3DS, is it made to last?

colacola part legend, part devil... all manBalls deep Icrontian
edited July 2011 in Gaming
Hello everyone, you may or may not know that Nintendo has released a certain hand-held gaming system designed to accommodate 3D visual effects without the use of glasses. The 3DS, as it is known, is equipped with many features including a camera, touchscreen, and numerous buttons.

The buttons are my chief concern at the moment. I only own one game for my 3DS (in addition to my collection of regular Nintendo DS games), and that happens to be Super Street Fighter 4 3D Edition.

When I first got my 3DS I was extatic, not just for the shiny 3D, but for the slider and power the system had. This was a hand held with some hardcore gaming potential. Upon picking it up, however, I noticed something. The system sits small and somewhat akward in my hands. Where the size and thickness of the original DS made holding it easy, the 3DS' lower case is extremely thin, and also slightly smaller than the original DS. This didn't bother me, until after my first hour my hands were sore. That was when the idea first crossed my mind: This system may not have been well-designed.

Now, about a month and a half later, I've played on it quite a bit, and my qualms moved from the size (which I've somewhat adjusted to) to the triggers on the sides, the L and R buttons that you may be familiar with. They are TINY, and are easily accidentally pressed if you are trying to hold up you 3DS. This becomes a problem when playing anything you want to have precise button inputs on, such as SSF43DE. Again, something I could get around, I've dealt with poorly designed controllers before. Then the unthinkable began to happen.

Today, while playing SSF43DE online, my left trigger began to stop responding. I could only watch as Cammy (my main, who almost revolves around my ability to press that button) was slaughtered by Ryu. In disbelief and incredulity, I selected rematch. I hoped it was a fluke. I was wrong. Now my button is cutting out more frequently, remenicient of what happened to my original DS after 6 months of Metroid Prime: Hunters. This was happening too soon. Why? I'm not too rough on my 3DS, in fact I take better care of it because the plastic seems flimsy to me.

I have many more things I could rant about with its design, but my main thing is this: What is the big idea making a system so flimsy? My GBC and GBA never NEVER had this kind of problem, and I played those things night and day for YEARS! Now after one and a half months my 3DS is beginning to die, and I'm not happy. After my original DS' trigger stopped, I couldn't play half of my games without a significant handicap, and now I'm afraid the same will be true on my 3DS. I'm going to call Nintendo's customer service tomorrow, but for now, I'm not happy.

Sincerely and slightly pissed off:

-cola

Comments

  • UPSLynxUPSLynx :KAPPA: Redwood City, CA Icrontian
    edited June 2011
    You should be able to send it in for repairs under warranty, as long as you haven't done anything stupid with it (pretty sure you haven't).

    I do worry about the durability of the 3DS. You could tell just by holding the DS that the system would go the long haul. I don't get that feeling in my hands with the 3DS.

    I actually dropped my DS lite hardcore once. It was (stupidly) in my pocket while I played some basketball with Weezer. I made an agressive jumpshot, and it flew out of my pocket and hit the pavement HARD. Right trigger popped off completely, and the system had some awful scars from the hit. I put the trigger back in though, and after many years of usage, I haven't had one problem with that trigger after the fact.
  • colacola part legend, part devil... all man Balls deep Icrontian
    edited June 2011
    Yea, my DS was dropped out of my pocket more times to remember, so much so that the top screen became disconnected on the right-hand hinge, still worked fine.
  • A-DucKA-DucK FL
    edited June 2011
    i has one too and nothing wrong has happened to mine. i got this little free pouch to put it in from the nintendo rewards website.
  • SuperStrifeSuperStrife Florida
    edited June 2011
    I've fully submerged my DS lite in water on accident, and dropped it from more tables than I would care to mention. The only thing I ever heard someone complain about was slight paint scratches near the power buttons. After having played with a 3DS for 2 weeks, I'm not really confident it can take any abuse like the Lite could. Hopefully they'll do the Nintendo thing and release a second, more durable/smaller second version of the 3ds.
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited June 2011
    You guys have any recommendations for accessories in regards to covers and such? I've seen some things that make it more like a controller but with mixed reviews, I have big hands and this thing can hurt to use after a while. Don't care about cost either, as long as it protects my investment and makes it easier to hold.

    I do notice how it can be flimsy though, I am worried about opening and closing it too much, makes me feel that the lid won't work after a year of use. I had the original DS when they first came out(wow just remembered having one), it seems very durable but my memory may be skewed as that seems like ages ago.
  • UPSLynxUPSLynx :KAPPA: Redwood City, CA Icrontian
    edited July 2011
    Yesterday I knocked my 3DS into a sink with running water while it was on. I stared at it, shocked, for about two seconds before pulling out out. One quick poweroff and dry later, the system is completely unharmed.

    So yeah, it does have some durability, to say the least.

    *The Excitebike equilizer looks really sweet underwater.*
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited July 2011
    :eek2:
  • UPSLynxUPSLynx :KAPPA: Redwood City, CA Icrontian
    edited July 2011
    Yeah, it was pretty stupid on my part. I usually have the 3DS in my medicine cabinet so I can listen to beats through an external speaker while I shave. I found that if I sat it on top of the medicine cabinet, it stayed very secure and gave me better sound. It was secure, that is, until I opened the cabinet to get the shaving cream out. :tim:

    Which reminds me - it also survived a ~3 foot fall into the sink. No damage.
  • colacola part legend, part devil... all man Balls deep Icrontian
    edited July 2011
    Awesome XP
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