Paranormal Phenomenon – The Nintendo DS that won’t switch off

When I cleaned up my room earlier this month, I unearthed my Nintendo DS, which I haven’t touched in a few years. I bought it back in 2005, so it is the original one and not the later variants. Since I’ve heard tales of really resilient Nintendo products, maybe it would still work after recharging the battery. The next morning, I pressed the power button and it worked, though I have to re-do all those settings like date, time etc. When it was done, I loaded the game and the saves were intact. Time for some one sided battles with my Tekkaman! It didn’t take long to get bored being basically invincible, and I decided to put it down after half an hour. I saved, switched off the DS, and planned to return when I am in mood to do so, completely clueless to what was going to happen.

Before going to bed that night, I saw a flashing green dot on my desk. It was from none other than my DS. It was in sleep mode. Perhaps I didn’t turn it off properly? Fine, I just have to do it again.

It wouldn’t be a paranormal phenomenon if it was this simple. The next morning, it was in sleep mode again, and the start up screen mocked me when I unfold the thing. The struggle between my repeated attempts to turn it off and the DS’s stubborn insistence of staying in sleep mode continued for a few days. It was when the battery ran out that I could finally claim my victory.

Now that it was over, I suspect the power button might be stuck with dust and dirt. To Nintendo’s credit, they’ve created something that refused to stop working when out of order.

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