Gamer’s Sealed Nintendo 3DS Case Crumbles Into Dust

Sure thing! Here’s a rewritten version of the article:

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So, let’s talk about this wild thing that happened with a Nintendo 3DS case — or, should I say, what used to be a case. I stumbled across this story, where some gamer, with a name that’s kinda cool actually, Randolph Co (I know, right?), shared that their apparently brand-new 3DS case decided it was time to turn to dust. Literally dust. Like, this thing was all sealed up, sitting in a box — not lying, no shenanigans. Yet it disintegrated. Boom. Dusty bits everywhere inside the package.

Now, Nintendo gear has this reputation for being tougher than an old boot. I imagine you could drop a 3DS off a moving train and it’d laugh in your face. But folks liked wrapping these devices in cases anyway, for some extra oomph against gravity and personal style vibes. Want to jazz up your handheld without graffiti-ing the actual console? Slap on a case. But, here’s where it gets weird: this kinda stuff makes me think folks better give their 3DS cases a good once-over. Just in case they plan to, I dunno, degrade into nothingness too.

Picture this: Randolph Co, all excited, retrieves this Dragon Quest 8 case. A New Nintendo 3DS variant, no less. Store-sealed, mint condition. Except, it wasn’t. Omitting the usual embellishments, what those photos would show is a box, totally fine on the outside, but crammed with what looks like the crumbs at the bottom of a cereal box. That case, originally decked out in blue, green, brown slime designs — gone. Colors? Poof. Like magic, except more tragic.

So, what’s the deal? No official word from Randolph, but rumors, and a decent dose of common sense, suggest the materials had an expiry date. TPU, or thermoplastic polyurethane, to be exact. The label says biodegradable. I call it sneakily self-destructing over time. Which, as I haphazardly Google, means roughly three to five years. Considering it launched back in 2015, well, it’s safe to say patience isn’t these cases’ strong suit.

Now, the crunchy bit here is that bio-whatever plastics are, on paper, great for Mother Earth. But not so fantastic when your precious gaming memorabilia is in a race against decomposition. These cases might’ve been marketed with the thought that nobody would be hoisting a 3DS in 2025. Or maybe they figured the cases would take a tumble and end up recycled long before disintegration kicked in.

Anyway, not every case went down the same path. Still, if you’ve got a collection, maybe give it a check. Like, pronto. The whole Nintendo 3DS saga kicked off in 2011, so chances are, some of those cases are now resigned to history — or, basically, dust.