My DS, in the short time it has been with me (since early Feberuary, I think), has been a joy. No longer is my turn-based gaming limited to the console or the computer. I played on the bus, in queues, on the bog, in bed, in the kitchen, on the train, in the bath. It filled in the gaps, and sometimes entirely replaced housebound gaming.

It was like making love to a beautiful turn-based woman, everywhere I went.

And we all know relationships like that simply don't last. A week ago, I noticed something on the top screen of my DS. Like a tiny, green clitoris, my eye was constantly drawn to it.

It was a dead pixel.

I tried to ignore it, I really did, but it exerted a magnetic attraction over my eyeballs. Unfortunately, a second one bloomed a few days ago. I swapped some emails with the Nintendo Service Centre, and when they gave me an automated reply I got stroppy and then they actually deigned to type one to me. So today I kissed my DS goodbye and sent it off into the (hopefully) careful, conscientious clutches of Nintendo.

I don't blame them, all LCD screens are subject to this fault, and they're fixing it for free thanks to the warranty. I'll let you know how it goes.

Hmm... perhaps this could be salvaged and turned into a test to see how many hours of constant gaming are required to burn out the screen.

So how many hours a day on average were you using it?

Fuck, I don't know. I've racked up about eighty hours, on Advance Wars:DS, twenty each on Advance Wars 1&2, fifty hours on Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, six hours on Another Code, twelve on Rebelstar and a measly six for Fire Emblem (though I did only have it for a day).

Whoah! So you've got no thumbprints left then?!

No thumbprints? No thumbs, mate. But it wasn't all hardcore ten-hours in a row sessions. Especially on AW:DS and AC, because the DS automatically puases a DS game when you close it, so it's good for gaming in short bursts.

Of course, there were a few marathons, but not that many. It just builds up really quickly.