Nintendo Switch cartridges have sparked an unusual interest among gamers – licking and tasting them. The company has addressed the issue, warning against consuming the cartridges due to their bitter taste.
According to Nintendo’s Takuhiro Dohta, “we don’t want anybody to be at risk of any unwanted consumption.” To address this concern, the company embedded each cartridge with a bitter substance that causes users to spit it out if ingested. This mechanism is intended to prevent accidental ingestion by children or anyone else who might swallow the cartridges.
Dohta advises against licking the cartridges, while Kouichi Kawamoto expressed his shock at people trying to lick them during development. The company’s warning comes as the Nintendo Switch 2 launch approaches.
The bitter taste of the cartridges has been reported by some users who have accidentally licked them, with descriptions ranging from unpleasantly bad to “like suffering from a small disease”. Nintendo’s efforts to prevent accidental ingestion have led some individuals to joke about recording themselves licking the cartridges for humorous purposes. However, it appears that many gamers have indeed tried licking their Switch carts, and the results are not pleasant.
Source: https://mynintendonews.com/2025/04/08/nintendo-has-designed-switch-2-cartridges-to-be-spit-out