Nintendo Made Switch Game Cartridges Taste Really Bad

Apparently, people love putting game cartridges in their mouth. I had no idea this was a thing. Apparently, it is. Nintendo, though, is keen to discourage the practice by making the cartridges for its new console, the Switch, deliberately taste really, really bad. The first notable person to report on the foul taste of a Switch game cartridge was GiantBomb’s Jeff Gerstmann last week on Twitter:

I put that Switch cart in my mouth and I'm not sure what those things are made of but I can still taste it. Do not try this at home.

— Jeff Gerstmann (@jeffgerstmann) February 25, 2017

Gerstmann later repeated the action on a livestream, exclusive to GiantBomb subscribers., though a GIF of the video does exist:

To confirm the issue, Polygon’s Julia Alexander tested it out by popping a copy of Switch launch title Just Dance 2017 in her gob:

“It doesn’t hit you at first. It tastes just as plain and feels just as slippery as the other three cartridges. In just a few milliseconds, though, a very sour taste invades your taste buds. It smells bad; you can feel it in your throat. It’s revolting, and the only thing I can equate it to is when you’re at the dentist and a drop of sour cleaning material hits the back of your tongue. Your entire face feels it. And the taste lingers for about 20 seconds.”

Following this experiment, a Nintendo representative contacted Polygon to confirm that it has deliberately coated Switch games in a “bittering agent”:

““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.” The representative also noted that denatonium benzoate is non-toxic.”

While the move may stop kids from choking, it may also deny pleasure to a generation of orally-fixated gamers. Pros and cons.