A gamer recently rediscovered their long-lost Nintendo DS in a peculiar place, sixteen years after it originally went missing. The Nintendo DS discovery has fans feeling nostalgic and amused, though the discovery isn't without an unfortunate revelation.
The Nintendo DS originally launched way back in 2004, hitting the market as another major handheld gaming system success for the company. The handheld's innovative dual screens set it apart from the competing PlayStation Portable from a single glance, and backward compatibility with the Game Boy Advance was a big plus for buyers. While the Nintendo 3DS and Switch have clearly surpassed the handheld in power and graphics, much of what made those systems popular started with the Nintendo DS.
Unfortunately for one fan, they had just started having fun with their Nintendo DS as a child when it went missing back in 2007. According to Ryebredrox, they and their family had thought that the device had been stolen, which made finding it sixteen years later on their own property a huge surprise. Apparently, the device was dug up from where the family once had a sandbox. The shared image shows wear and tear the device suffered from its time underground.
Many were happy for Ryebredrox to have discovered their long-lost Nintendo handheld, while wondering how it got there in the first place. A commenter suggested that Ryebredrox probably has siblings who may have played a role in its disappearance, and the user seems to agree with that possibility. However, it's unfortunately not all good news. The exposure to soil and moisture over nearly two decades led to severe rusting on both the exterior and interior of the device. According to Ryebredrox, the exposure and rust was so bad that a large chunk of the motherboard is simply gone, rendering it useless. As Ryebredrox amusingly pointed out, it seems the Nintendo DS is a little less resilient than its bomb-proof Game Boy predecessor that was recently removed from the Nintendo Store in New York.
Nintendo devices tend to be pretty tough, especially since most of them are intended to be used by children who may be inherently rougher with their devices than adults. They're hardly indestructible, though, as one poor gamer discovered when a recliner crushed their Nintendo 3DS. While it would have been great for the Nintendo DS to still work, at least Ryebredrox has some closure as to what happened to it now.