Remember the days when consoles took humungous cartridges and it became almost tradition to blow into them occasionally to ensure their ongoing health and happiness? Well, it turns out that Nintendo doesn't want you to do that anymore.
As posted by Nintendo's Twitter support page (and spotted by the folks over at Automaton), it's been advised that you shouldn't blow into the Switch's cartridge slot, as doing so may cause saliva to stick to the terminals and therefore eventually cause rust. Crikey.
Fully translated, the tweets read:
"Inside of game card slots, there are contactors that read the game cards. If you try to clean this area with a cotton swab or insert a damaged game card, you could possibly damage the card reader. Please do not touch the inside of the game card slot.
"If dust gets into the game card slot, use a vacuum cleaner to clean it. Do not breathe into it or similar. Saliva may adhere to the contactors and cause rust or corrosion."
Frankly, this goes against everything we've ever known. Surely everyone has blown into a cartridge or cartridge slot at some point in their lives? If that doesn't work, then what next? Heck, even Nintendo's own commercial for Super Mario Bros.' 25th Anniversary showcased a young lad blowing into the cartridge.
What do you make of Nintendo's advice here? Have you blown into your Switch cartridge slot to rid it of dust? Let us know with a comment down below.
[source twitter.com, via automaton-media.com]
Comments 49
What’s good enough for the NES…
It has a dust cover so why would anyone need to?
Got it, only licking the cartridge slot is ok👍
It's well known to console collectors that doing this will only work short-term and will eventually screw up your cartridges and consoles due to corrosion.
In any case I've never even had any problems with the Switch not reading cartridges, even on my launch-day model, so the thought of doing this never even came to my mind.
Yeah we've all done it but also can you imagine the accumulated volume of saliva that was blown into nes carts over the years....
I’ve been blowing since the Atari. Always solved my problems and not created new ones. Think I’d struggle to get my Harry into the game card slot
cant lick the cartridges, cant blow on the slot. whats the point anymore
Had to use IPA several times already to clean it, even so the Switch is 99.9% of the time docked and the port is closed.
And this is why I always cover up my consoles with dust protection when not using. Leaving out to the elements isn't good. Dust is a big no no.
Let's be honest, blowing into the cartridge is something you did less frequently with SNES games, and seldom did with N64 games. The connector technology improved over time, and it's something I've never needed to do with GBA or DS games.
Yeah I don’t like doing it because I know saliva will just build up overtime, and that’s just gross to think about, plus it has a cover so I never see the need too anyway.
I suppose I'll just go back to playing Waifu Uncovered like a normal weirdo.
They’ve been saying that since the NES days; did they think we’d listen now?! 😆
SNES is alive and well after decades of blowies........oops
Caught myself doing this a few times....least I don't have to do the pop-slam in the NES anymore.
Luckily don't think I ever needed to do it in the first place for the Switch unlike the NES, SNES and N64!
Instructions unclear, my Switch is now inside a vacuum cleaner.
Nintendo needs to release some Cleaning Kit cartridge for the Switch.
No one can tell me what I can and cannot blow.
@boxyguy eyeballing them in a display case, imagining you're licking them?
@HeeHo because dust particles can be as small as 0.001 microns which is invisible to naked eye and can only be viewed through a microscope.
I hadn't ever blow into a cartridge or system since the N64 and GBA era so whatever Nintendo did with these newer cartridges and consoles they did it right.
Old news. This is only an issue with the NES, and even then it’s a problem with the connections in the cartridge slot, not dust in the cartridge. Removing and reinserting the cartridge, or investing in a top-loading model, are all that’s needed.
@Picola-Wicola the witcher complete edition languages packs are free, not the game itself.
That was a fine example of collective ignorance....blowing into cartridges and NES Control Decks.
If I feel like my cart slot is dirty I have a mini vac I use in combo with canned air!
This slot might as well not exist for me. I'm digital only. So no worries here. I think I never even opened the cap on it xD
I’ve never had a Switch cartridge fail to initialise. It’s not a thing, right?
This news was very helpful.
@RupeeClock
Hmm you are right, i mostly did it with Gameboy Hames, seldom with Snes and as you say, nearly never with the N64 and never with the GBA/NDS.
Than i've learned that it is a nogo and never again did it.
I just use a can of air.
That's why it's best to just lick the game cards just before slotting them in. Yum.
@boxyguy
Lick the cartridge slot?
Anyways, I thought it was well-known that moisture and electricity doesn't mix?
@Tasuki Srsly, if you can afford a Switch, you can spring $5 for canned air.
So the problem isn't blowing in them, the problem is people being slobbery mouth breathers.
Well moisture and electronics… it’s a match 💞
My breath is pretty humid
People are really still doing this? Good grief everyone...
It was always the taking the cartridge out and putting it back in that made it work. The iconic blowing on the contacts to fix it only caused problems.
It is such a shame, though, as blowing seemed to work.
I haven't actually used the cartridge slot on my Switch, but did used to blow on cartridges all the time until I found out that it was bad for them.
Thing is, there's really no need to blow into the slot in the first place. There's already a cover on the console to cover it and protect it from any sort of dust or debris.
@HeeHo
It's probably where people choose to store their Game Cards that might pose a problem.
haven't done that since the 64. have had a handful of times "sorry can't read it" but reinserting it worked every time.
Nintendo didn't want you to do that back with the NES either lol. But nowadays it really "shouldn't" be necessary, otherwise there's probably a larger issue...
@Wheatly dumping saliva out of cartridges.
Everybody knows that blowing into an NES cartridge doesn’t actually help, it’s just the action of taking it out and trying again, but also everybody knows that it does help and reinserting the cartridge over and over doesn’t ever work until you blow into the cartridge and then it works on the first try.
@smeggysmeg that sounds so wrong man....lol
This article blows...
Blowing in it is crazy. I just put my switch in the dishwasher once a week to keep it clean and it has worked perfectly since 2017
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