So far the only one to fail on me is my old DS lite. One of the hinges cracked which seems to happen to a lot of people. I think the oldest Gameboy that we have working in this house is a GB Pocket which still works great.

I can not understand who you people have all these damaged or flawed DSs and GameBoys. I've dropped mine, slid them across concrete, hell, I once dropped my GBA SP down the concrete stairs of an office building. It went down one flight, bounced across the gap between the stairs (it was on something like the 20th floor, so that drop would have definitely killed it) and then went down another flight just to add some more "oh shit, NOOOOOO!" for me.

I picked it up and it was still running. I have it sitting in my desk drawer next to me.

Maybe you guys just have terrible luck or something. My portable have never had problems.

Or maybe YOU have the luck of the GODS!

[insert cheesy movie soundtrack increasing suspense]

If you'll notice, I'm only complaining about the shoulder buttons

everything else (including switch and contact-pad face buttons) has maintained funtionability

My DS Lite's L button has been shot for awhile. Probably too much Earthbound and Castlevania, which basically can require you to press L repeatedly for the majority of the game. Other than that, I've never had any problems with my Nintendo handheld gaming systems. My PSP, on the other hand, has had multiple issues over the year that is was still working.

Either way, I think the only reason I'm considering getting a 3DS on day one now is to beat a potential hardware shortage. I don't have much interest in the "launch window" games.

If you do a search on google, you'll find a ton of people with DS Lites who have a broken right hinge. It's a stress fracture from them making the hinge have such a tight fit. People speculate that is why the DSi has a loose feel to it in comparison.

I'm actually pretty damn careful with my handheld systems. If I travel with them, they are in a case if I'm not playing them. My PSP has one of those wrap around cases since I managed to get a slight scratch on the screen right after I got it. Luckily those scratches can be taken out. Being the OCD person that I am, I couldn't deal with it being there.

I don't carry my DS in my pocket that often, nor my GBA SP. I put them in a safe place in my back-pack, well-protected.


But again and again, it's ALWAYS the L button that goes out. I've went through 3 DS lites (2 through warranty, thank God) because of faulty shoulder buttons. And I had to go through another one because the touch screen of one completely fizzled out. And it fizzled out playing Trace Memory for goodness' sake! There is absolutely no heavy touch-screen action in Trace Memory!

Okay, I just realized something about the battery life.

Nintendo is including that charging cradle, and they've stated that they intend for you to keep it in sleep mode indefinitely. Basically, you play it for 3 or 4 hours that day (Really, how COULD you play it for longer in a day?) and rest it in it's cradle overnight. Voila, it's charged and ready for the next day.

Huh. I guess Nintendo outsmarted us :P

I'm still hoping that the battery life can be longer with changing the settings.

I don't know about you, but I don't think I would have StreetPass and SpotPass on all the time. I'm only going to have it running when I go around town.

Nintendo estimates that the battery life of the 3DS can be extended to up to 8 hours just by turning the 3D off, and turning the wireless settings off, dimming the screen, and putting it into a power-saving mode should all help to extend it even further.

http://kotaku.com/5738668/short-cord...tions-answered