As someone who is physically pained by the sight of new tech being damaged in any way, this video of a Donkey Kong Bananza enthusiast painting his Switch 2 cartridge yellow and then inserting that cartridge into his console to disastrous effect is genuinely uncomfortable to watch.
As a brand new Switch 2 owner, I'm in the thick of that stage of new tech ownership where I don't even feel comfortable handling the console at all at risk of the naturally occurring oils in my freshly washed hands being too abrasive for its delicate, newborn plastic shell. This is the reason the whole Switch 2 staplegate debacle was so hard for me to stomach, even if it did have a happy ending.
Anyway, this is all to say, I can't believe a TikToker going by Gardner was comfortable taking apart his copy of Donkey Kong Bananza, desecrating it with a can of yellow spray paint, and then sticking it into his Switch 2.
"Gamers are spray painting their copies of Donkey Kong Bananza in order to match the aesthetic of Donkey Kong Bananza. Now, you might be asking, 'Who's doing this?'," Gardner says in the below video compilation of a series of highly upsetting TikToks. "It's me."
Edited a few of this guy’s TikToks together to create a horrific movie.
— @davidturners.tcgs.co (@davidturners.tcgs.co.bsky.social) 2025-07-22T19:55:35.074Z
"I can hear the comments now," Gardner says. "'Gardner, you're damaging a $70 game. Gardner, you're just going to get chips of paint inside of your Nintendo Switch 2.'"
YES. YES, that is actually what I'm thinking! But then he does it anyway, apparently because, "maybe it's worth it to me."
In a subsequent video, Gardner is seen examining his poor, unsuspecting Switch 2, which now has a painted copy of Donkey Kong Bananza "absolutely stuck" inside of it.
In a final update shared to Gardner's TikTok on Monday (included in the compilation above), he takes a big ol' pair of pliers and tries wrenching the cartridge free from his Switch 2, and you can just about hear the anguished cries of all parties involved, even as Gardner himself seems astonishingly unbothered. "Hmm... huh," he says as his cartridge, and possibly console, appears to be permanently damaged.
"I'm chilling 'cause I'm gonna be playing the game for a while, but I'd love your suggestions [on how to get it out]," Gardner says, before peeling off a hunk of plastic from the stuck cartridge. "I also just actually broke the cartridge. Oh God."
Someone excuse me, I need to go give my Switch 2 a big, tight hug (with sanitized surgeon gloves on, of course).
