If you have ever licked or put a Switch game card in your mouth for whatever reason, you probably know that it is coated in some horrible-tasting material. Nintendo originally added this bitter material to the game cards on the first Switch to prevent children from putting the small objects in their mouths. The company has confirmed that the upcoming Switch 2 game cards include the same coating.
In an interview with Nintendo, GameSpot asked the company whether or not the coating was included in the new, upgraded batch of physical games. Nintendo says it followed the same design approach with the new cards to make them taste awful.
Nintendo’s Takuhiro Dohta says that they didn’t “want anybody to be at risk of any unwanted consumption. We have indeed made it so that if it enters your mouth, you’ll spit it out.”
The original cards were coated with denatonium benzoate. It is a repellent material that farmers use to stop animals from eating their crops. While Nintendo hasn’t confirmed that the Switch 2 makes use of the same material, it is likely the case.
I have tried to lick a Switch card, I won’t even lie. When the original console launched and everyone was discovering the repellent on the card, I tried it. I don’t recommend you do it. It tastes nasty. I probably won’t repeat the process with the new cards either.
Apart from including the bitter material, the Nintendo Switch 2 game cards are slightly different from the original. They are a different colour, they are faster and now come in two versions. You get a Game-Key Card which is a physical card that includes the licence to download the digital version of the game. You also get the full game card which is the complete game on the card that will have to be copied to the console’s internal storage in order to play it.
While there has been a bit of controversy surrounding the Game-Key Cards, I put together a full guide explaining the whole situation and why this new approach is so much better this time around.
Source: GameSpot
