Recently,Nintendotook to social media to release a series of public service announcements to remind Switch console users to not make mistakes that could permanently damage their consoles. The announcements arrived during a big time forNintendo, with games such asThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomalready on the market, and others such asPikmin 4and theSuper Mario RPGremake right around the corner.Though the Switch has been on the market for six years, it has not been without its share of user errors and controversy. In light of the widely reported Joy-Con drift issues,Nintendo launched a repair subscription servicein Japan last year. The service, which costs roughly 2,000 yen or $1.99 per year, covers Joy-Con drifting and other issues that would warrant a Switch console to be sent in for repairs. Though that program remains exclusive to Japan at the time of writing, that has not stopped Nintendo from releasing maintenance guidelines for users to follow.RELATED:Gamer Finds Missing Nintendo DS in a Surprising Place After 16 YearsRecently, the nintendo_cs Twitter account advised users to avoid touching the inside of the Switch’s Game Card slot. In a diagram, Nintendo stated that the Game Card slot can be damaged by inserting a cotton swab in an ill-advised attempt to clean it. The slot can also be damaged by a Switch Game Card that has broken terminals, which are the brass-colored strips located on the back. Nintendo added that the Game Card slot can be cleaned by using a vacuum to suck up any dust and to avoid blowing on the slot, as saliva could damage the console. While older gamers may recallstories of blowing on NES cartridgesto get them to work, Nintendo’s modern advice proves otherwise in this regard.
In response to the graphs, a handful of Twitter users replied with a few questions. One user asked if similar devices such as compressed air or a portable air blower would be useful as well as a vacuum. While some gamers prefer to download and store Switch games on the system ora microSD card with sufficient space, the fact that Nintendo still has to release these types of warnings shows that the demand for physical media remains constant.
Though it remains to be seen if the Nintendo Switch’s successor will have the same Game Card compatibility,the developer portal was recently updatedto accommodate the system. Nintendo has not officially revealed any details about the Switch successor’s specifications, pricing, or name, and only time will tell what those will be.
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