A Nintendo 3DS player passed the time at their own graduation by getting in some game time. The handheld still has its ardent fans, some actively working to try and keep its functionality alive and others showing their support simply by still playing the handheld.
Released in the spring of 2011, the Nintendo 3DS is best known for its tiny slider that allows many games to be played in glasses-free stereoscopic 3D. It initially had a poor launch, but quickly gained some ground following a price drop and the release of some of its best games such as Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. While not as much of a runaway success as the original Nintendo DS, the handheld was still quite profitable in its own right, managing to keep Nintendo afloat during the tumultuous Wii U era and gaining new first-party games as recently as 2019.
Filipino Redditor RuniTunes posted a first-person photo playing on their New Nintendo 3DS XL, surrounded by the rest of their graduating class as the dean of the school gives his opening remarks. The room is dimmed for the ceremony, but the user's screen it lit up by the establishing shot of Mario Circuit from Mario Kart 7, the opening track for that game's Flower Cup. The user explains that attending one's graduation is a requirement in their country, and that this particular ceremony is a mixed event, featuring over 1,000 students from thirteen different colleges and lasting over five hours in total, so their boredom is completely understandable.
Many in the comments commented on the rudeness of the gesture, while others were more understanding, sharing their stories about how they also tuned out their own graduations, some even stating that they also used their 3DS' to do so. RuniTunes clarified that they weren't the only one with the idea, and that several fellow graduates had passed around Mario Kart while in the audience too, something they'd also done numerous times during med school to take the edge off. They also specified that they rarely bring their 3DS out in public (a smart move, considering how easy to damage those things can be) and didn't hesitate to pause their game whenever a close friend crossed the stage.
It's always a good sign when a mere piece of gaming hardware can lead to such profound memories. In a world where companies eventually abandon their own creations and drop all support for them, memories are one thing they can never take away from the consumer. No doubt most Nintendo fans will be able to say the same about the 3DS, which keeps losing online feature after online feature as of late.