Phones are incredible.
At 13 years old, I would start downloading a 3-minute MP3 file on the family computer, and I would actually have to wait multiple minutes for it to be finished (and my parents would have a fresh virus to deal with). If you told me then what a phone (not even a computer, a phone) from 2024 could do, I would have dropped my Nintendo DS in amazement.
Phones now are essentially all-in-one pocket computers, and the “all” includes a camera. The cameras have gotten fantastic, too: You may have heard that the upcoming movie 28 Years Later was filmed on an iPhone 15.
Consequently, we use our phone cameras a lot, to capture fun and important moments in our lives. At the last concert you went to, you definitely saw dozens of phones being held in the air. Strangely, it’s possible that you also saw at least one DS.
For some reason, over the past few years, it hasn’t been a foreign thing to see somebody taking concert photos or videos with a DS. As IGN notes, the trend appears to have started in 2021, when somebody was spotted filming with a 3DS at a Bring Me The Horizon concert.
(If some of my word choices so far have made the gamers reading this angry: These days, “DS” is often thrown around as a general term to refer to all the different models in the Nintendo DS, and even 3DS, line. The original Nintendo DS and the DS Lite, though, do not have cameras. The DSi, DSi XL, and all 3DS systems, meanwhile, do. So, please know that I know that, but for simplicity’s sake, I’m just going to call everything a DS or 3DS when the specific model isn’t known.)
In a technical sense, the low-resolution photos and videos produced by the DS/3DS are the worst. Here’s a 3DS video from an Anamanaguchi concert in 2021. The video has little detail, and the audio sounds like a menacing alien spaceship landing. At the same time, the low quality can have a nostalgic 2000s appeal. Or, if you’re into doing silly and fun things, shooting with a DS in 2024 is a silly and fun thing. In that sense, the photos and videos are the best.
For those reasons, we have ourselves a trend. Here’s somebody filming with a DS at a Rina Sawayama concert in 2022. Here’s somebody doing the same thing at a Tyler The Creator show that year. Here’s a DS at a 2022 Charli XCX gig.
The trend is holding strong in 2024, too. It got some notable exposure recently, when Chappell Roan noticed an audience member with a DS and said with a smile, “B*tch, is that a DS? You keep taking photos on your DS.”
It happened again just this past weekend, at a Jonas Brothers concert. This one was next-level: In addition to taking a selfie with a fan’s DSi and gleefully sharing it on social media, the band also signed a copy of their 2009 DS game Jonas.
In 2024, Nintendo’s focus is on the uber-successful Switch (and its to-be-announced successor). But, also in 2024, whether you’re in the crowd at a Weezer, Hozier, or King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard show, you’re not safe from spotting a Nintendo DS in the sea of phones.
Phones are incredible, but the DS, apparently, is timeless.