On November 21st, 2004, Nintendo launched the Nintendo DS in North America, marking the global debut of the company’s best-selling hardware to date. The Nintendo DS would go on to sell over 154 million units, only trailing the PlayStation 2 in terms of dedicated gaming hardware, and it introduced so many people to gaming through a more casual route that wasn’t explored until then.
My own experience with the Nintendo DS started very late in its life, in 2010. Even though I was already in 9th grade, I remember legitimately tearing up telling my parents how much I wanted one. I ended up finding a great deal on a used Nintendo DS “Phat”, the original model from 2004, including some Pokémon games that would kickstart my passion for gaming. Even with this old model, I played so many games on this console (not always legally, I’ll admit).
Ever since then, I’ve been on spiral of spending too much money on video games, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Thank you for the memories, Nintendo.
Happy 20th anniversary to the handheld that made me a gamer
