In Japan, Nintendo said that starting next month, it will no longer support the original “phat” Nintendo DS.
The Nintendo DS launched in Japan in December 2004, eventually causing a sensation after its dog-rearing and brain-training games exploded in popularity. The original Nintendo DS became so popular in 2006 that Nintendo DS units were imported from the US to meet the demand.
But, according to Inside, after April 30 of this year, Nintendo’s Kyoto headquarters says it will no longer repair first generation Nintendo DS handhelds. This is to guarantee that Nintendo will have enough parts to fix units. However, depending on the demand, it is possible that there will not be enough parts before that date, in which case Nintendo might not be able to repair all DS units.
In Japan, Nintendo will, however, continue to repair and support the 3DS, the DS Lite, the DSi and the DSi XL. No word how this impacts regions outside Japan, but Nintendo’s announcement specifically states NTR-001, the original DS’s model number (Kotaku followed up with Nintendo prior to publication, but hasn’t heard back yet). There are currently no upcoming DS releases on Nintendo.com.
This is really the end of an era. A glorious one at that.
Comments
9 responses to “Nintendo Ends Support For Original DS In Japan”
I think you mean 2004, not 2014?
That’s what I was thinking:
…whaaaaaaaat?
Lazy journalism 101: Just make up dates that you don’t know. It’s a lot easier and faster than research!
E.G.: The American declaration of independence was first adopted by congress in 1964.
Kotaku commenting 101: assume that a simple one digit typo is actually the journalist just making things up which would take considerably more effort.
I wonder if they still have parts for stuff with a lifetime warranty? The sticks on my N64 controllers are stuffed.
and the sound output on my SNES is only in Mono now for some reason (tried multiple different cables)…
also my nes power pack has died (using my snes one and swapping it around)
Lifetime of the product which would be well and truly expired, not a human lifetime.
Well mine is still working so I’d say it’s lifetime is not up.
Long live the king!