Leveling Down

I dropped my DS Lite recently, and was quite dismayed to discover that the touch-screen no longer works. I actually thought Nintendo’s hardware products were more durable, so I was surprised that I busted part of my DS Lite by dropping it. I’ve had this DS Lite since its launch back in June 2006, and it has really served me quite well these last few years. I’m also slightly annoyed that this is the first portable Nintendo device I’ve had (and I’ve basically had them all) that I’ve broken. The original Gameboy, the Gameboy Pocket, the Gameboy Advance, and the original DS were all in my possession at some point and I’m pretty sure I’ve dropped each of them at least once and they all functioned fine. Now I am at a crossroads though as to what to do next.

The good thing is, the DS Lite is still playable. The only non-functional part of my DS Lite is the touchpad. This lower screen displays fine, but it just doesn’t register whenever I tap the stylus anywhere on it. With rumors of a new DS successor on the horizon, I’m trying to decide whether to try fix/replace my DS Lite, or to just hold out for the new system that is coming out. At this point, it is pretty known that the best part of the DS’s years is behind it. When looking at the new releases coming out in 2010, there doesn’t seem to be anything major aside from Pokemon. The DS Lite is still retailing for $130, and the DSi is going for $170. Do I really want to buy one of these if a true DS successor may be released next year?

I’ve sat around pondering, and my options include:

1. Do nothing
Continue to use my current DS but don’t replace it. This means, I have no touch-screen functionality so games that require it, such as The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Elite Beat Agents, Rhythm Heaven, Dawn of Discovery, etc. are all no longer playable for me. However, several games that do have touch-screen support still have full d-pad support, such as the Phoenix Wright games, the Advance Wars games, the Castlevania games, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, and even Peggle works fine with just the d-pad and buttons. In short, my playable DS game library will be reduced to about half or a third. But maybe that’s not so bad considering how many DS games I’ve yet to beat.

2. Buy a new lower screen part and try to replace it myself
I did some preliminary searching for replacing the lower screen, and came upon a pretty detailed entry by a guy who shares a step-by-step process of replacing the lower screen on his DS Lite. I could probably find one of these lower screens for $20 or so, but even following through his step by step instructions shows it’s no walk in the park. The most I’ve ever done with voiding hardware warranties and replacing parts of electronics myself was replacing the battery on my iPod, and I even ran into some issues with that. If I have to worry about all sorts of things going on like the article says, maybe it’s not worth the risk as I may lose the complete ability to play my DS Lite altogether if I start opening it up.

3. Send it in to Nintendo to get it serviced
The Nintendo service site is quite informative. I remember when the initial batch of DS Lites suffered from a crack in the case, Nintendo offered to let anyone send in their DS Lite to get it fixed. I went through the website and I had my fixed DS Lite back in only a couple of weeks. But now that my DS Lite is out of warranty, it looks like Nintendo is not going to be as friendly when fixing my DS Lite. After I entered the serial number to my DS Lite on the Nintendo Service site, I was provided with my two service options. Nintendo recommended that they simply send me a refurbished unit for $85. I was surprised that they wouldn’t provide me with an option to just have me send in my DS Lite for them to replace the screen. Then I found the other option that suggested exactly that – except I was shocked that the price for it would be $75. If it was like $40 or so for the replacement service, I probably would have done that. But with the price of the repair being nearly the cost of getting back a refurbished unit, I have to consider other options.

4. Buy a new DS Lite altogether
$130 is a decent chunk of change, considering my current DS Lite isn’t exactly dead. Do I really want to go out to the store and buy another DS Lite if the DS library is not going to expand much more? Gamestop is running a promotion right now where if you trade in a DS Lite, you’ll get another $30 credit towards a new hardware purchase, so they would offer me something like $50-$60 total for my DS Lite. That would mean that I could trade in my current DS Lite and get a brand new one for maybe $70-$80. The deal is a little better than the Nintendo service plan option, except for the fact that I think I’m supposed to be trading in a fully functional DS Lite. I think Gamestop sends their traded-in hardware to be serviced anyway, in order to provide their warranty on used consoles, but I think part of me is just really afraid that if I trade it in a store clerk may check the touch screen and be like, “What are you trying to pull here? You said that it was in perfectly working condition! And why are you trading in your current DS Lite for another DS Lite?” I don’t know if I could live with myself trying to trade in a half broken system as perfectly working. But maybe they honestly don’t care? The tough part would be answering why I’m trading in one DS Lite for another. Uh, I just want a new color?

5. Buy a DSi
If $130 for the DS Lite was expensive, the DSi is $170 but has bigger screens and a camera. I would never consider this option unless I could take advantage of Gamestop’s current trade-in promotion by trading in my DS Lite towards the DSi, knocking its price closer to $110 or so. But is the upgrade really worth it? $40 more for bigger screens and a 2 megapixel camera but the removal of the ability to play GBA games? What will I do with my Final Fantasy IV-VI GBA carts then? The one good thing is that this is definitely an “upgrade”, so the clerk is not going to hassle me about the trade-in. But the price to upgrade to a DSi after the trade-in promotion is still practically the same price as buying a new DS Lite!

Oy. I guess for now I’ll just stick with what I got, in the hopes that I do hear about a DS successor soon. But this means no more Brain Age, Professor Layton, or any of the other touch-screen oriented DS titles I’ve already mentioned. I guess I can be thankful that Phoenix Wright and Advance Wars will keep me with something to play on my DS.

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