While we reported that Nintendo did indeed recognize the problem, we weren't sure if they would repair the issue for free or continue charging the $50 US fee to repair the unit. Word is, they'll do it for free, with both American and UK spokespersons verifying the statement as truth. And why not, their release even states its such a freak problem that it wouldn't even cost them that much to repair them.So, got a crack in the hinge? Call 'em up!
[Thanks Patrick!]








Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-21-2006 @ 3:05PM
Loban said...
Wow, that was fast. And i'm betting they're working on fixing the problem on all new DSs right now so that it doesn't happen anymore. Perhaps a flaw in the plastic?
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7-21-2006 @ 3:35PM
Mohan said...
Sweet, good job Nintendo. Keep you customers happy.
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7-21-2006 @ 4:00PM
adam said...
Nintendo:
Some users are reporting a cosmetic defect. Defect does not affect gameplay. We will repair it for you.
Sony:
Some users are reporting defective buttons. Defect does affect game play. "There may be people that complain about its usability, but that's something which users and game software developers will have to adapt to." - Ken Kutaragi, Sony Computer Entertainment President
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/27/1616254&tid=207
Between their locked formats, rootkits, and this, I still don't know why people support sony. In their defense, they owned up to the problem.
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7-21-2006 @ 4:44PM
SuicideNinja said...
I knew they would cave quickly. It's not not in their nature to lack good Customer Service like Sony.
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7-21-2006 @ 4:48PM
Liam said...
Nintendo never ceases to amaze me, even with such a slight error such as a crazked hinge or dead pixels (I think this was only apparent on the old DS) you still go and offer free repair, whereas my Xbox can't even run games or movies properly and they say 'tough luck'.
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7-21-2006 @ 4:57PM
Katotetu said...
Wow.
I luff nintendo.
And guess what?
I just checked my ds lite.
Kee-racked, baybee!
^_^
I luff nintendo!
Reply
7-21-2006 @ 5:32PM
billychaos said...
Looks like Nintendo continues to hold their title as one of the few remaining companies with excellent customer service!
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7-21-2006 @ 5:48PM
Roy said...
This is an excellent thing Nintendo is doing, I'm afraid people are going to misuse it though, like manually "creating" a crack just to have their system whose LCD screen has been scratched by their cat replaced.
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7-21-2006 @ 7:31PM
Raaaaaaah! said...
Nintendo can fix MY crack any day! *giggle*
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7-21-2006 @ 10:07PM
Samus Rox said...
Wow.
Nintendo rules.
im also going to get a lite soon.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
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7-22-2006 @ 4:09PM
Aran said...
This is why I'm a happy customer. And this is also very good PR for Nintendo.
*Happy DS Lite owner*
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7-22-2006 @ 9:01PM
Ritz said...
Indeed, I phoned them up and after ensuring me that the problem wouldn't get any worse and that it would probably be more convient to just keep the system as is, the rep did say if I so wished, I could send in the system for a free repair.
By the way, if you use Nintendo Wi-Fi connection, make sure you back up your current data somehow on another DS or something, because the current data will be erased once the unit is returned to you.
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7-23-2006 @ 4:00AM
Jason said...
You know what this kind of complaining will likely do if it turns out to annoy or hurt Nintendo financially? Force Nintendo to implement higher quality standards on all future handhelds, thus raising their costs and decreasing the number of units that can be produced.
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7-23-2006 @ 10:31PM
MKcom said...
Well, according to Nintendo, it only affects 0.02% of units, so why wouldn't they fix it for free (Kotaku unofficial poll aside).
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7-24-2006 @ 5:56PM
Matt Cook said...
who do i call to get it fixed
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7-25-2006 @ 1:08AM
Rich Frueh said...
The first time this kind of thing happened, it was Compaq, with the new LTE notebooks (1990). The plastic on a series of units had a defect in that it hadn't cured all the way, so as people used their notebooks, the plastic continued to shrink, and often cracking all over the place.
Pain in the rear to replace the entire plastics kit, but free of charge to the end users. Us dealers did hundreds of these for a 1-hour labor reimb. from compaq. But people stayed with Compaq over it.
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7-25-2006 @ 3:43PM
vSaAmTp said...
i have the ds one week and it is broken. when i repair this and it comes back, i think one week later i have the same problem.
i am from germany, have a nintendo ds white.
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7-27-2006 @ 12:59PM
KrAzYmAn said...
I just notcied my crack today, I guess I'll have to call them up.
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9-12-2006 @ 8:35PM
Palivizumab said...
Where do we call?
Just find a number on the nintendo site?????????
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9-21-2006 @ 4:46PM
tyler said...
do the new black and pink lite's have the crack problem?
Reply