My life is complete.
@sillygostly
NintendoLife "Talking Point", March 2, 2043
Japan's Collectors Going to Great Lengths for First Edition Switch Cartrdges (A discerning taste...)
[snip] the most dedicated collectors know that the first edition print of Breath of the Wild tastes better than later editions. In fact it was the only Switch pressing to use thalmadoxolicidethol15 instead of the later used monothelixodelecdendrazine12 found on nearly all other titles, including succeeding shipments of Breath of the Wild. The most serious of collectors will taste hundreds of BotW carts to find that one rare first print, and the current selling price is upward toward 800,00Y
Scrubbing all my game cards when I get them! Hahaha.
I wonder if they've done the same to the Joy-Con to stop you eating it during the 1-2 Switch sandwich game? Please test.
I thought this was going to be some kind of a joke, but it actually does make some sense.
I 100% know i will be tasting my game cards when i get them tonight.
As long as the Switch cartridges aren't fried, this should totally work. Nearly EVERYTHING tastes better fried.
Haha I'm definitely trying this!
I love the internet and all the people on it. "Hey, we purposefully made this taste horrible, so don't lick it, but you probably won't listen to me anyway - will you?"
The Legend of Zelda: This Lick is your Last
I'm tempted to lick the cartridge, but at the same time will be filled with regret once I do it.
@Tyranexx I used to think that until I tried the fried twinkie/fried brownie thing.....I learned there are limits to what frying can make palatable
@Deadlyblack Are you certain it doesn't fill you with......DETERMINATION??
Ok....sigh I'll show myself the door now....
...Why is this ne-....ugh, forget it.
This is the same chemical that's often found in things like household cleaners to deter children from tasting them. Wonder if it's just as disgusting to pets as well?
Never have I wanted to taste a gamecard so badly.
@Frosty_09 When Fahey went in for the 3rd time i lost it.
@Asaki "I don't know why they didn't just make the carts bigger...seems like they would be pretty easy to lose."
Is he joking? I can't tell if he's joking.
But I always taste my cartridges to make sure I'm comfortable with them, like a dog circles his spot before he sleeps. This might be a deal-breaker for me, if I can't trust my Switch games.
...Why are supposedly rational adults testing this?
Welp, I'm never buying a used Switch game.
I LIVE ON PRE-OWNED GAMES!
I LIVE ON THEM!
i actually found this helpful.
its not going to necessarily stop me from attempting to eat one of these. as im no newcomer to eating games. when you guys have swallowed a sega cd game complete in box like i have, then you come talk to me.
"VIA kotaku"
WOW SHOCKER.
@NEStalgia: I'll agree about fried Twinkies since I don't even care for them in their original form, but the only fried brownie I've ever had was quite palatable.
I heard about this last night via GoNintendo and of course the first thing I had to do was lick my DS and 3DS carts to see if they tasted like anything. Supposedly this originated over on Giant Bomb when Jeff Gerstmann accidentally put Zelda in his mouth for a second. I think it's amazing how one idiot can influence a whole fanbase of other idiots, some of whom never even realized the first idiot exsted.
Now I'm wondering how often these people get nostalgic over the paint chips they'd eaten back in their childhood days, and whether they still indulge every so often.
My main worry would be that it makes the plastic age poorly? Idk, but the first thing i thought of was how old CD games used faulty components and are now rotting...
Lol, thanks for the warning!
"Denatonium, usually available as denatonium benzoate (under trade names such as BITTERANT-b, BITTER+PLUS, Bitrex or Aversion) and as denatonium saccharide (BITTERANT-s), is the most bitter chemical compound known, with bitterness thresholds of 0.05 ppm for the benzoate and 0.01 ppm for the saccharide. It was discovered in 1958 during research on local anesthetics by MacFarlan Smith of Edinburgh, Scotland, and registered under the trademark Bitrex. Dilutions of as little as 10 ppm are unbearably bitter to most humans. Denatonium salts are usually colorless and odorless solids but are often traded as solutions. They are used as aversive agents (bitterants) to prevent inappropriate ingestion. Denatonium is used in denatured alcohol, antifreeze, nail biting preventions, respirator mask fit-testing, animal repellents, liquid soaps, and shampoos. It is not known to pose any long-term health risks."
— Wikipedia
@Maxz what a brilliantly stupid thing to say! Well said!
Sometimes when my cartridges get dirty, I wipe them down with a damp towel, will this chemical wash off onto my hands then?
Who puts a gamecard in their mouth aside from slobbering infants? Lol
@BakaKnight I guess your cat wanted to find out what gigabytes were.
@ProjectCafe
YES indeed, my physical-media comrade!
.....whom I know only via avatar whilst stumbling around on the internet...
@BaffleBlend
I foresee an arm's race between
bitter-chemical research
and veteran game-lickers.
What I want to know is if Nintendo had the brilliance to do the same with the microSD card that comes with the Switch.
They're tiny enough to pop a handful at once and been around since the original DS.
*Reminisces back to when 2GB was nigh-unfillable.
Also, YES I've known Switch games were embittered for weeks,
and NO I'd only thought to google people intentionally licking them just now.
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