For a few days now, rumors and reports have been circulating that the cartridges for the new Nintendo Switch taste really bad when you lick them or put them in your mouth. The Verge can now confirm that, yes, licking a Switch cart is the absolute worst. Don’t lick your Switch cartridges.
It never actually occurred to our reviewers to lick the cartridges we tested, because honestly who does that. But the internet could not be ignored. Here’s GiantBomb’s Jeff Gerstmann putting a cart in his mouth and regretting it almost immediately:
We had Verge executive editor Dieter Bohn lick The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to taste for himself. “It tastes like insecticide,” he told the staff in Slack. “It is literally the worst thing.” To compare, I licked an iPod Nano, a Logitech Harmony remote, a Fitbit, and an LG Watch Sport. I can confirm that all those gadgets are inoffensive to the palate, ranging from plasticky to metallic depending on the materials.
Later, Bohn added, “It won’t go away. I don’t want to do this again.”
IGN’s Alanah Pearce said via Twitter that Nintendo purposefully made the cartridges taste awful so children won’t eat them, which I concede is gross but smart. Kids love putting tiny objects in their mouths, and this tactic might prevent games from being destroyed.
Questions, like whether or not all Switch games or just first-party games taste terrible, still need answering. In the meantime, Nintendo sent us a statement confirming that the taste is by design:
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.
We’ll be testing out how more gadgets taste on Snapchat if you’d like to follow along.
Update March 1st, 9:30 PM ET: Article updated with statement from Nintendo.
Comments
I had no temptation to taste one of them until Jeff did. I have to know just how bad it is.
By tomance on 03.01.17 12:06pm
But they smell good.
By lolametro on 03.01.17 12:09pm
ONCE AGAIN THE VERGE IS BLINDLY HATING ON NINTENDO.
By Stone Cold Dan Quinn on 03.01.17 12:13pm
don’t be so distasteful!
By Alkyne on 03.01.17 9:18pm
I have a funny feeling the intention here was to prevent deaths (you know, from choking on the things) instead of simply trying to prevent a game getting damaged.
By Macrike on 03.01.17 12:15pm
Kids are easy (and fun) to make. I’m sure this is about games…
By Acaua! on 03.01.17 12:18pm
I’m pretty sure your wife will disagree with you on the easy part.
By OpssYourBad on 03.01.17 3:31pm
Probably on the fun part too.
By ck17 on 03.01.17 6:42pm
Welp, that ruins it for me. Preorder cancelled.
By Daws001 on 03.01.17 12:17pm
I come to The Verge for tasteful reporting like this.
By gQjXO6ZS on 03.01.17 12:20pm
Tasteful….I see what you did there
By VoxMediaUser1831837 on 03.01.17 1:34pm
Why is it no one licked this to see how it tastes? Way more interested in seeing Dieter, Welch, or Dan give a review on this.
By Bobby.J on 03.01.17 12:46pm
Now lick a regular SD card.
By oghowie on 03.01.17 12:58pm
How does it feel on the way back out?
Or did you chicken out and just spit it out?
By pj_camp on 03.01.17 1:14pm
Did anyone try a game besides Zelda: BOTW? Because I’d expect them to be flavored based on the game…
For instance, I’d imagine that Zelda: BOTW just tastes like a Red Potion
By mykie on 03.01.17 1:37pm
But what if you blow on it?
By timmmmmmmmmy on 03.01.17 1:37pm
IT’S ABOUT EDIBILITY IN JOURNALISM
By The White Tiger on 03.01.17 1:58pm
Article is not about Trump, so I liked it.
By Tonyxl2 on 03.01.17 3:00pm
I wonder if the "nasty taste" is toxic in nature, because that would be problematic as well…
By mbrandonlee on 03.01.17 4:45pm
Would be highly unusual and contradictory if they created a child safety measure with an unsafe chemical.
By The White Tiger on 03.01.17 5:04pm
Unsafe?
There is nailpolish with a similar taste, for kids who bite their nails. It’s non-toxic and just tastes bad.
By Marv89 on 03.02.17 4:29am
I’m not sure I follow you, because you seem to be agreeing with my response to the poster above me. I was saying just about the same thing you are (that this is likely a harmless bitterant).
By The White Tiger on 03.02.17 7:29am
I was told back in the olden days you gave the cartridges blow jobs, but you never licked them. I guess it’s supposed to jump start them when they start aging. Note to self…blow jobs help with symptoms related to aging; of game cartridges.
By MudBean on 03.01.17 5:39pm
This seals their doom. Nintendoooooomed!
By tipoo on 03.01.17 5:57pm
A haiku:
Are the rumors true
Let’s ask Dieter to find out
Pun revenge is fun
By Crabbyprime on 03.01.17 8:17pm