If you are a senior Nintendo user, you may know the long-standing rumor of blowing cassettes/card slots (フーフー). Whether it’s a Gameboy or a Super Nintendo, as long as you have a cassette, if you encounter a bad connection and can’t start the game, you will naturally think of the old trick of “blowing”. Even though Nintendo tried hard to refute the rumors, saying that blowing the cassette will not fix the problem at all, there are still countless users who do not believe in evil. For this reason, Nintendo made a public announcement on Nintendo サポート, which is responsible for product services on the official Twitter account, and hope everyone will stop bragging about it. Switch can’t stand this tone.
The practice of blowing cassettes has been around for a long time, and there are various arguments to support the practice’s ability to bring problematic cassettes back to life. However, in fact, this behavior is just a rumor in the market, and its credibility is very low. There are indeed countless players who believe it to be true, which makes this ancient rumor still have its power.
Nintendo has adopted the optical disc system since the GameCube, and the reading head is hidden deep in the body. In theory, no one should think that the optical disc head should also be blown to make the disc read more smoothly. But in the Switch era, the concepts of consoles and handhelds are irrelevant, and discs have become physical cassettes that are as small as SD memory cards similar to 3DS. So this strange phenomenon has the signs of resurgence.
The action of blowing card slots has become popular among some players of Switch. The cassette body is small and not as easy to blow as the card slot. However, the behavior of blowing and blowing is undoubtedly just a rumor, but the reason for supporting players to continue to try this way is also very simple. Blow and blow, the air exhaled with the mouth can make the electronic contact possible for a short time. Recovery, the operation that basically does not cost a dime may continue to play the game for several hours, and the cost-benefit ratio is quite high. But the reality is not as simple as the player thinks, such two breaths will not save the machine, but will make the machine have a chance to fall into serious failure. It’s not ideal either.
Nintendo’s explanation is also simple, and the Twitter article basically refers to the content of the official service page. It is mentioned that there is a reader terminal for the cassette in the card slot, whether it is blown or cleaned with a cotton swab, it may cause damage to the device. The reason for the blowing is not difficult to imagine. The air blown out is more or less saliva, so it will slowly erode the card slot mechanism. Cotton swabs have lint on them, which can get stuck in the card slot and cause reading problems. So neither is a good way to clean. Of course, direct touch is also forbidden, so I won’t say much about it.
Forcibly inserting a game card when there is already a problem with the card slot may also cause damage to the card case, so this is also prohibited. That is to say, the above behaviors are serious human damage behaviors for Nintendo during maintenance. For players who value their game consoles, such behaviors must be completely avoided.
For players who have the ability to clean the card slot by themselves, it is best to use electronic contact cleaning fluid when cleaning. Pay attention to ventilation when using it, and the danger of the cleaning fluid splashing on the skin. It is best to wipe the dirt gently with a 3M cloth, too much force will cause damage.
In any case, the behavior of blowing blows is very bad. Even if there are some cases where blowing it will get better, but it is really hard to say what problems it will cause after blowing it. There are indeed problems with using cotton swabs to clean, which should be a big blind spot for players who can clean the dirty card slots by themselves.
Via:
nintendo support