Nintendo Addresses DS Lite Cracks

[bapenguin]

Nintendo has given their official response on the DS Lite Cracking Issue (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/17/behold-joystiqs-cracked-ds-lite/)."In the U.S., the reported number of small cosmetic cracks in the plastic hinge of DS Lite systems represents less than 0.02 percent of the total units sold. This cosmetic issue in no way impacts the gameplay or integrity of the DS Lite. Nintendo stands behind the quality of our products and encourages DS Lite owners to contact our Customer Service Department if they are not happy with the functionality of their systems."

Thanks Gamedaily (http://www.gamedaily.com/news/?id=10985) for the scoop.

I just hope they'll replace it for free. Cosmetic or not, when the casing of something breaks it usually leads to more problems down the road.
Does anyone here have a cracked one?

[Taco]

I have one with a dead pixel that stares into my soul :(.

[i aint yer pa]

After I read about the cracks I checked mine but I guess I'm in the 99.98 percentile, as there isn't even a hint of a crack. And that's after it's been handled by two toddlers.

Hopefully it will stay that way.

[Camel]

Ever since the first thread discussing those cracks, I've been paranoid and checking my DS every time I use it. So far so good.

[zombiekiller13]

no crack here, knock on wood. I have a theory, shared by others, that the crack begins to develop when the unit it opened 180 degrees too many times. while it is made to open that far, when I did it after getting mine, it just seemed like it took more pressure to get it into that position and to close it.

I've yet to prove that theory, though. I'm not about to test it on my own DS Lite, and on other gaming sites, people who say they've developed the crack haven't answered whether or not they opened it the full 180 degrees.

if it turns out to be true, it's something Nintendo needs to cover under the warranty. nowhere in the manual does it say you can't open it that far, and the demo units at stores are opened the full 180 degrees, so it's obvious that they were supposedly made to do that.

[jBusy]

I have one with a dead pixel that stares into my soul :(.

Nintendo will fix it. Nintendo fixes DS with one bad pixel (http://www.engadget.com/2004/12/07/nintendo-fixes-ds-with-one-bad-pixel/)

[Rirath]

I have one with a dead pixel that stares into my soul :(.

I've got two stuck green pixels, one on each screen.
I really need to call them up in case there's a time limit.

[jacktion]

This crack thing sounds like a real "tyranny of the minority" thing. .02 of ds owners complaining on message boards can make it seem like a lot more have the problem.

[bone_matrix]

If only .02 percent of DS Lites are cracka-lackin, I wonder how many 360s were really messed up, and how many PS3 will be messed up. Because I believe that both (yes, I'm making a prediction on the PS3) were/will be blown out of proportion.

[Bone]

I read somewhere else that Nintendo acknowledged they may have overtightened the cases. I don't have one, so I don't know if you can loosen the hinge a little bit... might be worth a try.

[Pinku!]

I wish I didn't know about this. I checked mine the other day and lo and behold, there's a crack...and since it's an import I know NoA won't fix mine. But like a responder here (http://www.dsfanboy.com/2006/07/20/nintendo-answers-hinge-claims/) said, if we didn't know about this, most probably would never have noticed...I'd surely rather have a small cosmetic flaw that doesn't affect gameplay than a dead pixel.

*crosses fingers that her Pink DS Lite won't have any dead pixels* :(

[Doctor Setebos]

I wish I didn't know about this. I checked mine the other day and lo and behold, there's a crack...and since it's an import I know NoA won't fix mine.That's what you get for importing.

Kidding, kidding! :D

[Salesmunn]

I wish I didn't know about this. I checked mine the other day and lo and behold, there's a crack...and since it's an import I know NoA won't fix mine. But like a responder here (http://www.dsfanboy.com/2006/07/20/nintendo-answers-hinge-claims/) said, if we didn't know about this, most probably would never have noticed...I'd surely rather have a small cosmetic flaw that doesn't affect gameplay than a dead pixel.

*crosses fingers that her Pink DS Lite won't have any dead pixels* :(

So it turns out that Nintendo is blaming users for the cracks on the system, saying it's usually from being dropped. All you DS Lite owners, you're careless.

