Most times when a piece of hardware fails, there's usually a fairly simple descriptor for it. When a 360 boots the basket, you get a Red Ring of Death. When a Windows-based PC goes mammaries skyward, you can count on seeing a Blue Screen. So what do you call a DeeEss that has Joined the Choir Invisible?



I've had some bad luck with Nintendo equipment this generation. Fortunately, their customer support is beyond reproach... I just wish I didn't have occasion to know that quite so often.

I bought one of the first batch of DS lites released in the US. I'd played with a friend's DS phat, and while it was obviously a solid machine, the lack of must-play games at the time meant I was willing to wait for the improved model. I bought one in June of '06. It worked great for about 8 months, but then the left shoulder button simply stopped responding. Unfortunately, this would become a recurring theme.

I called the support line and they sent me a prepaid UPS label to send my system in for repairs. Eight to 12 business days later, I opened up the package from Redmond to find... an entirely different DS. Apparently mine had been replaced by someone else's repaired system. The shoulder button worked fine, but each screen had a single hot pixel. The one on the top, a flaming chartreuse. On the bottom, radioactive green. Even when stuff was moving on both screens, they were pretty noticeable, and whenever the screen faded to black (Like when I moved from one room to another in Dawn of Sorrows, for example) they jumped out at me like monkeys that have been compressed into a Pringles tube and are only too happy to escape. Also the monkeys are on fire.



I called tech support again and explained the situation. The official warranty does not cover dead or hot pixels. Apparently the screens used in the DS are manufactured by another company, and they're allowed to have a certain number of bad pixels due to factors outside their control such as dust between the glass plates and so forth. Still, I managed to make my case that the system was unplayable, and the support staffer I talked to allowed me to send this system back in exchange for a different refurbished one.

When I received this third DS, I was taken aback to see that it, too had a hot pixel- this one a neutral grey- on the lower touch screen. I called support again, but they politely reminded me that this was within tolerance and that I was out of luck. This being the case, it was almost a relief a couple of months later when the left shoulder button on this system stopped responding.

This time, they sent me a brand-new DS, mint in the box. That system has performed flawlessly... until a couple of days ago, when (you guessed it) the left shoulder button died. I use my DS a lot, but I take pretty good care of it, and I don't think I abuse it, even though I bring it with me pretty much everywhere. Still, it seems like I've had disproportionately bad luck with these things. Oh... and between DS 3 and DS 4, my Wii started getting weird artifacts all over the place, and I had to send THAT in. But that's another story.

Before I end here.. I still love Nintendo. This isn't a slam post, and I'm not looking to continue any console holy wars. If you're going to comment, be constructive.