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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)

#41

Post by kaladin-jasnah »

astrange wrote: post #25
TylerE wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Didn't Jobs also offer Sony to make laptops that ran OS X?

Also, random thing, but both Orbis (Playstation operating system) and OS X are based on FreeBSD.

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

#42

Post by MBCook »

amelius wrote: post #32

This type of coating is also on Duracell batteries.

I had to buy some coin cell batteries a few months ago (CR2032s or similar) and was surprised to see the package proclaiming they’d done that. Made sense, but had never thought of the need before.

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

#44

Post by KennyBlanken »

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…

What's hard to believe is that Nintendo is still milking what was already an ancient screen and SoC for all its worth, or that despite making container-ship levels of profits off the Switch, they haven't bothered to make joycons last longer than their warranty period.

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

#45

Post by tablespoon »

> People have speculated that the manufacturing process for Switch cartridges involves coating them in a layer of foul-tasting film, so as to discourage people from, well, putting the cartridges in their mouths. (Why do you think Play-Doh is so bitter and salty?)

IIRC, Play-Doh is basically flour and the salt is there as a preservative.

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

#46

Post by dlbucci »

bityard wrote: post #35

You know what happens when you tell kids/teens not to do something, right?

Well, they aren't just telling them not to do it, they are physically dissuading them from doing so. This is probably a lot more effective than a warning sticker to not put the cartridge in their mouth.

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

#47

Post by ortusdux »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #40
ortusdux wrote: post #30

The 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.

Given my friend's dog licked up a bunch of antifreeze a couple months ago, I'd say it doesn't work very well.

It's the most bitter compound know to humans, with a detectability down to 0.05 ppm, and average aversion dosing around 10ppm. Lab tests show that some animals require 100,000 times the dose before detection. This discrepancy is leveraged for another application - making rat poison repulsive to children without reducing its efficacy.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00319...

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

#48

Post by Hamuko »

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.

I haven't even put a cartridge in my mouth and I've still had to experience it. I think I swapped out some cartridges, and a moment later licked my finger for some reason. Turns out that the agent lingers on your fingers after you handle the games.
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