Nintendo: Sweet games, bitter taste

Nintendo is allegedly applying a bitter coating to its game cards to prevent kids from swallowing it by mistake.

new nintendo 2ds xl
The new Nintendo 2DS XL is available in Europe and North America on 28 July. Nintendo

If you have any intention to take a bite out of a Nintendo game card because you find the games just too "yummy", we would advise you to refrain as Nintendo is allegedly applying a bitter coating to all its game cards to prevent kids from swallowing it by mistake.

This apparently "bitter" discovery came to light when the co-founder of a gaming blog called Giant Bomb, tweeted that the he chose to review the Nintendo cartridges through a very unorthodox way. Instead of purveying the content, he just went ahead and licked it. However bizarre it may sound after doing so, he took to popular social media platform Twitter to share his weird review, "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."

This took the social media by storm, triggerring a flurry of questions on the weird review. Upon being enquired for the same by the gaming site Kotaku, Nintendo replied, "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."

However, before you cry foul and shout it is a case of poisoning, Nintendo said that the bittering agent "is non-toxic", in nature. The substance that they are using to coat the cartridges is called Denatonium, which is an extremely bitter tasting chemical that's primarily used in anti-nail biting treatments.

This article was first published on March 6, 2017
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