Well folks, it looks like Nintendo may have another wet fart of a console on their hands if our early tests are any indication. When we first saw this rumour floating around on Reddit we had to look into it ourselves, and I’m sad to say that it’s completely true: the Nintendo Switch instantly shatters if you run over it with your car.

While the Nintendo Switch can be carried inside a car fairly easily, or left unattended on the bonnet or hood of a car without too much trouble, it’s when you place it under the wheel and crush it that all the trouble starts. And that’s when you start to think — did Nintendo test this thing at all?

It’s easy to make up stuff like this in a desperate attempt to get some pre-release clicks, but we’ve been testing this console for two days now and the proof is incontrovertible. Once the car wheel hits the Switch and the ton or more of pressure is exerted, the screen instantly shatters and the entire unit explodes, sending shards of circuitry and electronics everywhere.

Appalling stuff. Quite frankly, Nintendo should be ashamed.

We’re not amateurs. We’ve tried the same thing in dozens of ways — running over it forwards, running over it backwards, hurling it from an overpass onto a busy freeway and observing the results. We even flagged down a passing cement truck and persuaded the driver to run her 30-ton rig into this supposed “console” at top speed.

The result? Bits of the Switch scattered all over the road, and not a scratch on the cement truck. Is this for real?

It’s always the same, and frankly we’re astounded that Nintendo didn’t pick this one up before they rushed this thing out to launch. Do we have another Nintendo Wii wrist-strap controversy on our hands?

You can easily try this for yourself when the Switch launches this week, but you probably won’t have to go out of your way to make it happen — this is the sort of thing that crops up in everyday use. It could happen to anybody, anywhere, at any time: if you’re playing the Nintendo Switch, there’s every chance you could accidentally run over it with your car. And where will you be then? That’s the sort of question Nintendo has to answer.

We contacted Nintendo to see if they could offer some kind of explanation, but they declined to comment. Rushing to fix the problem in a day one patch, or hitting the panic button at finally being exposed? We’ll keep you informed.