When the Nintendo Switch was released in 2017, a strange phenomenon occurred: players deliberately licked the game cartridges, only to find that the taste was extremely bitter. Nine years later, the quirk is happening again. Recently, a Japanese user claimed on social media that the smell of Switch 2 cartridges is similar to the cherry blossom buds of the season, triggering a new wave of follow-up.
The user posted: "My dad said, 'Sakura buds are delicious, try them.' So I tried them, and they turned out to be terribly bitter. They tasted like tannins and albumin, or like the back of a Nintendo Switch game cartridge." This metaphor quickly attracted widespread attention.
Stimulated by this description, a large number of netizens found nearby Switch or Switch 2 cartridges to try. The results were the same as in 2017 - tasters expressed utter disgust at the cassette's persistent bitter taste and warned others not to follow suit. One person who tried it wrote: "Ah - disgusting!!! It's so painful!!!"
Back in March 2017, Nintendo confirmed that Switch cartridges were intentionally coated with a bitter substance to deter people, especially children, from ingesting them. The substance, denatonium benzoate, is a nontoxic compound commonly used to prevent accidental ingestion. The Switch 2 cartridge continues this design.
It should be noted that denatonium benzoate is an artificial substance and is not naturally found in cherry blossom tree buds. The bitterness of the tree buds itself is not related to the bitterness of the cassette.