Death of my DS

When I was thrifting regularly it was impossible to find an original Nintendo DS in decent shape. It seems as though Nintendo made them out of hopes and dreams, because every one I saw was crushed or broken. I did eventually find one that was in ok condition and it functioned completely. Well, it did, until a few weeks ago when it took a short tumble from where I had it packed away in my closet. It had been living quite comfortably in a padded case for years. When it came tumbling out of my closet, while I was searching through my guitar pedals, I didn't think much about it. There was no noise or any other sign that would have told me something was amiss.

I've was playing Mario Kart DS on my 3DS, that unsurprisingly also with a broken hinge, when it started having trouble reading the cartridge. I decided to get a second opinion, which just so happened to be my fully functioning original Nintendo DS. As soon as I grabbed the case I could hear something rattling around inside, and my heart skipped a beat. That last part could have been a symptom of my anxiety disorder, I can't tell anymore. Regardless, when I opened the case, I saw the top screen was shifted, and many little silver pieces strewn about the case. After the initial shock I decided to go ahead and test the cartridge anyway, but SURPRISE! Nintendo designed the original DS to implode when the already brittle shell falls apart.

There is a certain resistance needed from the top screen to tell the system to turn on, without that it simply won't. In the event of a bump or tumble, the top screen breaks loose, severing the screen cable and thus renders the whole system useless. That is unless you modify it by adding a resistor to create a DS Boy Advance like I did with the previous DS I had, although I bought it with the shell already having been shattered. I actually like the DS Boy Advance, but I don't need two! I want a fully functional original DS. Sure, all the parts are there and I could buy a replacement shell, a top ribbon cable (which I actually might still have one from the one I converted to a DS Boy Advance) and get it back up and running, but that's just another Trigger's Broom scenario. Yes, I'm using that gag again.

I know the DS is twenty years old now, but no other console has been this fragile. I guess I'll just have to order the parts from over seas to fix it up. It would have been nice if they actually built a handheld console that would have lasted, but that's the way it goes. Not like they didn't have twenty years of experience with previous handhelds that were built like absolute tanks. Nintendo, do better.