So Nintendo is apparently fixing the devices hush-hush for free (http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/nintendo-capitulates-offers-free-repairs-for-cracked-ds-lites-188778.php), even if it's because people dropped the system. You mail them the DS, they'll decide if it's "crack'a'lacked" then fix it.

Sounds like a big, steaming pile of bullshit to me. Since when does a company fix a problem that occurs because people DROP their product?

[Demize99]

Who the hell cares if they're fixing it anyway?

It doesn't sound Hush Hush to me at all, it sounds like standard warranty procedure. "Did you break it or did we mess up?" is the question I get asked everytime I've ever asked to have something warrantied.

[Shifteh]

If I were a company and people handed me their portable device and it had a crack in it, am I going to think that the press that stamped it out managed to force a crack into many devices, or that a bunch of people dropped theirs?

[Pinku!]

So it turns out that Nintendo is blaming users for the cracks on the system, saying it's usually from being dropped. All you DS Lite owners, you're careless.



Where in the article did you get that?

Oh wait, you linked/quoted Kotaku...never mind. :rolleyes: And for that matter I've never dropped my DS Lite anyway.

And Doc--importing got me my DS Lite 3 months early, so hush. :P

[Zacharai]

*crosses fingers that her Pink DS Lite won't have any dead pixels* :(

I had one dead pixel in the upper screen and one sometimes-dead pixel in the lower screen (very odd). Since I got the DS Lite the day it came out, the Gamestop guys didn't even wait on a response from Nintendo but refunded my money. Meant I had to wait another couple of weeks for a new shipment, but now I have no dead pixels.

[gzsfrk]

I wish I didn't know about this. I checked mine the other day and lo and behold, there's a crack...and since it's an import I know NoA won't fix mine. But like a responder here (http://www.dsfanboy.com/2006/07/20/nintendo-answers-hinge-claims/) said, if we didn't know about this, most probably would never have noticed...I'd surely rather have a small cosmetic flaw that doesn't affect gameplay than a dead pixel.

This is exactly what happened to me. I read the article, thought "Huh... glad that's not the case with mine", but then got home later to find the exact same crack WAS there. Blew me away. Doesn't seem to affect anything, but I'm wary that it may cause problems down the road. If Nintendo suggests that they'll be fixing them for free, then I might take advantage of this while I can.

[ea vengeful spirit]

mine is crack free. but the first ds lite i got had a dead pixel...

[Eggplant!]

I have one with a dead pixel that stares into my soul :(.

Nintendo will replace the unit for you AND extend the warranty.

They did this for me. The only question they asked was "does this impact your enjoyment of the product?" When I replied yes, they replaced it for free and extended my warranty a year from the replacement date. I wasn't on the phone but ten minutes. Awesome customer service.

Compared that to the time I called Sony about the dead pixel on my PSP... grumble.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

I have a dead pixel on my original DS. I called them and they sent me a shipping label, but I never shipped it off to be repaired. :/

[31 Flavas]

I wish I didn't know about this. I checked mine the other day and lo and behold, there's a crack...and since it's an import I know NoA won't fix mine. [...]

*crosses fingers that her Pink DS Lite won't have any dead pixels* :(Uh... It's not *strictly* true. Just so you know... You *CAN* get warrantee service. But as far as you would be concerned, no. You wouldn't want it.

Here's the deal, I called NoA about a similar issue. The NoA phone rep told me that NoA will gladly do warrantee work on any NoJ/NoE equipment as long as it is something that can be purchased here in America as well.

For example, NoA will do warrantee work on Japanese/European Nintendo DS, GBA, and GameCube, etc. They can all be purchased here. NoA will not do warrantee work on iQue, 64DD, Satellaview, etc...

The caveat being they do not guarantee you will get your original unit back and they can only guarantee you the North American colors and specs and a 100% fully functionally unit.

What that means is if you send NoA a PAL Gamecube in a color not available in America, you are only Guaranteed a fully functional NTSC Cube in American released colors. NoA *WILL* try to fix your PAL cube for you, but with Nintendo of America if they say it can't be fixed you get a American Cube.

So as far as a cracked Pink JPN DS Lite, though NoA, the only recourse would be a Polar White DS Lite.

[DeathtollWRX]

The DS lite I own is constantly being played with by my 2 year old. No issues here.