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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)

#111

Post by yread »

NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #97
Alex3917 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that non-toxic does not mean edible, as the FDA recently clarified due to many people being severely poisoned from eating cakes decorated with luster dust meant for crafting. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7043a2.htm You would think that if something says non-toxic, licking it shouldn't kill you, but apparently not.

One of the basic principles of toxicology is "the dose makes the poison". From an OSHA perspective, "toxic" means (amongst other things) a mean-lethal-dose (LD50) of up to 500 mg per kilogram of bodyweight when ingested orally in lab rats. There's all kind of stuff that doesn't meet the standard of toxic that you still wouldn't want to eat.

So at LD50 of 508 mg/kg you could call it "barely non-toxic"

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

#112

Post by mywittyname »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #12
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 engin…

> I believe engine coolants are required to have it.

This has been successfully used to poison people in the past. The end result is heart failure, which is not a surprising/suspicious outcome for a large portion of people.

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

#113

Post by 323 »

cwkoss wrote: post #58
tialaramex wrote: post #53

Yes. In the EU product "denatured alcohol" for most purposes is likewise treated with the same agent. This replaces the widespread use of methanol and similar products which are poisonous (yes even if you call the product "meths" it probably isn't methanol in the EU today). The rationale is that poisoning people is not an appropriate reaction to attempted tax avoidance. Alcohol is only "denatured" because booze is ta…

Does this bitterant leave a residue when the alcohol evaporates? That seems like one benefit of methanol vs bitterant: all of the alcohol can still evaporate without depositing bitterant as a side effect. Are there bitterants that evaporate similarly to alcohol but are not toxic?

The bitterent used is so powerful, the concentration is like 0.01 ppm. So unless you are in a clean room, there will be more dust from air which deposits.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatonium

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

#114

Post by RC_ITR »

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 would disagree - No one ever really assumed Sony would go out of business from a fundamental standpoint. They may have gone through a period of diminished value and failed projects (laptops, smartphones, etc.), but the PlayStation has always been a hit, the media arm has always been a 'Top 4' player, the headphones were always category-leading, the camera sensors were always top notch, and I'm sure I'm missing many other aspects of their business. If anything that brings to mind MSFT (who's always led in core areas, but has also had periods of diminished value and failed projects).

On the other hand, many people thought Nintendo (as we know it at least) might go belly-up in the Gamecube and Wii U eras. There was real talk of them becoming a game dev with no hardware if the Switch was as much of a failure [0]. Similar to the talk around Apple post-Newton, pre-iBook.

[0]https://www.gonintendo.com/stories/376204-after-the-failure-...

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

#116

Post by chrisshroba »

tialaramex wrote: post #53

Yes. In the EU product "denatured alcohol" for most purposes is likewise treated with the same agent. This replaces the widespread use of methanol and similar products which are poisonous (yes even if you call the product "meths" it probably isn't methanol in the EU today). The rationale is that poisoning people is not an appropriate reaction to attempted tax avoidance. Alcohol is only "denatured" because booze is ta…

I'm sorry for my ignorance, but could someone give more context on this? I don't understand what "denatured alcohol" is, how it relates to tax avoidance, or what illegal use people are finding for it?

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

#117

Post by capableweb »

eternityforest wrote: post #87
njovin wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 waitin…

The early 2000s were like the peak of tech. Video games are kinda just OK now. The actual experience was always like 70% set and setting. The game companies put a lot of effort into the games themselves but where are the LAN parties and release events? Where is.... any other aspect of gaming except the games? Esports youtubers don't really replace split screen multiplayer.

> the LAN parties

I dearly miss LAN parties so much. Used to help coordinate one recurring one back in early 2000s. We had so much fun when Battlefield Vietnam was released and everyone was playing it together while sitting next to each other and speaking mostly in expletives. DC++ was a huge factor as well, especially when someone with a 100GB hard-drive from the biggest city nearby arrived and could share everything they managed to pull down from the almighty broadband connection they had.

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

#118

Post by legulere »

cwkoss wrote: post #58
tialaramex wrote: post #53

Yes. In the EU product "denatured alcohol" for most purposes is likewise treated with the same agent. This replaces the widespread use of methanol and similar products which are poisonous (yes even if you call the product "meths" it probably isn't methanol in the EU today). The rationale is that poisoning people is not an appropriate reaction to attempted tax avoidance. Alcohol is only "denatured" because booze is ta…

Does this bitterant leave a residue when the alcohol evaporates? That seems like one benefit of methanol vs bitterant: all of the alcohol can still evaporate without depositing bitterant as a side effect. Are there bitterants that evaporate similarly to alcohol but are not toxic?

Here in Germany they add Butanone, which evaporates at very similar temperatures as ethanol so it’s very difficult to purify the ethanol even with a lab setup.

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

#119

Post by isk517 »

magneticnorth wrote: post #100
setgree wrote: post #19

Can you wash off the bittering agent? The article does not specify and I want to know for…hypothetical reasons

According to another comment, the bittering agent is in the sticker, so presumably you could remove the sticker before consuming your switch cartridge.

Forgetting to remove the sticker before adding the cartridge is a common mistake many new and inexperienced chefs make.

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

#120

Post by lstodd »

kunai wrote: post #103
dont__panic wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or in a pinch, 99% grain alcohol. Source: some friends make drinks with grain alcohol, and then don't want it any more after they make those drinks (gee, I wonder why?). Provides an essentially endless supply of alcohol for cleaning purposes for me.

If you're using alcohol for cleaning 70% concentrations are better as they actually kill and lyse pathogens at that concentration, while 99% will just desiccate them, allowing for reactivation when in a moist environment.

My hands, from working with NF/USP Isopropyl alcohol tend to disagree. It desiccates, defats, and generally kills everything in sight.
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