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Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)

polygon.com

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Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)

#11

Post by arrrg »

mikestew wrote: post #6
llbeansandrice wrote: post #5

I was unfortunately reminded this when swapping out game cartridges on a flight once. I stuck one in my mouth a bit to hold it while I messed with the carrying case and other cartridge and had the awful bitter taste for the rest of the flight.

...and had the awful bitter taste for the rest of the flight. Thanks for saving my lunch by letting me know that it is not just a momentary bit of unpleasantness, because I was about to go grab one from the Switch case here at 11:46 in the morning just to see how bad it is. EDIT: curiosity got the best of me. If I can eat a green persimmon, I can handle a Nintendo cartridge. A little lick of the sticker tells me not…

Eh, when I got a Switch last year I tried it out right away (after reading such articles in the past) and if you just give it a careful lick you will immediately notice it but it’s not as if it’s lingering around forever.

Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)

#12

Post by micromacrofoot »

countvonbalzac wrote: post #7

Probably so little kids don't eat them

Yeah it says that in the article.

“A bittering agent (Denatonium Benzoate) has also been applied to the game card,” the spokesperson said, adding that Nintendo recommends keeping Switch cartridges away from children “to avoid the possibility of accidental ingestion.”

It's somewhat common practice, some products will even say "contains a bittering agent to prevent ingestion" somewhere on the container. I believe engine coolants are required to have it.

Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)

#13

Post by jmole »

RC_ITR wrote: post #4
MBCook wrote: post #3

I know this isn’t new but I still love that Nintendo did this. It’s such a Nintendo thing. They’re a toy company and think like one. Did Sony do this with the Vita cartridges? I don’t remember hearing so (and never thought to taste them?). Heh.

It's actually amazing how Nintendo's "Focus on 1P titles and make HW that is appealing to the masses" used to be its greatest disadvantage and is now probably the only reason for their existence. Kind of Japan's Apple in some ways (with SEGA unfortunately being Japan's NeXT).

Sony is Japan’s Apple if anyone is.

A company like Nintendo doesn’t seem like it has an American equivalent, and I actually can’t imagine a company like that surviving the ups and downs of the 80s/90s/00s tech cycles in the US, especially with our tendency towards M&A.

Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)

#14

Post by azeirah »

mikestew wrote: post #6
llbeansandrice wrote: post #5

I was unfortunately reminded this when swapping out game cartridges on a flight once. I stuck one in my mouth a bit to hold it while I messed with the carrying case and other cartridge and had the awful bitter taste for the rest of the flight.

...and had the awful bitter taste for the rest of the flight. Thanks for saving my lunch by letting me know that it is not just a momentary bit of unpleasantness, because I was about to go grab one from the Switch case here at 11:46 in the morning just to see how bad it is. EDIT: curiosity got the best of me. If I can eat a green persimmon, I can handle a Nintendo cartridge. A little lick of the sticker tells me not…

Oh maybe it depends per person but I'm the kind of person who needs to know how bitter it is (like you!)

And it lasted for maybe 30 seconds, maybe it's different if you realllllyyy get into it but I wouldn't advise that anyway.

Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)

#16

Post by TylerE »

jmole wrote: post #13
RC_ITR wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually amazing how Nintendo's "Focus on 1P titles and make HW that is appealing to the masses" used to be its greatest disadvantage and is now probably the only reason for their existence. Kind of Japan's Apple in some ways (with SEGA unfortunately being Japan's NeXT).

Sony is Japan’s Apple if anyone is. A company like Nintendo doesn’t seem like it has an American equivalent, and I actually can’t imagine a company like that surviving the ups and downs of the 80s/90s/00s tech cycles in the US, especially with our tendency towards M&A.

I don't get the Sony:Apple comparison at all.

If anything, Sony is Japan's Microsoft: Do a gazillion things, many of them poorly, to such a unfocused extent that some of your divisions actually end up competition with each other.

Like in Sony's case, how they've had internal battles for decades between the device side (that wants to make devices that are useful) and the content side (that wants DRM out the ass on everything)

Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)

#18

Post by kbelder »

RC_ITR wrote: post #4
MBCook wrote: post #3

I know this isn’t new but I still love that Nintendo did this. It’s such a Nintendo thing. They’re a toy company and think like one. Did Sony do this with the Vita cartridges? I don’t remember hearing so (and never thought to taste them?). Heh.

It's actually amazing how Nintendo's "Focus on 1P titles and make HW that is appealing to the masses" used to be its greatest disadvantage and is now probably the only reason for their existence. Kind of Japan's Apple in some ways (with SEGA unfortunately being Japan's NeXT).

They really are an interesting company. They are slower than Sony/MS, yet more innovative at the same time. They make a fair amount of bone-headed decisions, but I certainly trust them more than I do most other tech companies.

Especially back in the PS3/XBox360/Wii days, they seemed like the only thing stopping the VG industry from a nofun dystopian duopoly.

Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)

#20

Post by njovin »

Jaxkr wrote: post #9

I waited outside GameStop on launch day to snag a Switch with my friend. We had heard about the bittering agent applied to the cartridges by day two and immediately tasted them ourselves. Hard to believe the Switch is five years old…

I have a fond memory of camping outside a Target from ~10:00p to 6:00a when the Wii was launched. We hung out with a group of strangers in camping chairs, talked about our favorite games, and tried to keep warm. When the Starbucks bakery delivery came a few hours before the store opened the driver gave us all free pastries.

The Wii ended up being a very disappointing launch experience IMO but we had a fun time waiting for one.

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