{"id":1169002,"date":"2026-02-12T10:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T10:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=554646"},"modified":"2026-02-12T10:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T10:05:08","slug":"nintendo-switch-2-cartridges-designed-to-be-spit-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nintendo-switch-2-cartridges-designed-to-be-spit-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Nintendo Switch 2 cartridges designed to be spit out"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure> <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/nintendo-switch-2-cartridges-designed-to-be-spit-out.png\" \/><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Nintendo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/2017\/3\/1\/14784140\/nintendo-switch-cartridges-taste-awful-psa\">uses a bitterant called denatonium benzoate applied to its Nintendo Switch cartridges<\/a> to dissuade people from putting cartridges in their mouths. It\u2019s a substance that tastes absolutely foul, often used in similar situations \u2014 to keep people from consuming things they shouldn\u2019t be, like antifreeze. While a Nintendo Switch cartridge might not be poisonous, you could choke on it. Children, especially, are at risk; they put all sorts of things in their mouths.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">A Nintendo spokesperson confirmed to Polygon in 2017 that it uses this non-toxic coating to \u201cto avoid the possibility of accidental ingestion.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">With the Nintendo Switch 2 announcement, it\u2019s natural to wonder, <em>What does a Nintendo Switch 2 cartridge taste like?<\/em> Probably quite the same. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamespot.com\/articles\/switch-2-carts-still-taste-bad-designed-purposefully-to-be-spat-out\/1100-6530649\/\">Nintendo technical director Takuhiro Dohta<\/a> didn\u2019t confirm that it\u2019s denatoium benzoate, but he did say that it\u2019s designed so that if you put it in your mouth you\u2019ll spit it out. He advised not to try tasting it in an interview with GameSpot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">\u201cWe don&#8217;t want anybody to be at risk of any unwanted consumption,\u201d Dohta said. \u201cWe have indeed made it so that if it enters your mouth, you&#8217;ll spit it out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Nintendo wasn\u2019t offering taste samples of Switch 2 cartridges <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/nintendo\/23899504\/nintendo-switch-2-release-date-power-name-games\">during Nintendo\u2019s console preview event<\/a>, and it\u2019s unclear yet if <em>anyone<\/em> has tasted the cartridge. We\u2019ll all likely have to wait until the console is released on June 5 to consider for our selves if we want to find out by putting one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/nintendo-switch-2\/551684\/game-prices-mario-kart-world\">$80 cartridges<\/a> in our own mouths. It sounds like Dohta hasn\u2019t \u2014 and won\u2019t \u2014 be salivating at the chance to lick <em>Mario Kart World<\/em>, though: \u201cWhen the Nintendo Switch was being developed, I did lick it once, but never again. I can&#8217;t believe that other people are trying that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/news\/554646\/nintendo-switch-2-still-taste-bad\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nintendo uses a bitterant called denatonium benzoate applied to its Nintendo Switch cartridges to dissuade people from putting cartridges in their mouths. It\u2019s a substance that tastes absolutely foul, often used in similar situations \u2014 to keep people from consuming things they shouldn\u2019t be, like antifreeze. While a Nintendo Switch cartridge might not be poisonous, you could choke on it. Children, especially, are at risk; they put all sorts of things in their mouths. A Nintendo spokesperson confirmed to Polygon in 2017 that it uses this non-toxic coating to \u201cto avoid the possibility of accidental ingestion.\u201d With the Nintendo Switch 2 announcement, it\u2019s natural to wonder, What does a Nintendo Switch 2 cartridge taste like? Probably quite the same. Nintendo technical director Takuhiro Dohta didn\u2019t&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nintendo-switch-2-cartridges-designed-to-be-spit-out\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1169003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1169002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nintendo Switch 2 cartridges designed to be spit out | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nintendo uses a bitterant called denatonium benzoate applied to its Nintendo Switch cartridges to dissuade people from putting cartridges in their mouths.\" 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