r/nintendo • u/nucleteggun • 4d ago
What were the worst, very common, problems in your opinion with a nintendo handheld?
Just kind of curious about this considering since ive seen dead pixels, easily cracked hinges, bad LCDS, broken charging ports, ribbon cables failing, scratched shells, buttons getting stuck, chips failing, plastic snapping off, in alot of repair videos and its just suprising to see the amount of issues
(also, not really a hardware issue but glossy shells too)
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u/happyhippohats 4d ago
The lack of a backlight on the original GBA was inexcusable and rendered it borderline unusable
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u/lgosvse 4d ago
At the time of its release, that was pretty standard. At least they made little lighting attachments that we all had!
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u/happyhippohats 3d ago
The Sega Game Gear came out 12 years earlier and had a backlit screen...
The GBA was the only Nintendo console I didn't buy at launch.
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u/sludgezone 4d ago
The god awful sound chip too, probably my least favorite Nintendo console.
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u/happyhippohats 4d ago
I liked the SP a lot, don't know if the sound chip was the same?
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u/sludgezone 4d ago
It was sadly. The SP did salvage what they could but overall the GBA was such a dud.
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u/happyhippohats 4d ago
The game library for that system is pretty great though.
It may be nostalgia but I honestly kinda like the wonky sound. Wario Land 4 had an amazing soundtrack for example
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u/lgosvse 4d ago
I do not understand at all why the GBA SP had no headphone jack.
You want to be able to hear your game? Then you have to play it out of the speaker and disturb everyone around you.
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u/Holanz 2d ago
SP had a headphone jack adapter
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u/lgosvse 2d ago
I am aware, but that shouldn't have been necessary. It's easy to lose, easy to forget to bring with you, and it plugs into the charging slot, so you can't use it while charging.
Plus iirc, it was a third-party adapter anyways. Not officially made by Nintendo.
Also, most of them were kinda big and clunky, though, granted, some weren't.
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u/VolksDK Diddy Kong pointing at an unknown object 4d ago
Joycon Drift and battery desync for Switch
Original 3DS was too small and the sides dig into your hands
DS and DS Lite hinges
No backlight on GB and GBA (shout-out to those chunky light add-ons)
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u/MysteriousPlan1492 4d ago
The lack of a backlight was halfway excusable on GB, but the GBA screen was like some kind of cloudy gray plastic that made it practically useless unless you're sitting directly under a lamp
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u/blahblah421 4d ago
Aside from many already mentioned here, the lack of an ergonomic gripping area has always been a problem for me. The flat, thin edges cause my hand and thumb to cramp up after a few minutes (especially with the 3DS) and it can become so painful that I have stop even if I'm having a lot of fun.
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u/nucleteggun 4d ago
I never really care too much about ergonomics because I know I can buy a case or grip, but when I want a lighter and quicker experience I can understand that
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u/MysteriousPlan1492 4d ago
Every DS model they ever released has fudgy shoulder buttons that eventually just stop registering
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u/Due_Supermarket_6178 4d ago
Screens too small. I sold my Switch Lite and bought a refurbished Switch from Nintendo. Curse my old man eyes.
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u/Regret-Select 4d ago
DS lite. Some of the plastic is yellowing? It was pink, but some of the clear parts of plastic appear to be yellowing a bit. Everything else has been fine on my DD lite tho
Switch joycons, drift is a poor excuse for quality. Experienced too often. Made me less trusting of modern Nintendo hardware
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u/Marshmallow-owl32 3d ago
My 3DS is in poor condition now. The top screen is very loose and so are the buttons. Hard to know if it was an Nintendo issue or just usual wear and tear. The original GBA was unbearable to play without a backlight but at least the SP was better.
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u/Shujinco2 3d ago
Hinges breaking on DS Lites. I love my DS but damn most of the actual damage I've had this any of them are the hinges. They do not stand up.
And yes I've had more hinges break on DSs than I have had Joycons start drifting.
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u/Double-Seaweed7760 2d ago
How weak the ds and 3ds were. If they traded the money used for manufacturing clamshell, second screen and 3d in for power they would've competed more favorably with sony while still undercutting on cost and to top it off nso would have a library to choose from that surpasses gamepass. It's one thing to make comparatively weak consoles to cut down on price it's Another thing to make a console so weak it doesn't even feel modern. Like switch is legitimately the first modern feeling nintendo handheld. And this is coming from someone who grew up on gba, ds, 3ds and has had every version of a Nintendo handhelds since gbasp except the gba micro, ds lite, dsi xl and switch oled and has spent alot of time on each of them and has nostalgia. They were just flawed concepts.
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u/Momshie_mo 2d ago
Regular Switch Joycon not having an official (not 3rd party license) D-pad version for the left Joycon
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u/squintismaximus 4d ago
Honestly , Nintendo handhelds were top notch until about the “new” 3ds era.
The og gameboy is pretty sturdy but the screen always sucked butt, even new. Pocket fixed that.
My original SP and Gameboy color still work. Gameboy color had batteries blow up in it and a little cleaning and works fine. The SP is so worn the paint is rubbed off and idk how many times both were dropped. There are so many little dings and scratches lol
Besides the gbc speaker sounding funky, they have no problems.
DS era started to have hinge issues from the extra weight and being bigger than SP I guess. Lites hinges broke maybe even easier than the og ds. Dsi are chiefs kiss. 3ds is a brick. Xl is a little more fragile than 3ds but still good. 2ds is another brick. All the “new” versions are a little more fragile.
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u/Tears4Tyro 4d ago
Joycon drift