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It’s hard to believe that it’s been 20 years since the Nintendo DS launched, yet here we are. It’s been even longer since it was revealed too, with the newly-appointed VP of sales and marketing Reggie Fils-Aimé taking to the stage at E3 2004 to showcase Nintendo’s vision for the future of handheld gaming.
We know now, of course, that the console clutched in Reggie’s hands was a mere prototype. At the time, however, as far as many prospective customers were concerned, this was it. This was going to be the Nintendo DS that would wind up in millions of homes across the globe.
As such, many weren’t too keen on the look of the device, with Reggie himself stating that “people perceived the design to be clunky and cheap” in his memoir, Disrupting the Game. It didn’t help that Sony had revealed the PSP the same year, and with its large, glossy, single-screen design it was instantly perceived as a classy, premium product.
But was the DS prototype really so ugly? In this humble writer’s opinion, no, it wasn’t.