Can you wash off the bittering agent? The article does not specify and I want to know for…hypothetical reasons
They're computer chips, not regular chips silly.
Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)
21–30 of 284 posts
Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)
#22This is the same chemical (denatonium benzoate) that's used in fingernail-biting-prevention aids like nail polishes; it's very bitter, but non-toxic.
Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)
#23I 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…
Just FYI if you actually want to taste it, the bitterness is in the sticker, not the cartridge itself.
Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)
#24Save you a click:
“A bittering agent (Denatonium Benzoate) has also been applied to the game card,”
To prevent children from eating them.
Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 eve…
Sony is older than Apple and was one of Steve Jobs' main inspirations. He even wanted to make everyone wear uniforms (which Sony and Nintendo still did then) - that's where his same outfit every day habit came from.
They weren't focused back then, but neither was Apple.
Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)
#26I learned about this when it first came out and Jeff Gerstmann just shoved one in his mouth.
Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)
#27I 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.
>Did Sony do this with the Vita cartridges?
Well, wonder no longer. I just licked a PS Vita copy of World of Final Fantasy and it only tastes faintly of plastic.
Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 eve…
It's not entirely about the business structure or its fundamental revenue sources. Don't think like an accountant here, it's about the brand. In terms of being the top-tier tech and hardware firm of your nation, Sony is Japan's Apple. It's a strong household name too, regardless of their conglomerate style being close to Microsoft.
Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
...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.
Can confirm, was about 30 seconds. It bound to my lips for a bit but you can just lick that off.
Article was not wrong about the taste.
Re: Nintendo Switch game cartridges taste offensively bad (2017)
#30The same bitterant has been used in anti-freeze for about a decade now to help prevent poisonings of children and animals. It is also used in air duster cans, which I've found annoying because it can go from your keyboard to your fingers.